Merseyrail legacy fleet memories (Class 507/508)

[Formby EMU Fan]

Moderator note - split from

Merseyrail legacy fleet updates (Class 507/508)

Hi all, Looked at all other Merseyrail 507/508 fleet discussions but threads have been locked so have created this new thread for the time being. Posted on the Mersey Railways group on Facebook that 508143 will be leaving Kirkdale in the early hours of Tuesday morning and going to Derby R.T.C...

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Glad I got a final ride on a 507 on what turned out to be the penultimate day of service. I remember riding on them when they were new, when they seemed so futuristic compared to every other train running in the north of England at the time. 46 years service ain’t bad.

I think we all have fond memories of these units. I can remember riding them with my Nan in the 80's just after the new Link tunnel opened. In those days on sunny days Merseyrail used to run the units with the saloon lights off, and on the approach into the Tunnel from Sandhills the Guard had to remember to turn them on, sometimes he forgot and the Passengers would get the spooky "Star Wars" effect from the Engineering lights in the tunnel if they were on. This practice appeared to have ceased by the 90's when I was using the train daily to go to Uni as they left the lights on all the time for trains carrying passengers and have done so ever since. Does anybody know exactly when Merseyrail adopted this policy?