Very basic questions (sorry)

A Driving Motor is a motor car with a cab containing controls for driving 'in service'. A Non-Driving Motor is also a motor car, but with no cab or controls. (Some special types of NDM have rudimentary controls in a cupboard for shunting moves).

A Driving Motor has four axles, A B C and D. An 'A' DM has the cab at the 'A' axle end, a 'D' DM has it at the 'D' axle end.

I have no idea what a 'MS' might be!

The train is made up of four different car types. These cars are arranged to make up a seven or eight car train.
The four car types are;
Driving motor car
The (DM) car has a driving cab, an auto coupler (for emergency use only), traction current collection shoes, high voltage box, shed receptacle box, compressor, motor converter module and four traction motors
Motor one car
The M1 car has a battery pack, auxiliary converter module, motor converter module and four traction motors.
Motor two or Motor two de-icing car
The M2 car has a motor converter module and four traction motors. The M2D car is the same as an M2 car with the addition of de-icing equipment
Motor shoe gear car
The (MS) car has traction current collecting shoes, high voltage box, shed receptacle box, motor converter module and four traction motors

The DM is 21xxx
the M1 is 22xxx
the M2 is 23xxx
The De-icing car if applicable uses 25xxx
The NS is 24xxx

Hope this helps
Paul

Hi All

Thank you very much for your replies. 

I think I now understand a lot more about different types of cars and about the numbering on "S" stock trains. However I will need to read a bit more to understand numbering systems on other stock. 

I do have a few more questions. (apologies in advance)

1. Are M2D cars used only in winter months when there is likely to be ice on the tracks? In other word are they used on days when there is no risk of ice or even in the summer? (As M2 cars with the deicing equipment unused/switch off). Or do they sit unused for most of the year?

2. Whats a shed receptacle box?

3. (last question for now, promise) Is there a list of what stock type is currently in use and on what line? 

Thanks

Alex

TubePrune's website has a section on power supply in depots that includes photographs of shed receptacle boxes in use. www.trainweb.org/tubeprune/tractioncurr.htm#in Depots

The latter - it is simpler to consider the situation as being that some M2 cars have de-icing equipment. When there is likely to be ice about, the units with those cars are usually rostered in such a way that all lines are covered, but at other times the distinctoin is irrelevent. Most stocks have deicing cars - for example in the 1992 stock they are identifiable by the middle digit being a "4". For obvious reasons neither the W&C nor Victoria lines need them.

C Stock were entirely interchangeable from when the C77s were introduced into the three Line mixed fleet.

But weren't some of the components slightly different, mainly to do with the C69 design using imperial dimensions whilst the C77 design used metric. Or was this an urban legend - I'm not entirely sure. From an operational point, you could couple the 2 different ones together and they would get along without having a hissy fit but you would need to maintain different spares for the different stocks - or could you just roughly make it all fit together?



Wasn't the H&C still technically the met at that point - albeit largely separated from day to day mainline operation?

Tut, in an effort to introduce some pedantry into this thread we should also acknowledge the Class 485 and 486 (Standard stock) and Class 483 (1938 tube stock) which while no long in use on the Underground have been, and in the case of the Class 483 still are, in everyday revenue service on the Isle of Wight.

They also appear to have numbered ex-LT stock backwards numerically dependent on date of introduction. Anybody got any idea why?

To give a historical context to Rincewind's reply, the Underground Group classified each new type of surface stock by a letter of the alphabet, starting from A and running through to R for the first post-war units (but omitting I and J, and using H twice!) The Metropolitan Railway was independent until 1933, but from about 1950 the remaining ex-Met stock was calssified with the next two letters, S (just one unit) and T. This tradition was broken in the 1960s and 70s with the new A (Amersham), C (Circle) and D (District) stocks (although both A and C stock were both subsequently used on other routes as well), and now the S (surface) stock. Detail differences between compatible vehicles were distinguished by a year code, e.g R38 (converted from Q38 stock), R47 (new steel-bodied) and R49 (new aluminium bodied)

Most of the original Victorian and Edwardian deep Tube lines started with cars with open platforms with manually-operated gates (hence"gate stock"), either working as units or hauled by locos on the CSLR and CLR. These were gradually replaced between the wars by so-called "standard" stock with power-operatred doors - there was in fact some variety in deatail but they all followed the same pattern, with an equipment cubicle mounted above each power bogie, of which there were three in a seven-car train. These of course took up valuable passenger space. The standard stock was made up of individual cars that could be coupled together in any order provided there was a cab at each end of the train.

From the late 1930s, it became possible to make electric traction motors small enough to fit under the floor, although you needed a lot of them to power a train - typically a 7-car train needed ten power bogies - and some equipment was only installed on certain cars, therefore requiring fixed formations. As these were not compatible with the "standard" stock they became identified by the year of order/ planned introduction (sometimes the latter was rather optimistic). The classic 1938 and 1959 stocks were of this type, the post-war units having a markedly different appearance due to their aluminium bodies but being basically the same underneath. (The 1935 and 1956 stocks were prototypes, and the 1949 and 1962 were repeat orders, for the two basic types). All Tube lines used one or more of these types at various times in history.

The Central and Victoria lines have always had longer platforms, allowing eight cars of standard length - typicaly two 4-car units instead of the 3+4 traditionally used on other lines.

Starting with the prototype 1960 stock, and continuing with 1967 and 1972 stock, further improvments in engineering allowed eight power bogies to be enough for a seven or eight car train. It should be noted that 1973, 1983, 1995 and 1996 stock cars are longer than the standard length, allowing a six car train to occupy approximately the length of seven cars of "standard" length.

Numbering: from the beginning of London Transport in 1933 all cars it inherited had 4-digit numbers, the first digit signifyng whether it was a driving motor (2,3,4), a control trailer (driving trailer) (5,6), or a trailer (7,8,9), and also whether it was ex-District (4,8), ex-Met (2,6,9) or Tube (3,5,7). (1 was used for elderly wooden bodied Ditsrict stock, and three digit numbers for the ex-Met loco-hauled stock)
Starting in 1938, 5-digit numbers were introduced, the first digits being 10, 11 or 12 (for 1938 stock), 13 or 14 (for O and P stock), 2 (for R stock), 3 (for 1949 stock), 4 (for 1956 stock), 5 (for converted O and P stock) , 7 (for standard stock converted to run with 1938 stock) and 9 (for 1938 stock modifoied for the 9-car project).

From 1959, with almost all the pre-1933 stock gone, 4-digit numbers could be resurrected - tube stock starting 1 or 3 (motor), 2 or 4 (trailer), and 9 (non-driving motor, although the 1972 stock UNDMs are numbered in the 34xx series) and surface stock being 5 or 7 for driving motors, 6 for trailers, and 8 for non-driving motors. Three exceptions: 1973 stock has three-digit numbers, the prototype 1986 stock had two-digit numbers, and the D stock trailers have five-digit numbers starting 17xxx). All TfL stock since 1992 have also had 5-digit numbers, starting 1 (2009 stock), 2 (S stock), 3 (the Overground's class 378s), 5 (1995 stock, and the Overground's class 172s, in the 59xxx series), 6 (the ex-BR Waterloo & City stock) and 9 (1992 and 1996 stock).

Camperdown9

I've been watching this thread with interest over the past few days and have been impressed with how this thread has developed.

No such things as a daft question IMO... if you don't know you ask, and as a result I've learnt a few things too.

Many thanks