Things you don't see in trains any longer

[Western 52]

Just for a bit of nostalgia really, but what items are no longer seen in UK trains (other than preserved trains of course)?

A few things that come to mind:-
Bars of soap and roller towels in washrooms.
Tungsten light bulbs.
Compartments.
Paper destination labels.
Round red no smoking stickers on windows.

Over to you....

 

[bishdunster]

Ashtrays and red triangular no smoking signs, sometimes in the same compartment !!!

 

[Ashley Hill]

Blue totem shaped first class signs on windows.
Communication cords.
Ticket clippings all over the floor.
Hard toilet paper.

 

[Howardh]

Someone will jump in and say passengers but I won't! Instead I'll offer a guard/goods coach, I'm sure as a nipper walking down long distance trains there was a coach (part of) where goods like newspapers were carried; maybe even a storage area for suitcases, prams etc which was caged, locked and inaccessible to the pax?

 

[Western 52]

Blue totem shaped first class signs on windows.
Communication cords.
Ticket clippings all over the floor.
Hard toilet paper.

I'd forgotten that awful toilet paper! Some things have certainly changed for the better.

 

[Gloster]

Little notices telling you which part of the British Empire the wood panelling came from.
The magic word Beclawat on the windows.

 

[barringtoncem]

I maybe wrong but i think the intercity trains had cardphones in the vestibules unless the memory is playing tricks !

 

[Western 52]

I maybe wrong but i think the intercity trains had cardphones in the vestibules unless the memory is playing tricks !

Oh yes I remember them. Only in first class though?

 

[Ashley Hill]

Beclawat

Beckett,Laycock and Watkins IIRC.

I maybe wrong but i think the intercity trains had cardphones in the vestibules unless the memory is playing tricks !

I remember both HSTs and 158s having them. They were expensive to use.

 

[Gloster]

Beckett,Laycock and Watkins IIRC.

Watkinson. The company started in London, but for twenty or so years has only been based in Canada.

 

[Railsigns]

A handle to control the steam heating.

 

[Howardh]

A handle to control the steam heating.

Those metal-grill slidey things with a knob, part of or above the window? Or was that for fresh air??

 

[hexagon789]

I maybe wrong but i think the intercity trains had cardphones in the vestibules unless the memory is playing tricks !

HST sets
WCML Mk3 sets
WCML Mk2F sets
XC Mk2E/F sets (in the buffer car)
ECML Mk4 sets
158s (except WYPTE 158/9s)
159s
442s

In all cases in a First Class coach, except in 158s.

May be others I've overlooked.

 

[yorksrob]

Those little indentations by the sink that you could rest your cigarette in while on the toilet !

Also, curtains (particularly orange ones)

 

[Railsigns]

Those metal-grill slidey things with a knob, part of or above the window? Or was that for fresh air??

It was a big clunky metal handle that was turned by hand like a doorknob.

 

[weepingwillowb]

Framed pictures on compartment walls. And weren't there also mirrors in compartments sometimes?

 

[swt_passenger]

Portable tables that were kept near the guards van. If you were quick you could get one and clip it into position in your compartment.

 

[xotGD]

Luggage racks made of string.

Staff wearing hats.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Plastic water cans for flushing toilets during extremely cold weather. (water tanks would be drained to prevent damage)

 

[Fyldeboy]

HST sets
WCML Mk3 sets
WCML Mk2F sets
XC Mk2E/F sets (in the buffer car)
ECML Mk4 sets
158s (except WYPTE 158/9s)
159s
442s

In all cases in a First Class coach, except in 158s.

May be others I've overlooked.

I know some GW HSTs also had them at the 'standard' end of the buffet counter

 

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

Abandoned newspapers on the trains at termini station (Metro excepted)

 

[Springs Branch]

- First Class accommodation provided as a matter of course in 2-car DMUs on provincial branch lines (e.g. Preston-Colne, Middlesbrough-Whitby) and on all secondary main lines (Crewe-Cardiff, Birmingham-Norwich)
- Orange curtains in First Class compartments on above DMUs.
- Paper stickers indicating declassification of a First Class compartment on secondary routes (which the cognoscenti might "collect" for possible future use)

 

[Ken H]

Plastic water cans for flushing toilets during extremely cold weather. (water tanks would be drained to prevent damage)

Plastic cans for delivering drinking water to signalboxes. Remember them on Settle Station with 'Blea Moor' written on in pen. They went in the guards van. Train stopped specially to drop em off.

Parcels all over stations. Especially baskets of racing pigeons.

Are there any buffet cars still or is it all trolleys now?

Umbrella racks under the luggage rack.

Handwritten reserved labels held down with a screw clip so it tickled the back of your neck. Were the labels red?

 

[zwk500]

Pushing the boundary of the OP a little, but a commuter only half-in the train preparing to leap out as it pulled into the terminus. Also, every bay/compartment having it's own door (not sure if that counts as 'in the train' or not).

 

[contrex]

"SMOKING" etched on compartment windows. Or could it have been transfers? Southern railway '3' sets which I rode as a small child when augmented as SUBs.

 

[Lost property]

Those little plugs in toilet floors which you could remove and watch the wheels...I will refrain from mentioning what you may have just deposited also being viewed en route to the track.

 

[Western 52]

Dimmer switches in compartments so you could either sleep easier or get a better view outside in the dark. Also those nice reading lamps they had in compartments, although often they had no bulbs!

 

[Ken H]

The mk1 corridor connections. Scary as a kid. And the cream sheet protecting you from the dirty corridor connection.

And everything had the BR logo on it. Mirrors, soap bars..

The green sinks in DMU toilets with the funny square taps with a lever to press down to get water.

What trains had the leather strap to hold the door windows in the desired position.

Sitting in an SR emu knowing it was nearly time to go when the compressor noise came through the floor. I suppose caused by the driver activating the cab but i dont know. And the whoosh when the driver dumped the air at the terminus.

The thrum from being in the first coach of a diesel loco hauled train. I suppose the low voltage vibration was transmitted via the buffers and drawbar.

On HSTs didnt they have roller blinds in the toiket window for destination labels? Or did i make that up?

 

[D6130]

Fully-openable windows in the middle one of the three second class compartments in Mark 1 CK (corridor composite) carriages....to allow sick or injured people on stretchers to be embarked/disembarked.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Fully-openable windows in the middle one of the three second class compartments in Mark 1 CK (corridor composite) carriages....to allow sick or injured people on stretchers to be embarked/disembarked.

Handy for bellowing out of (not that I did )