126 DMUs on Western Region

[The Stationmaster]

21 hours ago, caradoc said:

In the early 1970s I occasionally travelled (if nothing better was available) on the Oxford-Paddington stopping trains, formed by Class 117 (or as we called them then, Pressed Steels); I recall crossing over at Dolphin Jc, east of Slough, from Up Relief to Up Main and showing a fair turn of speed to Paddington ! This was before 125mph trains on the WR, of course.....

It was the normal routing for the semi-fast DMUs.  More or less all stations Reading to Slough then Ealing Broadway only or non-stop to Paddington;  in the 1966/67 Winter service it was the standard off-peak pattern for the XX.42s off Reading.   What it also meant was that the Thames Valley branches also had a shorter overall journey time to London off-peak than the do today but what really messed up those journey times was taking out the all-stations Slough starters which connected out of the semi-fasts.

 

Incidentally on the subject of DMU coupling codes which sets had the Blue Square with a cream line across it?  Itr appears to have vanished from the Instructions at some time in the 1960s.

 

[russ p]

9 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

It was the normal routing for the semi-fast DMUs.  More or less all stations Reading to Slough then Ealing Broadway only or non-stop to Paddington;  in the 1966/67 Winter service it was the standard off-peak pattern for the XX.42s off Reading.   What it also meant was that the Thames Valley branches also had a shorter overall journey time to London off-peak than the do today but what really messed up those journey times was taking out the all-stations Slough starters which connected out of the semi-fasts.

 

Incidentally on the subject of DMU coupling codes which sets had the Blue Square with a cream line across it?  Itr appears to have vanished from the Instructions at some time in the 1960s.

 

 

Were the ones with the stripe lightweight sets, I may be wrong but I think 100s and 108s may have had them.

It had something to do with instructions about the tonnage that could be added to the rear of such a unit when hauled dead

[The Stationmaster]

54 minutes ago, russ p said:

 

Were the ones with the stripe lightweight sets, I may be wrong but I think 100s and 108s may have had them.

It had something to do with instructions about the tonnage that could be added to the rear of such a unit when hauled dead

I have wiodered if that was indeed the case Russ but haven't come across any official information to confirm it.  There might well be siomething in Regional/Sectional Appendices which ought to confirm it, maybe?

[Clive Mortimore]

1 hour ago, The Stationmaster said:

It was the normal routing for the semi-fast DMUs.  More or less all stations Reading to Slough then Ealing Broadway only or non-stop to Paddington;  in the 1966/67 Winter service it was the standard off-peak pattern for the XX.42s off Reading.   What it also meant was that the Thames Valley branches also had a shorter overall journey time to London off-peak than the do today but what really messed up those journey times was taking out the all-stations Slough starters which connected out of the semi-fasts.

 

Incidentally on the subject of DMU coupling codes which sets had the Blue Square with a cream line across it?  Itr appears to have vanished from the Instructions at some time in the 1960s.

 

There were two sets with the diagonal line through the blue square in the 1960s.

 

One was a class 114 with hydraulic transmission based in Lincolnshire. The other was a 116 in South Wales with lower gearing ratio. There was no operational worry they would be coupled together because they would not have been able to be driven in multiple despite having the same markings.

[keefer]

Railcar mentions that it was due to some incompatibility between the cl.105s and 114s when first introduced.

https://www.railcar.co.uk/type/class-114/coupling-code

Also here (mentions the one cl.116 unit)

https://www.railcar.co.uk/technology/controls/coupling-codes/

[keefer]

On 23/10/2019 at 12:23, Clive Mortimore said:

There were two sets with the diagonal line through the blue square in the 1960s.

 

One was a class 114 with hydraulic transmission based in Lincolnshire. The other was a 116 in South Wales with lower gearing ratio. There was no operational worry they would be coupled together because they would not have been able to be driven in multiple despite having the same markings.

Mention of the cl.116 in another thread: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/132193-class-116-diesel-multiple-units/&do=findComment&comment=3118636

 

[robertcwp]

Interesting comments about the blue square with cream stripe, evident on this unit:

 

DMU_Class_114_Undated by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

 

[russ p]

35 minutes ago, robertcwp said:

Interesting comments about the blue square with cream stripe, evident on this unit:

 

DMU_Class_114_Undated by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

 

 

Is that the hydraulic one Robert? 

[Trainshed Terry]

39 minutes ago, robertcwp said:

Interesting comments about the blue square with cream stripe, evident on this unit:

 

DMU_Class_114_Undated by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

 

 

The unit in this picture is of intrest, but the signal in the back ground is of intrest !!!!!!

 

Terry.

[keefer]

46 minutes ago, russ p said:

 

Is that the hydraulic one Robert? 

According to Railcar, the hydraulic unit had a new control system which evolved into Orange Star (it's hard to tell if the connections are different, although it does seem to have an extra air pipe on the left of the coupling)

https://www.railcar.co.uk/type/50000/summary

However it would seem the cream-stripe was applied to the normal 114s https://www.railcar.co.uk/type/class-114/coupling-code

[russ p]

50000 must have been modified in its life as the picture at Norwich shows blue square coupling code. But if as built it had an air operated throttle  it would not have worked with the electro magnetic blue square throttle 

[Clive Mortimore]

21 minutes ago, russ p said:

50000 must have been modified in its life as the picture at Norwich shows blue square coupling code. But if as built it had an air operated throttle  it would not have worked with the electro magnetic blue square throttle 

Hi Russ it was in 1958.

https://www.railcar.co.uk/type/50000/description

https://www.railcar.co.uk/topic/archive/58-10-29/

[keefer]

A thought just occurred to me - did the 114s ever work in multiple? as any pics I've seen only show them running around as 2-car units.

They must've worked with the 105s initially, for the incompatibility to show up.

[Clive Mortimore]

5 minutes ago, keefer said:

A thought just occurred to me - did the 114s ever work in multiple? as any pics I've seen only show them running around as 2-car units.

They must've worked with the 105s initially, for the incompatibility to show up.

Hi Keefer

 

They were modified, at least the wiring on the cab end. https://www.railcar.co.uk/type/class-114/coupling-code

 

David Ford daily post of his and his fathers photos has shown 114s and 105s coupled together. I am sure I have seen photos of 114s running in multiple with each other, not many.

[keefer]

Thanks Clive, I was sure they would've through their career it just seems that most of the time they were pottering about on their own being a typical power-trailer twin

[russ p]

I wonder what the original throttle controller looked like? Mind I don't think I've ever seen a picture of the controls of a 125

[JeremyC]

A complete 3 car 126 unit  (DMBS, TC, DMS) is preserved on the Boness and Kinneil Railway. The unit is operational and sometimes used on the last train of the day as an alternative to using a diesel loco on the normal train. They also have an Edinburgh & Glasgow TFRB buffet car, which is being restored and is not currently serviceable.

http://www.srpsmuseum.org.uk/dmulist.htm

https://class126.co.uk

Edited November 4, 2019 by JeremyC

[GRUNFOS]

Where these the units that ran on the Crewe  to Cardiff services for a while before they were replaced by Class 25's. I seem to remember them running through Shrewsbury in the late 70's?

During early 80's on a commute from Wolves to Shrwesbury a 120 was rostered  and the speedo hand always went to the stop on the long downhill run from Wellington. The bench seats [sofa's] behind the Drier were very comfortable and gave a fantastic view ahead.

 

Paul

[Fat Controller]

7 minutes ago, GRUNFOS said:

Where these the units that ran on the Crewe  to Cardiff services for a while before they were replaced by Class 25's. I seem to remember them running through Shrewsbury in the late 70's?

During early 80's on a commute from Wolves to Shrwesbury a 120 was rostered  and the speedo hand always went to the stop on the long downhill run from Wellington. The bench seats [sofa's] behind the Drier were very comfortable and gave a fantastic view ahead.

 

Paul

The ones working through Salop would have been the Swindon Intercity (Class 123); a much later build with wrap-round windscreens, running on B4 bogies.

[GRUNFOS]

Thanks for that I remember the windows now you've said it.

Thanks Paul.

[The Johnster]

The story of the Cardiff-Crewe via Salop trains is one of insufficient power to time the trains on this hilly route.  Class 120 Swindon X Country dmus were originally used when the route was first discontinued as a through route for loco hauled services which were diverted via BNS (‘69, 70?). 

 

These proved inadequate and a bubble car attached to improve the power/weight ratio, the bubble car locked out of use but frequently the haunt of traincrews travelling home. 

 

This also proved inadequate, and in the mid 70s replaced by the Swindon class 123 Inter City sets, reduced to 3 cars.  This was no better and some bright spark reckoned that a 25 and 5 coaches could manage; matters predictably worsened.  Loads were reduced to 4 then 3 coaches, then in the early 80s Canton got 33s, which could time the trains and seemed to enjoy the thrashing; load went back to 4.  

 

When eth stock was introduced in the late 80s, 37/4s were used, very effectively, and these were followed by the 158s which still work the services, which are now extended into West Wales and to Manchester/Liverpool. 

[caradoc]

The Manchester/Crewe/Cardiff etc services I have observed in recent years have normally been formed by Class 175 sets (often 2-car versions and very 'cosy' as a result !), or occasionally Class 150 (presumably as a substitute as they are not best suited to long journeys).

[Sc59401]

On 20/10/2019 at 22:12, keefer said:

Was talking out my backside I'm afraid!

Had a quick look through and the instructions seem to be mainly about coupling vehicles together, or with other vehicles fitted with buckeyes, or using screw couplings in an emergency - i.e. whether buffers are retracted/extended and which coupling is used etc.

Unless I can find anything that says otherwise, I must've been mistaken re: the lightweight buffing gear - possibly getting mixed up with another DMU class.

No no keefer, you're quite right.  The White Circle cars (79xxx and Class 126) DID have lightweight buffers.  As these cars had buckeye couplers and were not intended to work with any other DMU types, the buffers were intended only for shunting, indeed I have read that the design for the 79xxx series originally had no buffers at all, US-style.  Later buckeye-fitted classes (124 and 123) had mainline standard buffers and could be coupled to other Blue Square units if their buffer saddles were placed in position.

 

Quoting from publication BR 29879/2 British Railways (Western Region) Multiple Unit Diesel Trains for the Information of Operating Department Staff (a big title for a wee book), published in October 1957: "Inter-City trains must not convey tail traffic and the booked formation must not be varied."

 

I have attached a photograph of preserved Class 126 trailer composite Sc59404 at Bo'ness showing one of its buffers in the extended position, as it was being shunted in the yard coupled to an LMS carriage fitted with screw couplings.  Note how spindly the central shaft is and it is further weakened by having a slot in it to take the steel key which holds it in position.  The casting on the buffer beam is aluminium alloy and was awaiting painting at the time of the photograph.  I am not aware of any other rolling stock having this style of buffer.

[MJI]

Found more pictures and started on a 6 car set

[keefer]

1 hour ago, Sc59401 said:

No no keefer, you're quite right. 

Thanks for that, I must have a look through my stuff to see where I'd read it - thought it was in the GA but I maybe have something else (then again I maybe don't have it anymore, lost a pile of stuff during a house move).

Thanks again.