Twilight of the Merseyrail Class 507s Merseyrail History

A look round the merseyrail network at some of the surviving Merseyrail class 507s. As the final members of the Merseyrail PEPs head for scrap, now is the time to join the preservation efforts. It you want to help save 507001 join the class 507 Preservation society at www.class507.org.uk/
www.buymeacoffee.com/merseywail

[@stepheng7586]

Great video. I will really miss them when they are gone. I'm all for new trains but the 777s really do leave a lot to be desired.........Merseyrail have had more than enough time to iron out any problems with them.

[@Merseywail]

Reliability is annoying, but it took 2 years for the 507s to settle down, except for the Autumn wheelslip problem which took a lot longer

[@samuelfellows6923]

🥰 ~ those trains look similar to the class 313 that ran on the Hertford loop line, the trains from my childhood - we live on Gordon Hill, Enfield in London, and my dad would go to Gordon Hill station and catch the class 313 to Moorgate underground station to his work in an office, like what you have experienced, our trains have been replaced with the class 717 😕

[@Merseywail]

They are very similar to the 313s, as they are from the same family of units that derived from the PEP units trialled on the southern region. The 313, 314, 315, 507 & 508s are all of the same origins. Two 313s were trialled on Merseyside to test for clearance issues prior to the order of the 507s

[@AquaFonic]

Just the SOUND reminds me of the now gone Class 313’s

[@Merseywail]

They do sound almost the same from the motors the blowers & the compressors

[@lovefive5733]

A great video, I've subscribed 😊😊

[@Merseywail]

Cheers for that. Got other Merseyrail videos on my channel you might enjoy

[@lovefive5733]

@@Merseywail many thanks 😊

[@SpekerIsHere697]

Me when im doing nothing: *makes clicking noise of 507*

[@johnmiller1300]

If you ask me they still look good was on one last week nice inside aswell

[@Merseywail]

They do. Don't know what condition they are in under the skin though.

[@marksinthehouse1968]

They still look modern today ,we had the 313,315 and for a while the 508s I travelled on 508s a lot as a lad from Waterloo to Hampton court etc ,when I became a dispatcher at Clapham the trailers left behind were in the 455/7 units so still are running a colleague ask me about this why they look different to be honest the 508 looked better than the 455 ,I hope they restore it fully including refitting correct front lights ,great video they would of looked great in the Merseyside PTE bus livery of is it jade and cream Cheers Mark 😊😊

[@Merseywail]

Yes they still look quite modern even after 45 years. We should have had the 508s from new but they were sent south untill the 455s were built. It would have been interesting to see them in MPTE colours , everything on Merseyside will probably be yellow in a few years thanks to our metro mayor

[@marksinthehouse1968]

@@Merseywailyellow is not bad mate ,Newcastle Tyne and wear always looked modern ,did you hear hattons closing great model ship spent ££££ there don’t tell the Mrs 😊

[@Merseywail]

@@marksinthehouse1968 yes heard about Hattons, remember the first small shop they had in Smithdown rd. Have to admit I didn't buy a lot from there. My layout is mostly pre owned stock. May not be super detail, but I can get 3 locos for what some pay for one. And no delicate small parts to break

[@DefaultMale_]

its a shame that the 508s are now all pulled, and all but 3 are now scrapped

[@marksinthehouse1968]

@@Merseywail I hear you mate

[@dancedecker]

Excellent video and I hope that 507001 gets saved. I have already assisted. I know this is a silly thing, but i love the actual bell that's used to signal from guard to driver that it's safe to depart. It seems like a hark back to rear loader and other half cab buses and even the Liverpool trams, too. Be sorry to see them.go. If saved, will 001 be allowed to operate on Merseyrail metals, or will she just be 'stuffed and mounted'?

[@Merseywail]

The guard signal is something that's missing on the new ones, apart from comfortable seats. I have guarded on heritage buses on the back platform, great fun. Am not sure of the groups plans going forward. Hopefully it can be run in some form somewhere. I would be happy to see it saved even just as a static exhibit.

[@tonyrobertson498]

Another great Merseywail video

[@Merseywail]

Cheers Tony, not long left for them now

[@avidtrainspotting]

Is there any news about 508111? I have been told it was at Crewe, and I also saw a post saying that it had been donated to the Liverpool community. However i'm not sure if either of these are true, and whether it's just a heap of scrap metal now.

[@WezzRail]

508111 wasn't saved.

[@avidtrainspotting]

@@WezzRail How unfortunate. Thanks for letting me know.

[@Merseywail]

It's gone for scrap now. Couldn't get any confirmation on how legitimate that preservation attempt was. Those I asked were not very forthcoming with evidence. It all seemed like fantasy to me. The 507 preservation Society on the other hand is very open & honest & has a good committee in place. They stand a good chance of actually saving a unit.

[@DefaultMale_]

The 508s that aren't scrapped are as followed: 508108, 508114,508104 Then there is also the 508212 in a fire training facility as well as trailer vehicles 64664 and 64707 of the 4 car 508207 turned in to translator coaches.

[@kevingraham2733]

@@DefaultMale_ were are these 508's now then because they are no longer on Merseyrail. I know part of 508101 is at the fire training facility

[@caramelldansen2204]

Yet again it is put to us, the needy and destitute, to fund historical preservation. 😢

[@Merseywail]

It always is, they run the business but not interested in preserving the past

[@caramelldansen2204]

​@@Merseywail With history there's nothing to steal, only more to learn... of course the rich won't do it!

[@AndrewG1989]

Soon it’ll be farewell to the Class 508 as more Class 777s have entered service.

[@Merseywail]

The 508s have already gone only the 507s left now. Hopefully a 507 can be saved. But sad news today. The class 503 unit that was in Margate is to have two of its coaches scrapped. Leaving just the motor coach

[@AndrewG1989]

⁠😢

[@jameshardy4354]

Why was the headlights changed

[@Merseywail]

Just brought in line with modern stock when they were refurbished

[@lukejennings3128]

id like to see a 777 in the BR blue livery

[@Merseywail]

That would be an interesting thing to see. Don't think they will ever do it though

[@johnmiller1300]

The new 777 have to much going on on top of the trains when you see them all boxes and pipes

[@Merseywail]

I think most of things on top are similar, albeit more modern, to what's underneath the 507s. It's up top to allow for the lower floor & level boarding

[@johnmiller1300]

@@Merseywail agreed but not as stream lined looking at it from above

[@Merseywail]

@@johnmiller1300 it does look cluttered & certainly not streamlined. Then again nether did the 100mph + AC West Coast electric locos. I think it's more for ease of maintenance

[@johnmiller1300]

@@Merseywail agreed

[@SmithyScotland]

Question is will the 777's last as long as the 507's? I highly doubt it.

[@Merseywail]

Well I & others at the time said exactly the same thing when the 507s replaced the 502s. Much as I will miss the 507s, I still think the 502s were far better than the 507s. The comfortable seats & window placement was far superior than the 507s

[@FlyingPhysicist]

Is there much reason to think this? A simple DC EMU based on an existing carriage is bound to last well. TOCs are replacing their rolling stock mostly to satisfy leasing cost requirements but the 777s are owned outright by Merseytravel, AFAIK. Beyond that I've no idea why a quality manufacturer like Stadler would produce anything less than an exemplary train. Have you?

[@Merseywail]

@@FlyingPhysicist it would be somewhat commercially suicidal to build something that was substandard especially as they are also the ones who are going to be maintaining them. Their order books will soon dry up if the produced unreliable rubbish. Most of the hate towards them is simply down to the loss of the `PEPs' & the hate for anything foreign. All new stock goes through teething problems, the 507s certainly did

[@DefaultMale_]

@@FlyingPhysicist The results are out, and the 50x series on average has a failiure around every 6 thousand miles. On the other hand, the 777s have a failiure every 504 miles

[@FlyingPhysicist]

@@DefaultMale_ every new service product will have some teething problems

[@andybbeck2043]

there much like southern 313 .

[@Merseywail]

Same family of units. 313, 314, 315, 507 & 508

[@SpekerIsHere697]

Who wants 507001 to be preserved? 👇

[@Merseywail]

Quite a few apparently, though it all depends on how the preservation group do

[@frankrogowski5608]

The 507s have character, and British built too. They do not look out of date, and the 777s are the most ugly unit to have run on British metals!

[@Merseywail]

The 507s have done their job brilliantly they will be much missed. The 777s are no lookers but the prize for the most ugly emu has to go to the Lancashire & Yorkshire emus built for the Bury line. Some the L&Y built for the Southport line coming a close second in ugliest trains top 10. See my video " Merseyrail class 777s . The next generation of electrics"

[@caramelldansen2204]

@@Merseywail The Bury line EMUs are the 504s, right? Which ones do you mean by "L&Y Southport line"?

[@Merseywail]

@@caramelldansen2204 no not the 504s the ones I mean are the original lancashire & Yorkshire 1915 stock. Truly hideous. The Southport ones were a follow on order to the original 1904 stock, introduced around 1909

[@Merseywail]

The Southport ones am on about are in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/qoPTfHefrpeqaassi=ahZ8txHVPvfp-NFX

[@caramelldansen2204]

@@Merseywail Ah, I see now. Thanks for the clarification. They really have a face only a mother could love! I am surprised (or, I was when I first saw them) to see the typically American style of carriage with the ridge on the top being used. Searching it with what I had was no help at all! 8 of the top 10 results were just websites copying wikipedia verbatim!! I swear search engines are getting worse!