I say that like I'm an old sweat, but I'm a few days short of being 31. MK1 slamdoor EMUs were withdrawn when I was 10 years old, and the 'Heritage' Lymington CIGs were still going when I was 15 (which I visited regularly to make the most of). When I was a child I used to go out of my way to spot MK1 EMUs as they were my favourite. I remember travelling on the then 'new' 375/6s when going on family outings to the Kent Coast, and I remember the huge difference and quality they had when new, it was a complete transformation compared to the Mk1s they replaced. When I was a teenager in the early 2010s, I had a girlfriend in Canterbury and each weekend I'd travel between Bromley South and Canterbury and would always be so appreciative when a 375/6 turned up. Unfortunately the interiors these days are all pretty standardised. I think the South Central 377/1 had an alright interior, but they never matched the first batch of 375/6 that Connex SouthEastern ordered. As I say, Connex had a quite righful awful reputation, but the interior specifications for the 1st Gen Electrostars on SouthEastern was lovely. Anyway enough boring anecdotes from me!
I have some incredibly vague memories from when I was around 2 or 3 of getting on a slam door down to Hastings and then on the way back getting a 375. I think the thing that stood out to me the most was the accessible toilet having a speaker that told you when you had locked the door
Funny enough, my first railway memory is being in the 1st Class compartment of a VEP down to Hastings too, in the summer of 1998... As you probably know, the seats were like sofas! Nothing like we have today! I remember the train back to London was a very brand spanking new Class 365 in Connex colours, which felt like a space ship compared to the VEP. I am biased, but this is exactly why I'm excited for routes like Medway Valley as they are railways in areas I know quite well and the thought of driving a 1st Gen Electrostar on and end to end service just ticks all my boxes as a SR EMU fan.
I am hoping one day we will get the first generation slam door stock, with a suitable period route. In fact one set during the transition to Electrostars would be a good compromise.
As someone in their mid-50s, I grew up with the old slam door EMUs on the LTS line (nowadays c2c). I know there's a lot of nostalgia for those trains now, but at the time that line was rightfully known as the Misery Line as it was so unreliable, to the extent that prices were held down for years to compensate - which is why, to this day, it's much cheaper to travel from Southend to London on c2c than it is on Greater Anglia. Having experienced the much more modern class 321s on Greater Anglia from the late 1980s onwards, while LTS got whatever mishmash of old slam doors that were still running, I was very happy when the 357s finally started rolling out on c2c around 2000, as for the first time it meant LTS got more modern stock - albeit in the early days the software was so temperamental that c2c had to reject the first batch, because they kept breaking down just outside Fenchurch Street or running full aircon when it wasn't needed. I've long argued for the LTS line to be in TSW, set in modern era to make use of the existing layers (SEHS, Suffragette) but with the slam door EMUs as railtours.
I remember when the 357s were introduced. It felt like you were floating out of stations rather than the lurch and shunt of the slam doors. That said I really miss the slam doors and would choose to skip a 357 in favour of a 312 until they was no longer possible. I am looking forward to the electrostar in this route and hope they nail the sounds and ambience including the “bing bong” before any announcements. Hopefully one day a 357 and the LTS will appear. I’d pay good money for that.
