A herd of EMU

This is (probably) a type of electric multiple unit known as a 4CEP.


I wrote "probably" because there are lots of similar-looking types and they're very tricky to tell apart. But, assuming I'm right, this is the type of emu that model train manufacturers Bachmann have just started producing.


This has been something of a breakthrough in the UK model train market since emus traditionally haven't sold well (and therefore haven't been produced by the manufacturers). Bachmann are taking a brave punt.


It seems to have paid off because, before the model of the 4CEP had appeared, pre-sales were so promising that Bachmann announced a second emu -- this, a 2EPB (are you keeping up?).


Both types of emu were designed by the Southern Region of British Railways, and introduced from the mid-1950s (and the last of them was only taken out of service in 2005: emus have very long lives).


It looks like this was a shrewd move on Bachmann's part: Hornby has spent the last few years building a strong market for models of Southern steam engines and carriages (the region until now has traditionally been the worst-served of all the four main Group areas), and Bachmann now gets a slice of the action.


CEPs were an express passenger unit, each consisting of 4 carriages, while EPBs were suburban stock, designed to move large numbers of commuters relatively short distances.


Hornby, if rumours are to be believed, is about to announce its own entry into this market: a 4VEP:


VEPs were outer suburban and semi-fast stock for longer-haul routes. Because they were dealing with large passenger volumes they, like the EPBs, have numerous doors down each side of the carriage -- and like all their brethren they are known generically as "slam-door stock".


I'm delighted. These three types were typical of the Southern Region, and for two decades they ploughed the 3rd rail lines in their blue and grey (occasionally, in the mid-1960s, all-over blue) liveries. They are a fixed part of my visual memory.


Which is not to say I wouldn't have preferred Hornby to announce one of these -- a 2BIL designed in the 1930s for long-haul semi-fast services. They have a quirky character that, somehow, the BR(SR) units don't quite achieve. But let's not be greedy, eh?

[In case you're curious, Hornby announce their new range for the year ahead at 00.01 hours on Christmas Day. Check out www.hornby.com. You can find out then if I'm right!]