Were any 158s ever painted in NSE livery

[WillPS]

Still, you'd think that rather than reclassify the 3-car 158s as 159s they'd have brought the 159s in line with 158s?

 

[starrymarkb]

The braking system isn't different it was the coupling, so that a Class 158 and Class 159 were not compatable

As built the 159s had 4 step brakes, the 158s had three step. This meant there was an extra contact on the coupler. It was possible to couple them to another sprinter but only in a certain order (IIRC the sprinter had to lead the 159). This was reported in RAIL around the time the units were being built. They've since been modded for flexibility. *

Though it's possible that 4 step braking was proposed but then not fitted and RAIL got the wrong end of the stick.

 

[paul1609]

I think that class 159s had a special arrangement for locking the front vestible out of use to passengers. The idea being that it was reserved for the use of the driver to go to signal post telephones on the busy approaches to Waterloo. Class 158s were not permitted in to Waterloo for some years because they lacked this arrangement,

 

[starrymarkb]

That was standard NSE Spec, 442s pre-refurb had the same setup (and may still do so), SWT have similarly modded the 159/1s and their 158s.

The door is locked while the front desk is keyed but is available as an emergency exit by breaking a glass fire alarm style release.