I think that its a combination of a few different things:
Firstly, the oddity of this relatively small fleet look at how previous generations got excited about Baby Deltics/ Class 13s etc and other classes that were built in fairly small numbers much easier to be fascinated with these than with common or garden things like a Class 37/47 that were a lot more successful. Similarly theres a lot more threads/comments on a Forum like this about lines/stations with trivially low numbers of trains/passengers (Brigg/Denton etc) than about functionally busy places (much easier to be fascinated with quaint little one passenger a day places than somewhere like Peterborough or Sevenoaks or Runcorn). Same goes for other hobbies like the football fans who still talk about hardcore who were in the away end at Rochdale in the League Cup in 1993 and not the large crowds who attend their regular home games. Car enthusiasts will be more interested in some quirky/failed/limited/obsolete model than they are in something that functioned well in the mass market like a Ford Fiesta. Some music enthusiasts talk about b-sides and the Japanese-only reissues and uncredited gigs ahead of anything as obvious as the last album. Its that male obsession with the obscure (dont start me on Real Ale bores... :roll
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Secondly, the enthusiast obsession with finding a solution in need of a problem (hence my signature) look at the can we get HSTs to haul freight thread or the can we bring back mail trains to find some use for redundant 67s thread... Suggestions for how we can find a use for the old Post Office tunnels under London? Crayonista fantasies! In any given week youll see loads of suggestions to solve a problem that you were never aware was really much of a problem (e.g. Bradford Crossrail would finally provide a direct service from Ilkley to Halifax, when nobody realised there were many people inconvenienced by the lack of such a service).
Thirdly, they were built in the "Good Old Days" of BR, when passenger numbers were lower (so no need for modern inconveniences like 3+2 seating to deal with overcrowding), when accessibility regulations were a pipedream (so relatively narrow end doors, little standing space) and when you could take some kind of pride in the stock that your nationalised railway was building (not to be confused with the 1980s BR Pacers, which dont fit conveniently into the BR was great narrative).You could argue that the 442s are the last generation of proper trains from the days when we didnt have to worry about large passenger volumes that needed wide doors to minimise dwell times there were no accessible spaces they have more in common with coaches designed a hundred years ago than with modern stock, which probably appeals to the nostalgics.
The services that they were designed for are becoming more of a rarity in todays Metro world south of the Thames so I suppose theres nostalgia for the days of proper expresses most of the old Southern Region could be categorised as Outer Suburban these days (functional, efficient, boring, no room for quirky flagship services) the idea of anything more glamorous than a refreshment trolley with 2+2 seating in First seems old fashioned. The hard working modern railway means youll see an Inverness Glasgow DMU pressed into action on a suburban service to Anniesland in between duties rather than sitting idle for the next Inverness service no space at terminals to let something idle there for a long time between duties, meaning we need universal stock like 377s that could do a Brighton fast just as easily as a Hove shuttle.
Plus the fact that they are reconditioned from 1960s equipment, making them seem ecological, older, quaint (not to be confused with cascading 1980s EMUs away from London theres a fine line in enthusiast mindsets between vintage and cast-off generally anything pre-1980 is vintage/ built to last, anything younger than 1980 is old/ clapped out...
).
Really, they are stock without an obvious future (without creating work specially for them), too small in number to replace someones existing fleet of EMUs but too large a number to be able to solve with just one route. The third rail world is moving towards a relatively uniform world of Metro services, go anywhere Electrostars plus 700s, there arent any suitable routes there for a 442.
You cant convert them to overhead electrification (without *significant* costs that would probably make it uneconomical), there wont be many diesel services that require five coaches to make loco haulage suitable (once electrification happens on lines like TPE North). They couldnt keep up with Voyager/180 times if they moved to XC/ Grand Central. The doors are too narrow for any service with busy intermediate stations yet the length of them means theyd be overkill for quiet services. You could come up with some convoluted solution (give them all to ATW to replace their 175s and hope that all intermediate stations can cope with five coaches plus a loco?) but would it actually solve anything?
For me, they raise questions about the suitability of small classes, especially small classes of specialist units designed for one specific duty. At least the 460s can be converted into 458s (at expense), and the plans are for 345s and 700s to work on Crossrail and Thameslink for their full life, but other trains need to be designed with their whole life being considered, not just fit for the first five years.
If you play Enthusiast Bingo, the 442s meet most criteria (small fleet size, properly old, British Rail, end doors, a bit rubbish... the only thing that could make them more enthusiast friendly would be if they had nameplates referencing animals/historic buildings/ships/regiments and if Dr Beeching had scrapped them all!). I think theres a good chance well see more preserved 442 coaches in preservation than 142 coaches, despite the fact that there were many more Pacers.
I almost won't be surprised the day I see someone suggesting them for use as ECML Thunderbirds
I'll add that to Merseyrail and the Heart Of Wales as suggestions I've seen for 442s...