Electrifying the GWR

[teuchter]

Yeah, but I'm talking about in the real world. In the real world as many people get on a train as want to get on it, no matter how many seats there are. A lot of the extremely busy trains would be less busy if people opted to travel on other, less busy, services. But they don't, because they either don't want to, or they can't.

In the real world, many people (eg older, or travelling with children, or wanting to get work done) won't do a long journey unless they can reserve a seat. So, trains with more seats allow the operators to sell more tickets to people in this category, especially on services where demand is high and they can sell those seats at full price.

However, the danger of course is that if they make things too cramped they will drive some people away to coaches or planes, because part of the advantage of the train is lost if it's no longer more comfortable than an easyjet flight.

 

[Crispy]

HSTs have started to be repainted in the new livery. I like.

GWR 43188 + 43187 - Exeter St Davids - 25.09.15 by Exeter Trains Photostream, on Flickr

 

[teuchter]

So much better than the old and horrible one.

 

[davesgcr]

Only one set being done - short life and all that .....

 

[Crispy]

Only one set being done - short life and all that .....

oh
Well, roll on the new trains!
Any news on resignalling btw? Plenty of the GWML is already good for >125mph

 

[davesgcr]

oh
Well, roll on the new trains!
Any news on resignalling btw? Plenty of the GWML is already good for >125mph

It is the progress of electrification that is the grave concern at the moment - a "plan" should be released in October - not going well to say the very least. In terms of signalling - Swindon to Paddington has been renewed -(and the Cardiff - Newport area is in progress - albeit with delays) but there remains the whole complex Bristol area - and west of Bridgend. !
I am still promising a pint all round at Swansea when the first electric rolls in .....may be some time though.

 

[teuchter]

From a self-interest point of view I will be pleased if delays in electrification mean the HSTs get a bit of a stay of execution.

 

[Dogsauce]

I'm just hoping the replacement stock order for the east coast fucks up, I like the Mk4 stock and separate DVT to stick my bike in. Maybe an open-access company will keep it going (or will it get cascaded to the Norwich line, the usual recipient of second-hand electric express stock?)

 

[Crispy]

I'm just hoping the replacement stock order for the east coast fucks up, I like the Mk4 stock and separate DVT to stick my bike in. Maybe an open-access company will keep it going (or will it get cascaded to the Norwich line, the usual recipient of second-hand electric express stock?)

AFAIK, the East Coast IEP trains will only replace the HST diesels that travel beyond the wires. The electric loco-hauled trains still have plenty of life in them.

 

[davesgcr]

From a self-interest point of view I will be pleased if delays in electrification mean the HSTs get a bit of a stay of execution.

Good , hard working trains - ruined by the "Tombstone" seating in "standard" - compare to a smartened up and "original" seating in the East Midlands trains ....hope for better in the class 800's.

 

[teuchter]

Good , hard working trains - ruined by the "Tombstone" seating in "standard"

That and the lighting.
And the colour scheme.

 

[davesgcr]

That and the lighting.
And the colour scheme.

And the tinted glass - only a few tables etc etc. Ok for a 30 min hop to Reading - but not for 5 hours to Cornwall. No mention of rock hard seats either.

 

[Crispy]

Remember Wrexham & Shropshire's refurbished Mk3s? All big soft comfy chairs and tables at every window. Sigh.

 

[teuchter]

Remember Wrexham & Shropshire's refurbished Mk3s? All big soft comfy chairs and tables at every window. Sigh.

View attachment 77390

They've remained good after the Chiltern refurb too. Although they have spoilt everyone's fun by getting rid of the slam doors with openable windows.

 

[Crispy]

They've remained good after the Chiltern refurb too. Although they have spoilt everyone's fun by getting rid of the slam doors with openable windows.

I do enjoy watching foreign tourists wrestle with them.
"Il est le 2010's et I have to lean out of this window and use this dirty upside-down door handle to get off le train?" "Quell kind of backwards country train are vous all running ici?

 

[teuchter]

I do enjoy watching foreign tourists wrestle with them.

And many people under the age of about 25.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Can have a crafty fag out of the window too.

 

[bi0boy]

Can have a crafty fag out of the window too.

Or a crafty decapitation. My dad used to warn me when I was like 10 and liked to lean out the window when the train was in motion. I figured you'd need a pretty long neck to come to harm on the nearside.

 

[Belushi]

Or a crafty decapitation. My dad used to warn me when I was like 10 and liked to lean out the window when the train was in motion. I figured you'd need a pretty long neck to come to harm on the nearside.

Yeah, I remember a really gruesome one on a doc I saw about some students on their way to University Challenge.

 

[Bungle73]

Or a crafty decapitation. My dad used to warn me when I was like 10 and liked to lean out the window when the train was in motion. I figured you'd need a pretty long neck to come to harm on the nearside.

 

[teuchter]

Or a crafty decapitation. My dad used to warn me when I was like 10 and liked to lean out the window when the train was in motion. I figured you'd need a pretty long neck to come to harm on the nearside.

I like to stand by the open window sometimes. The main danger is foliage, and it can still whack you even if you're not actually leaning beyond the line of where the glass woudl be. I think it's more risky than it used to be because they don't seem to keep the foliage cut back (perhaps because there are now not many trains with windows you can open). On a double track line I'll tend to the other side for this reason.

 

[davesgcr]

Can have a crafty fag out of the window too.

As Charles Kennedy did.

Love kicking them shut at places like Swindon - platform despatchers recognise old school railway practices ...

 

[existentialist]

Or a crafty decapitation. My dad used to warn me when I was like 10 and liked to lean out the window when the train was in motion. I figured you'd need a pretty long neck to come to harm on the nearside.

Mostly you do, but there are the occasional surprises. I used to enjoy hanging out of the window on the old slam-door trains out of Waterloo, but was always quite wary of upcoming lineside furniture.

The only time I really came a cropper was a trip along a more, ah, leafy, line that probably hadn't had its annual haircut, when I got a right swipe across the face from what was probably only a 40mph twig, but it bloody hurt.

Didn't stop me, though

 

[davesgcr]

Slightly off subject - coming back from Dorking in 1980 on an ancient slam door unit - we wondered why there was a gentle mist of water - on a cloudless day.

Scrote in next compartment having a mobile slash out of the window...

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Slightly off subject - coming back from Dorking in 1980 on an ancient slam door unit - we wondered why there was a gentle mist of water - on a cloudless day.

Scrote in next compartment having a mobile slash out of the window...

How much truth is there to the story of guards pissing out the back of the train after the third rail was laid down coming a cropper? Always sounded like bollocks to me.

 

[teuchter]

davesgcr do you know what the rules are on openable train windows, for new stock?

One of my simple pleasures when taking the sleeper up to the Scottish Highlands is to be able to open a window in the morning and get a gasp of truly fresh air. And in the summer it's nice to stand by the window with a coffee instead of being sealed in an air conditioned box. So I am sadly counting the days left before the mk3 stock is replaced with the new tin cans. I actually wrote to Serco/Caledonian Sleeper asking if the new trains would have any facility to open a window (photographers like it too, and there are often several cameras pointing out of the open windows on the Fort William train particularly). Eventually they got back to me saying there wouldn't because the rules don't allow it on new stock. Do you know if this is true, or were they fobbing me off?

 

[davesgcr]

How much truth is there to the story of guards pissing out the back of the train after the third rail was laid down coming a cropper? Always sounded like bollocks to me.

Yet another urban myth - though a pissed Scottish driver fell out of his cab near Motherwell apparently - set the train into "coast" (before vigilance devices) - and landed on the bank - guard pulled the train up after it ran through Motherwell at about 10 mph - to find an empty cab. Track search found the driver unharmed - bar the loss of his job instantly. Turns out he had 4 hours to kill at Carlisle on a winters evening and the pub beckoned. These "temptation turns" were taken out and better monitoring put in place.

 

[davesgcr]

davesgcr do you know what the rules are on openable train windows, for new stock?

One of my simple pleasures when taking the sleeper up to the Scottish Highlands is to be able to open a window in the morning and get a gasp of truly fresh air. And in the summer it's nice to stand by the window with a coffee instead of being sealed in an air conditioned box. So I am sadly counting the days left before the mk3 stock is replaced with the new tin cans. I actually wrote to Serco/Caledonian Sleeper asking if the new trains would have any facility to open a window (photographers like it too, and there are often several cameras pointing out of the open windows on the Fort William train particularly). Eventually they got back to me saying there wouldn't because the rules don't allow it on new stock. Do you know if this is true, or were they fobbing me off?

davesgcr do you know what the rules are on openable train windows, for new stock?

One of my simple pleasures when taking the sleeper up to the Scottish Highlands is to be able to open a window in the morning and get a gasp of truly fresh air. And in the summer it's nice to stand by the window with a coffee instead of being sealed in an air conditioned box. So I am sadly counting the days left before the mk3 stock is replaced with the new tin cans. I actually wrote to Serco/Caledonian Sleeper asking if the new trains would have any facility to open a window (photographers like it too, and there are often several cameras pointing out of the open windows on the Fort William train particularly). Eventually they got back to me saying there wouldn't because the rules don't allow it on new stock. Do you know if this is true, or were they fobbing me off?

No specific rules for or against (bar the inevitable elf and safety ruling) - to be fair - over the years there have been a good number of "incidents" - driving cabs have to have am opening window for look back / operational purposes.

 

[teuchter]

Hm. This is what they told me:

These safety standards are set by the UK rail regulator. We have a requirement to meet these, as well as those set out by the EU.
Although it would be great to be able to breathe in some Highland air in the morning, the regulations won't allow it.

So were they telling porkies?

 

[Dogsauce]

The skill was sticking your face out of the window and whipping it round fast enough to read the number of a passing train going the other direction (at a relative speed of 100mph+). Easy with the large-logo (and numbered) class 50s, less so with other stock.