Yes, some of the younger ones on here wont be able to remember when the Strathclyde Electrics had guards on them. I do recall an old friend of mine who worked these units (as i was a dumfries man in days gone by) telling me that when these trains went over to DOO that was the end of the guard as a whole, that people in the future would come along and degrade his role and the rulebook he worked by so far back it would be unrecognisable.
When i look at the job now compared to what it was back then, it makes me realise how true what he told me was.
They did indeed have a gaurds "office" and the 25Kv line went through it, with an arc window and all. Quite exciting when you are 6 to see 25kv arc in I guess a vacuum chamber.
It may have been that or some other fault that killed a guard at Balloch actually soon after the "blue trains" were introduced. All were duly modified!
Originallly they had nice wrap round windows on the cab sides. Also a nice archaic " woo woo woo" sound from a compressor or something under one of the end cars.
I think glasgow and crewe works did the modernisation to DOO and gangways. It was considered so expensive that they should have ordered new 318s apparently.
320s will probably be scrapped long before the life span of the good ol' 303s/11s!