SR Class 2-NOL


The Southern Railway gave the designation 2-NOL to the electric multiple units built during the 1930s from old London and South Western Railway carriage bodies on new underframes. None of these units survived long enough in British Rail ownership to be allocated a TOPS class.

Construction

The 2-NOL units were built in 1934–1936 by taking former LSWR carriage bodies, lengthening them, and placing them on new underframes. They were intended for use on slow services on the South Coast and in South London.
The motor third brakes were produced by taking a 48-foot eight-compartment third, removing half of one compartment, and adding on a steel-panelled guard's van and a driving cab. The driving trailer composites were also produced from 48-foot eight-compartment thirds, but two whole compartments were removed, and three first-class compartments from a 46-foot six-compartment lavatory first were added at one end, and a steel-panelled driving cab at the other.

Formations

Initial formations of these units were as follows :
Unit NumbersDMBTDTC
1813–18239861–98719940–9950
1824–18629872–99109961–9999
1863–18828596–86159920–9939
1883–18909781–97889913–9919

Accidents and incidents

Four units were withdrawn between 1941 and 1955. Of these, two units were withdrawn in 1941, one being the result of bomb damage. Two units sustained accidents in 1951, damaging one coach in each unit; but it was possible to form one good unit from the two undamaged coaches, so only one unit needed to be withdrawn. Unit 1853 withdrawn following an accident at Barnes in December 1955, as detailed above. The majority of these units were withdrawn between 1956 and 1959, when the old bodies were scrapped and the underframes were re-used. Four units donated their frames to new 4-EPB coaches, but the frames from 70 units were used to construct 34 new 2-EPB and 36 new 2-HAP units. There remained 31 units in stock in the Summer of 1959, but they had all been withdrawn by the end of August 1959.