Shortest lived stock that saw regular service?

[Ken H]

There's also the Nightstar stock. 0 years, 0 months as far as the UK was concerned...

There is this ^^^
But what about the shorter North of London Eurostars. Were they used in services from Waterloo. I know they were used on the East Coast line but that wasn't the purpose they were procured for.

There is this ^^^
But what about the shorter North of London Eurostars. Were they used in services from Waterloo. I know they were used on the East Coast line but that wasn't the purpose they were procured for.

What happened to the Locos modified for nightstar? I dont know how dedicated they were, or if they got a new sub class, or what they were used for after Nightstar abandonment.

 

[Class15]

There is this ^^^
But what about the shorter North of London Eurostars. Were they used in services from Waterloo. I know they were used on the East Coast line but that wasn't the purpose they were procured for.


What happened to the Locos modified for nightstar? I dont know how dedicated they were, or if they got a new sub class, or what they were used for after Nightstar abandonment.

If you mean the Class 92s, they are all currently with GBRf.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

What happened to the Locos modified for nightstar? I dont know how dedicated they were, or if they got a new sub class, or what they were used for after Nightstar abandonment.

The 37s were stored for a while until some of them (possibly all) were bought by DRS. The 73s were kept at Clapham Yard as "Thunderbirds" for Eurostar (and were occasionally started up and moved around the keep them in working order).

The 37s were renumbered as 37/6s (37601-37612), the 73s stayed as 73/1s.

 

[Krokodil]

We have a winner!

They weren't new stock though.

 

[nw1]

There is this ^^^
But what about the shorter North of London Eurostars. Were they used in services from Waterloo. I know they were used on the East Coast line but that wasn't the purpose they were procured for.

Didn't they later go to France and operate some TGV services while still under Eurostar branding? I'm sure I saw a "Eurostar" operate a service from Lille to somewhere in the far south or west of France once.

Do the PEPs count? Well before my time (early 70s) but I think they only lasted a couple of years.

 

[Train Maniac]

The 37s were stored for a while until some of them (possibly all) were bought by DRS. The 73s were kept at Clapham Yard as "Thunderbirds" for Eurostar (and were occasionally started up and moved around the keep them in working order).

The 37s were renumbered as 37/6s (37601-37612), the 73s stayed as 73/1s.

IIRC one of the Eurostar 73s is preserved at Barry railway centre

 

[Ashley Hill]

Some of the class 17s had less than five years in service.

 

[MadMac]

Various Modernisation Plan acquisitions had very short service lives.

The Craven class 112 and 113 DMUs lasted about 10 years.

The Waggon and Maschinenbau railbuses lasted less than 10 years, though 4 of the 5 were preserved. Some of the other railbuses may have had even shorter lives.

There are also some loco classes with very short BR careers notably the Paxman class 14s none of which worked on BR for more than 5 years, though many went on to have longer careers in industrial use. Various pilot scheme loco classes had careers lasting about 10 years.

Few other candidates:

Battery Multiple Unit

Derby & Met-Camm Lightweight DMUs

Wickham DMUs

NBL Diesel Locomotives (21/29?)

Metro-Vicks Diesel Co-Bo

 

[Ianigsy]

46202 ‘Princess Anne’ had a service life of between six weeks and two months.

The Snowdon Mountain Railway’s No.1 ’L.A.D.A.S’ didn’t even manage a return trip in service.

 

[Harvester]

The last Pacific built (71000) survived only 8 years in BR stock, as did the first Standard Class 5 to be withdrawn!

 

[thedbdiboy]

Can add the LU 72Mk1 stock, which as a fleet managed just 25 years on the Northern Line. A handful of units managed to survive by being incorporated into the Victoria and Bakerloo fleets, the latter still running today. By contrast the virtually identical 72Mk2 stock is still going and is about to touch 50 years with no replacement immediately planned. Funny old world!

The 72 Mk1 stock had saloon guards panels whilst the Mk2 stock had the controls in the cabs to enable conversion to DOO. That minor difference had a big impact on their lifespan!

Did any of the Southern AC stock have short lives, I seem to recall some overhead electrification ending very quickly (Coulsdon North) but given Southern Railway’s parsimonious nature I suspect there was a fair amount of reuse.

The LBSC Overhead stock was as you suspect rebuilt rather than scrapped.

 

[Rescars]

The LBSC Overhead stock was as you suspect rebuilt rather than scrapped.

In some instances quite drastically. The power car frames reappeared as Queen Mary brake vans.

 

[Harvester]

46202 ‘Princess Anne’ had a service life of between six weeks and two months.

If wrecks are included then A4 4469 ‘Sir Ralph Wedgwood’ survived in service for only 4 years!

 

[Magdalia]

The two locomotives D1671 and D6983, withdrawn after the December 1965 collision at Bridgend, were both less than a year old.

But, for the purposes of this discussion, surely what matters are the dates that whole fleets were introduced and withdrawn from service, not individual specimens?

 

[lyndhurst25]

The Tram Power City Class tram never even managed to enter service on the Blackpool tramway. It went up in flames during testing in early 2007.

 

[Cricketer8for9]

In some instances quite drastically. The power car frames reappeared as Queen Mary brake vans.

Thanks

 

[Taunton]

46202 ‘Princess Anne’ had a service life of between six weeks and two months.

The Snowdon Mountain Railway’s No.1 ’L.A.D.A.S’ didn’t even manage a return trip in service.

Indeed. I do think that's the winner, Ladas being destroyed during its maiden regular service run. Its carriages were also wrecked by the train following, and as different lighter ones then had to be built those would not be rebuilt but go the same way. I wonder what the investors thought ...

Many of the others listed above are adaptations of existing stock that didn't last, or didn't work out, but were not new build.

There have also been a range of prototypes and projects that never saw service at all, though I think of the Eurostar trains the NOL sets were eventually used on the ECML, and then sold to SNCF, while the Nightstar stock was sold to Canada, so these were all found a use in service, just not their originally intended one, which is actually not uncommon.

46202 was about 20 years old when destroyed in the Harrow accident, but had been recently rebuilt with a different form of steam propulsion. Everything else on the loco, frames, boiler etc, stayed the same.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

The Snowdon Mountain Railway’s No.1 ’L.A.D.A.S’ didn’t even manage a return trip in service.

With a name like that, it's no surprise!

If we're doing individual examples now, how about 70012? Didn't even get off the boat unscathed!

 

[ac6000cw]

If we're doing individual examples now, how about 70012? Didn't even get off the boat unscathed!

AFAIK, as it didn't actually enter service, not sure that counts?

How about the SR 'Leader' steam locos - five ordered, only one completed for trials in June 1949 (the other four were only partly built) and by 1951 all were being cut up for scrap...

 

[Taunton]

A good number of locomotives, especially steam, were lost in delivery. Well known are the numbers lost in WW2, but there were others, UK builders lost several from ships - I think a number headed for New Zealand railways are at the bottom of the ocean. Standard shipping terms are FOB, Free On Board, which is that the purchaser takes delivery and responsibility when it is loaded on the ship, so such are the customer railway's stock. Again, not the original question.

 

[Magdalia]

Standard shipping terms are FOB, Free On Board, which is that the purchaser takes delivery and responsibility when it is loaded on the ship, so such are the customer railway's stock. Again, not the original question.

That's brought back memories of working with the product analyses of overseas trade statistics. Exports were valued FOB for free on board and imports were valued CIF for cost, insurance and freight.

If we're doing individual examples now, how about 70012? Didn't even get off the boat unscathed!

But hopefully it was insured.

 

[Trackman]

Some of the class 17s had less than five years in service.

I think they are the winner, we had a thread about this a while back.

 

[43096]

The two locomotives D1671 and D6983, withdrawn after the December 1965 collision at Bridgend, were both less than a year old.

But, for the purposes of this discussion, surely what matters are the dates that whole fleets were introduced and withdrawn from service, not individual specimens?

Amtrak P40 819 was 20 days old when written off.

 

[LUYMun]

The Class 457 and 316 prototype Networker trains.

 

[Ashley Hill]

This EMD loco suffered an unfortunate “earth fault” during its delivery when the crane’s chains snapped. It was written off.

 

[Krokodil]

Ladas being destroyed during its maiden regular service run. Its carriages were also wrecked by the train following, and as different lighter ones then had to be built those would not be rebuilt but go the same way.

That's not quite true. One of the two coaches was damaged by No. 2, and was rebuilt as an open coach with a shortened underframe. It was later rebuilt as a caboose for internal use. The other five Lancaster coaches survived until the 2010s, (rebuilt as properly enclosed coaches in the 1950s), two of which are still in service (with new bodies), the other three existing as underframes.

Two further coaches were ordered from SIS in the 1920s, again enclosed in the 1950s and bodies scrapped in the 2010s.

A purpose-built open carriage was delivered a couple of years after, ending up as a bogie flat and got scrapped after WWII. Possibly built by Ashbury.

 

[eldomtom2]

With a name like that, it's no surprise!

If we're doing individual examples now, how about 70012? Didn't even get off the boat unscathed!

Didn't 70012 get shipped back to GE and used as a depot shunter?

 

[xotGD]

The APT had a very short service life.

 

[Rescars]

AFAIK, as it didn't actually enter service, not sure that counts?

How about the SR 'Leader' steam locos - five ordered, only one completed for trials in June 1949 (the other four were only partly built) and by 1951 all were being cut up for scrap...

Perhaps we should have a separate thread for vehicles which needed substantial modification before they were fit for traffic. William Dean designed a number of experimental locomotives for the GWR c1890, all of which were substantially rebuilt before they were used in regular service. IIRC no 9 was initially designed as a 4-2-4T, which excelled itself by derailing and falling into a turntable pit the first time it moved under its own power. It earned its keep after it had been reconstructed as a more conventional tender 2-2-2.

 

[Harvester]

Apart from the prototype, the SR 2-6-4T ‘River Class’ only ran for a couple of years as tank engines, before being rebuilt as ‘Class U’ 2-6-0 tender locos.