Class 800 - Updates

[Coach bogie]

My wife's theory is that KGX staff suffer from lack of information a much as the passengers. She knows when and where her train is leaving from Realtime trains, yet it does not appear on the board at KGX until minutes before departure.

 

KGX is so different to Paddington. I turned up with my son who wanted to see the new order and hoped to see Paddington Bear unit. A very pleasant staff member came up and told us that we can have a station pass if we went to the office at the end of platform one and would be able to go through platform barriers and take pictures. In the office, the young lady behind the desk issued our photo passes and when my son announced why we were here,  a radio call later told us  'the bear'  was in the sidings but would in platform ??? at time X.  There just appears to be pride in the job at Paddington. No offence to staff at KGX which I use frequently, but my experiences are very different.

 

What a difference. Well it is the Great Western!!! 

 

Mike Wiltshire

Edited March 26, 2019 by Coach bogie

[TFR]

 

[bgman]

On a lighter note if I may, whilst looking after my 2 year old grandson last Thursday I decided to take him on his first short train adventure.

 

We caught a "local" down to Exeter St.Davids just to look at the trains and when the Paignton bound set came in he couldn't contain himself !

 

 

Well what would you do ? Obviously we had to get on it !

 

 

One very happy little boy on his first 800 Class trip !

 

Just a short trip down to Dawlish ( where I planned to get some lunch for us both ). The lunch didn't happen as he almost refused to move off the platform with the coming and going of the frequent services at that time, which included some freight working too.

 

If an 800 Class gets him excited then its ok with me, he does enjoy trains and I can't wait to take him down to the South Devon railway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 26, 2019 by bgman

[Oldddudders]

Get ‘em while they’re young, Grahame! Well done!

[bgman]

11 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

Get ‘em while they’re young, Grahame! Well done!

 

 

Thank you Ian, one thing to add, whenever a train either came in or left my grandson loved to wave to the driver / staff and I was impressed by their reaction as each one gave him a "toot" and wave back which helped to make his ( and my ) day !

 

BIG smiles all round.

 

G

[159220]

4 hours ago, Coach bogie said:

hoped to see Paddington Bear unit. 

 

800010 has been 'de-bear'd' with on the names/coins remaining on the DT as per other named units. 

 

As for Kings Cross, when is it ever 100% restricted by barrier? Example, last night though the 'outbound barriers' were operational, the 'arrivals/in-bound' barriers were open...

[The Stationmaster]

1 hour ago, 159220 said:

 

800010 has been 'de-bear'd' with on the names/coins remaining on the DT as per other named units. 

 

As for Kings Cross, when is it ever 100% restricted by barrier? Example, last night though the 'outbound barriers' were operational, the 'arrivals/in-bound' barriers were open...n

A whole area of barriers were open on Saturday when I passed through, just ads they had been a while back when I was travelling to the Stevenage show.  In fact barrier control at KX seems nowadays to have been more lax than it has ever been

[JeffP]

My wife's theory is that KGX staff suffer from lack of information a much as the passengers. She knows when and where her train is leaving from Realtime trains, yet it does not appear on the board at KGX until minutes before departure.

 

Got told this is deliberate to avoid crowds on the platform trying to board a train before it's ready for boarding.

[Bomag]

3 hours ago, JeffP said:

 

 

 

Got told this is deliberate to avoid crowds on the platform trying to board a train before it's ready for boarding.

 

Normally the trains at KX are ready well in advance of them displaying the platform number, particularly now as they don't have to put the reservations out. Displaying the platform number 10 or even 5 min before departure just leads to to a mass rush.

 

When RTT was first launched some of the station staff did try to push people waiting at the platform end back behind the barriers, now they just leave you to it as long as you are not obstructing anybody.  I take it that there is a comedian in the signalling centre who likes to make late changes of platform on incoming services without telling platform staff (as quoted by the platform staff but without expletives)

[Ncarter2]

Having seen several white and the odd green unit at Eastleigh I was pleasantly surprised when two sets passed me approaching Shawford. 

The lead unit being white but the second in full LNER livery. Actually suits them well. 

[Ron Ron Ron]

Had my first trip on a Class 800 last Saturday, on my way up to the Ally Pally show.

I was only on it between Reading and Paddington for a 24 minute journey.

 

I arrived at Reading on a XC Voyager to find my connecting train (a 9-car 800/802 from Bristol TM) was delayed.

Later announcements said the train has a technical fault and RTT showed it had only reached Didcot.

Thankfully I only had to wait a few minutes for the next fast train, a 5-car 800.

 

Impressions.

Nice and clean, new light airy feeling.

Seats firm, just about comfortable, but too upright IMHO. I imagine they wouldn’t be comfortable for a 2 hour or longer journey.

 

I was in the rear driving trailer.

Fairly quiet, but more noises penetrating the carriage interior than I would expect for a modern IC express.

 

Ride a bit choppy at times, but this appeared to be a track interface issue as it smoothed out on some long stretches of track.

Certainly not a magic carpet ride, which is a bit disappointing on a brand new design, but it couldn’t be described as bad or poor.

 

Putting it into context, on my last two HST trips it was worst. Banging (wheel flat?), loud interior rattling noises and other underfloor suspension noises.

 

Saw lots of 800’s and 802’s.

I didn’ see a single GWR HST, either while waiting at Reading, en-route, or at Paddington, where there were numerous 800/802’s.

 

p.s. While waiting for my return train at AAP, I thought I could see the front end of an LNER 800 in the Bounds Green sidings.

 

 

Ron

Edited March 28, 2019 by Ron Ron Ron

[woodenhead]

@Ron Ron Ron But I bet it was more comfortable that the Voyager.

 

I can happily spend a couple of hours on a Pendolino, but any long journey on a busy Cross Country service fills me with despair

[Ron Ron Ron]

3 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

@Ron Ron Ron But I bet it was more comfortable that the Voyager.........

 

More space and leg room than the Voyager.

I find the Voyagers OK for up to about 1.5 to 2 hours max. Then I get very uncomfortable.

 

The one I caught on Saturday morning from SOA to RDG had a particularly knocky sounding diesel under the vehicle I was sitting in. Conversely, and surprisingly, not much vibration to go with it. 

I tuned out the noise after about 10 minutes, so it didn’t bother me.

 

Ron

[jonny777]

34 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

@Ron Ron Ron But I bet it was more comfortable that the Voyager.

 

I can happily spend a couple of hours on a Pendolino, but any long journey on a busy Cross Country service fills me with despair

 

Yes, when one of my offspring lived near Leeds my preferred route from Bristol would be via Paddington and Kings Cross; mainly because the idea of spending hours on an XC Voyager (which usually arrive at Temple Meads packed) filled me with dread. The half hourly service to London is great because there are no fights for seats as Bristol is the starting point and the price of off-peak tickets (senior railcard) are not much more expensive. 

 

If SW - NE services went back to a 45/46 and eleven Mk1 or 2 coaches, I might change my mind. 

[woodenhead]

14 minutes ago, jonny777 said:

 

Yes, when one of my offspring lived near Leeds my preferred route from Bristol would be via Paddington and Kings Cross; mainly because the idea of spending hours on an XC Voyager (which usually arrive at Temple Meads packed) filled me with dread. The half hourly service to London is great because there are no fights for seats as Bristol is the starting point and the price of off-peak tickets (senior railcard) are not much more expensive. 

 

If SW - NE services went back to a 45/46 and eleven Mk1 or 2 coaches, I might change my mind. 

A 68 and Mk5s would be nice too

[rodent279]

4 hours ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

Fairly quiet, but more noises penetrating the carriage interior than I would expect for a modern IC express.

One of the things that struck me in recent travels in Germany, both in ICE3 and in class 101 hauled conventional IC's, was the almost total absence of noise.

Edited March 28, 2019 by rodent279

[HillsideDepot]

It looks like the solution to the random orientation of units has been solved... by adding copious notes to the information system.

This is from the Tiger website, but I assume it is replicated at the station; certainly car numbers (or "zones") have been appearing painted on the platform surface recently to make sense of it all. 

[HillsideDepot]

Reports elsewhere say that 802114 was delivered to North Pole Depot today. Appropriately, as it is the last one for GWR, GBRf provided "Evening Star" for haulage.

[Reorte]

On 28/03/2019 at 11:38, Ron Ron Ron said:

 

More space and leg room than the Voyager.

I find the Voyagers OK for up to about 1.5 to 2 hours max. Then I get very uncomfortable.

 

The one I caught on Saturday morning from SOA to RDG had a particularly knocky sounding diesel under the vehicle I was sitting in. Conversely, and surprisingly, not much vibration to go with it. 

I tuned out the noise after about 10 minutes, so it didn’t bother me.

A few years back I was travelling on them fairly regularly. I was usually lucky and ended up without much noise (is one of the coaches unpowered?) but the cramped seating was unpleasant, all the way between Stockport and Basingstoke. A pity really, they ride was OK, I think the Voyagers wouldn't get anywhere near the amount of criticism that they have got if they hadn't ended up running services they're simply too small for. Maybe they would've worked on some of the Scottish services the HSTs are going to.

[eastwestdivide]

On 01/04/2019 at 21:31, HillsideDepot said:

It looks like the solution to the random orientation of units has been solved... by adding copious notes to the information system.

...

This is from the Tiger website, but I assume it is replicated at the station; certainly car numbers (or "zones") have been appearing painted on the platform surface recently to make sense of it all. 

That's nearly as simple as the five-minute lecture on which tickets might or might not be valid on departure from Kings Cross around 1630.

Surely there must be something simpler.

Edited April 4, 2019 by eastwestdivide
Suggestion, but it's all going wrong

[eastwestdivide]

Trying to post this suggestion as an edit to my previous post, but it wasn't having it.... Ah, it was the bike symbol that I inserted:

 

 

On 01/04/2019 at 21:31, HillsideDepot said:

It looks like the solution to the random orientation of units has been solved... by adding copious notes to the information system.

...

This is from the Tiger website, but I assume it is replicated at the station; certainly car numbers (or "zones") have been appearing painted on the platform surface recently to make sense of it all. 

That's nearly as simple as the five-minute lecture on which tickets might or might not be valid on departure from Kings Cross around 1630.

Surely there must be something simpler....

Here we go, three lines:

 

Platform Zone: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Coach Letter: L K J H G A B C D E

Travel Class: 1 1*† S S S* S S S 1 1

 

I can't insert bike/wheelchair icons, but imagine them where I've put */†, and align the whole thing a bit better than you can on a forum post...

[159220]

4 hours ago, HillsideDepot said:

Reports elsewhere say that 802114 was delivered to North Pole Depot today. Appropriately, as it is the last one for GWR, GBRf provided "Evening Star" for haulage.

Indeed, nicely concludes the Eversholt delivery, with 114 expected to be in service by in just over 3 weeks time. Certainly on-track for the end of the HST in May. Get those HST trips in when you can! 

 

Tues 16th April should see the first two 802/2s at Dollands Moor for Angel Trains / TPE (802203/204). 

 

GWR IET Status

 

800/0

 

001/002 - Hitachi/Agility Trains West Accepted. Passenger service expected for May TTC. Interiors currently being re-built.

003-036 - GWR Passenger Service. Total available units: 34/36.

 

800/3

 

301-321 - GWR Passenger Service. Total available units: 21/21.

 

802/0

 

001-022 - GWR Passenger Service. Total available units: 22/22.

 

802/1

 

101-110 - GWR Passenger Service. Total available units: 10/14.

111-114 - Hitachi Commissioning, North Pole

[HillsideDepot]

802111 is now in service; it worked todays 1A70 06:05 Frome - Paddington, which comes off Stoke Gifford via Temple Meads and then seems to head to North Pole on arrival in London.

[Mallard60022]

Looking forward to info like this ref the ECML stock if anyone has the info?

Thanks

Phil

[HillsideDepot]

GWR update:

 

802111 has just worked 1C26 18:30 Paddington - Weston (cancelled beyond Temple Meads due to a fatality at Weston Milton)

802112 is working 1A31 19:30 Temple Meads - Paddington (first day in service and delayed 10 minutes at Chippenham by a door which refused to properly close)

802113 is working 5Z72 19:30 Didcot West End (actually started at Milton) to Taunton test train

 

And if that wasn't enough activity for 24 minutes at a cold and wet Chippenham, 59102 also put in an appearance with the Appleford - Whatley empties