Apologies, I thought I'd read they were called pre-selector. On reflection, that doesn't really make sense, because they don't work like that.
The Railcar website page on the 79xxx makes mention of First Class patronage being high with a greater than average ratio of First Class to Second travellers.
We probably need to be corrected by one of the knowledgeable people from the Bus page, but as I understand it the gearbox mechanics were the same, no clutch, and made/patented by the same company. It was just that with preselector you select the next gear in advance (hence the name), then it actually makes the change only when you press a pedal where a clutch might normally be. On the semi-automatic the selection and physical change happen together when you move the lever. On dmus, and buses, the physical gear shifting is done by electrically signalled air valves, hence the little hiss you hear when doing so (and old buses of the era made the same sounds). 1930s sports cars had preselectors so you could change down, with the pedal, going round a bend without taking your hands off the steering wheel, necessary in pre-power steering days - but obviously not for trains.
I know, I've seen that too. I wonder, either where did that patronage suddenly go, or it was for some reason misrepresented in returns of revenue. I am aware that the Beeching figures suffered from poor averaging, overall revenue just being divided by the number of carriages provided per day to give a revenue per carriage figure, without any further breakdown.
Bear in mind although in the 70s the 1st class threshold was at MS1, most HQ and Area staff were Clerical and Supervisory grades rather than Managers and I suspect likewise in the engineering disciplines so the majority of staff ravelling on passes would be in 2nd class. As privatisation approached and took hold many more positions became graded as managers but at the same time the threshold for 1st class travel rose up to MS2, MS3 etc.
As far as I understand was not done because of declining First Class travel but because the sets were being reduced to five coaches, and by converting the FO to CO it gave additional 2nd Class seats while leaving a reasonable portion of 1st. This was part of a plan in 1985/6 to further accelerate the E&G timings, for which a test run with a five coach set was made in 1985 and almost broke the 35 min barrier.
It won't win any prizes on this thread, but in similar vein, during the 1970s there was a DMU around 19:00 or 19:30 each evening from Southport to Manchester Victoria which regularly ran as 7, 8 or sometimes 9 cars.
Not going to let you Wiganers loose in decent stock..........all that pie gravy dribbling on the floor......perish the thought!
Brighton-Exeter was also 2x6B for several years
I find this a little unlikely. We actually saw this train passing Taunton that year (various posts by me here, passim), growling slowly (it was slow, and did growl, westbound out of Taunton) it was an 8-coach Swindon Inter-City Class 124 formation that year (later changed to Hymek hauled stock). Now they might have tagged on a 3-car Class 120 on a key summer Saturday, getting up to 11 cars (though we never saw such). 15 cars, down to 12, implies five 3-car units, which I think is beyond the capabilities of the Walker Bros multiple unit control panel, the blue lights to the left of the dmu driver.
Unless the back unit was dragged. Dont connect the jumpers, just the vacuum brake hoses.
Unless it was 12 cars plus a three coach tail load. Though dragging three, even if they were old lightweight GWR stock, sounds unlikely.
The 124s were slow enough getting going westbound from Taunton on the flat. They were heavyweight cars and unlike the Trans-Pennines only half the cars were powered. Goodness knows what speed they were down to over Whiteball. I think tail traffic would not be permitted.
You are right that 4-car sets, certainly at order/delivery, seemed to be an NER thing, with the guard's compartment in the intermediate trailer; the LMR more favoured joining up 2-car units for the same length, while the WR went for 3-car sets. It ensured it was always first class at both ends with the view. Some of them later moved on, I recall one in the Scottish Region in the 1970s.
That would be the GNER 11-car 254s
They weren't 254s when GNER had them...
DEMUs though!
Nope. Locos + coaches on the system.
Yes, there has been a 12-car formation, but only as an ECS movement. Notably this was the case when services operated into/out of Birmingham New Street. As you rightly point out Marylebone can only accommodate 10 cars, although Platform 4 used to be 11 prior to the construction of Platforms 5 & 6. The other platforms are even more restrictive, so as can be appreciated will restrict passenger services under standard operating conditions.
This just brought something to mind. In mid-2000, eight 101 power cars ran under their own power from Corkerhill to Longsight (reversing in Glasgow Central). We've already determined that there were only enough indicators in the cab for six power cars, so how was this done? A similar move took place a week later with the cars hauled by a 37 - something sticks in my mind about the first move being stopped somewhere due to the fire bells ringing.
