Does anyone have information on how the door controls work on the class 465 in real life? I know that in-game, if you press the ALL button then all doors on the same side of the train as the panel are opened. Is this how it works in real life? What are the other buttons supposed to do? (e.g. how is "forward" supposed to work? There are no doors to the forward of the cab!) What is that black button for?
As far as I know to open the doors normally you'd need to press ALL and the one on the left (it is standard in UK rollingstock for two buttons to be pressed at the same time to open the doors). As for R and F this is part of the weird SDO on the Networkers where the driver can choose to open all doors except the first or last. I am not sure how this would work but I presume you'd press R or F and RELEASE at the same time.
Maybe the R/F buttons do a similar thing to the M7 from USA, where the conductor can open the doors forward of the cab or aft of it. I think the black circle might be there because of the guard's key slot on the other side. Maybe the manufacturer made it so that they can easily apply the panel to either side, by simply removing the black circle to reveal the guard key slot. That is all just speculation though! Like I said, all speculation!
I thought front doors opens the doors on the first 4 carriages and rear doors opens the doors on the rear 4 carriages? Incase your train is longer than the platform. And all doors opens all the doors on that side.
This is what I thought too - such behavior is similar to the Amfleet 1s and Bombardier bi-level commuter cars as well. however, in the 465s, the buttons are in the cab, so there are rarely any doors to the forward of the cab! Are guards expected to sit in the cab in the middle of doubled-up trains? I was doing a BML run with a mod that substitutes the 465 for the 377 and 387, and for the first time ever, I got the F and R buttons to work! (I was running a double consist.) The F button opened the first three cars on the eight car train while the R button opened the rear 3. I have no idea what the behavior would be like on a single train and I can't test it because I've not been able to recreate the behavior since! In any case, I'm assuming that IRL the doors never actually open, regardless of which buttons you press, they only unlock, right?
Correct, they only unlock, but Selective door operation still applies (I don't know how it works on a Networker). On some trains, you can open the doors from the cab though. If you look very carefully at the Class 465, you will find no guard's compartment. The guard really does sit in the cab of coach number 4 when they are not checking tickets - it provides a good vantage point for monitoring the platform when stopped at a station. Same goes for the Electrostars, Turbostars, Networkers, Networker Turbos, Desiros, Aventras, Javelins, etc. There aren't many train left in the UK with a dedicated guard's compartment.
Guard's compartments were included on Desiros but were removed as guards preferred not to use them and the space could be used for passengers. As for people asking about the SDO on the Networkers, it is as I described. Either all bar the first or last coach.
I didn't know any of what you said Doomotron! Thanks for telling me. Did the Desiro Citys have guard's compartments or were they built without them? Is there a way to know where the guard's compartment used to be on a Desiro? What happens if two Networker coaches are off the platform? Does that ever happen?
SWT Guards used their offices - LM/WMT did not That said the offices are being removed now to make more space for seating because current gov policy to to maximise seating
Desiros Cities do not have guards compartments. They are effectively different trains entirely to the Desiros other than on a technical level. As for SDO, Networker formations are designed to never exceed the maximum length of the platforms on the route, which is why 8 or 10 coach formations are often used on SE metro routes when 12 would be far more useful. This is an issue that is hard to fix as platforms in this region are often too hard to extend - even at termini. Only St Pancras is a SE terminus where all platforms are 12 coaches long. Blackfriars, Cannon Street, Charing Cross and Victoria are all limited partially or completely to shorter lengths.
On Networkers the buttons work as follows: Release - To be pressed at the same time as whatever selected release to prevent accidental release with one button. When the Release button is depressed at the same time as: F - Every door on the formation on that side except theast carriage will release. ALL - All the doors will be released. R - Every door on the formation on that side except the front carriage will release. These buttons are not used anymore and only buttons used will be RELEASE + ALL. There is still signs up in some locations where these buttons used to be used. At London Charing Cross on platforms 4, 5 and 6 you'll see a sign saying Networker SDO F. This is becuase the platforms are only 11 carriages long and they used to bring 12 cars in and use the F release to release all but the last coach. Now days these signs are redundant as 12 Car Networkers are only allowed on platforms 1, 2 and 3 where 12 cars can be fully accommodated. 12 car 375s can call in any platform thanks to a more advanced SDO system. The networker also has an additional set of door release buttons in the area where the cab door controls are that allow only the leading coach to be released, these were used at Hoo Junction if a stop to pick up or drop off staff was required at the staff halt. Hope this all helps! Kieran. Edit: Forgot to add. The black button is used to deploy sand manually.
Also applies to M8 the American equivalent to 387/2 377/2 377/5 377/7 710 700 717 & 378 OHLE Third Rail EMUs
