Operation of EMUs in Preservation

[rodent279]

1 minute ago, Johann Marsbar said:

 

Shildon last March....

 

 

One car was either inside the building awaiting some restoration work, or it was sheeted over at the other end of the place waiting for a space inside - I can't remember which.

 

 

Good to see it at last getting some attention. But it should not have been allowed to get into this state.

[Northmoor]

30 minutes ago, rodent279 said:

Good to see it at last getting some attention. But it should not have been allowed to get into this state.

No it shouldn't but that isn't actually bad at all.  The corrosion on the roof panels is obvious but bright, new rust, the paint is faded but I can't see any rust stains from window corners which would indicate (expensive) corrosion in the frames.  I'm not a member of the NRM Friends myself (should be though) but my experience of working with them is that if you can put together a costed, workable plan for how you will conduct the restoration, the NRM will gladly let you get on with it.  They were very happy with our work on and involvement with the 84.  There have been one or two high profile examples where they have taken stock back but there must have been some serious unauthorised work or expenditure for that to happen (I don't know the details).

 

Happy to say I went on one of 306017's last railtours in about 1997, when it ran from Liverpool Street to Cambridge and back, with only about 30 of us on board.  It was in beautiful condition inside and out, a real credit to the small team who maintained it.

 

As @Nearholmersaid earlier, there is probably too much preservation of the nostalgic (pretty steam trains) and luxury carriages, not enough of the routine and ordinary.  Modern traction preservationists are at least as guilty of that; we struggled to raise a team willing to support preserving the Class 304, so my hat is off to the groups that work away on their EMUs, as they represent the majority of railway journeys.  Meanwhile nearly a quarter of the Deltics - a very niche class in BR history - and more than a quarter of the 50s, survive in some form.  I'm very glad some were preserved but it has to be said they are just about the most inappropriate locos possible for the majority of preserved railways.

Edited February 6, 2021 by Northmoor
Extra comment

[Johann Marsbar]

58 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

Happy to say I went on one of 306017's last railtours in about 1997, when it ran from Liverpool Street to Cambridge and back, with only about 30 of us on board.  It was in beautiful condition inside and out, a real credit to the small team who maintained it.

 

 

I couldn't remember when it was last used on specials.

The last time I rode on it was on one of the Ipswich-Harwich trips it did in 1996 as part of the EUR 150 celebrations...

 

 

[phil-b259]

18 hours ago, roythebus1 said:

Wasn't the Hythe Pier Railway recently given over to a heritage operation as it was uneconomic for the ferry company to keep it going?

 

 

Depends what you mean by 'Given over'

 

The day to day operation of the Volks railway at Brighton is structured along the way most Heritage railways operate, yet the thing itself is still owned and supervised at a high level by Brighton & Hove City Council.

 

Thus it would be entirely possible for the company that owns Hythe Pier Tramway to stop operating it and give that side of things over to a volunteer group while still being the ultimate owners. From a regulatory perspective it hives off quite a lot of responsibility from the owning company - but doesn't absolve it of certain Landlord type requirements.

[rodent279]

On 06/02/2021 at 08:28, DY444 said:

 

Although to my mind it's not that much different in principle to what happened when they were testing Eurostar bogies with a modified class 33 collecting traction current and passing it by cable to a class 73.   So there is a sort of precedent albeit not one that fell under the jurisdiction of the low benefit high cost mantra of the ORR.

And in fact, thinking about it, there is another precedent. After Reddish closed, 83009 was for 18 months or so stood on an isolated piece of track at Longsight ED, with a permanent connection into the 25kV OHL, and with its rectifiers feeding a 1500v DC supply, for testing Hadfield class 506's. This was before the Hadfield line was converted to 25kV AC, in December 1984. 83009 was subsequently restored to running order as a 40mph ECS loco at Euston.

Not the same as a moving lash-up, but shows that it's technically feasible.

 

 

[009 micro modeller]

24 minutes ago, rodent279 said:

And in fact, thinking about it, there is another precedent. After Reddish closed, 83009 was for 18 months or so stood on an isolated piece of track at Longsight ED, with a permanent connection into the 25kV OHL, and with its rectifiers feeding a 1500v DC supply, for testing Hadfield class 506's. This was before the Hadfield line was converted to 25kV AC, in December 1984. 83009 was subsequently restored to running order as a 40mph ECS loco at Euston.

Not the same as a moving lash-up, but shows that it's technically feasible.

 

 

 

Was there no 1500V electrification available to test them? Or was it only for static testing?

[rodent279]

46 minutes ago, 009 micro modeller said:

 

Was there no 1500V electrification available to test them? Or was it only for static testing?

Don't know the full ins and outs of why it was done, but the units had to be hauled to Longsight, which is a 25kV AC only depot. Not sure whether a length of 1500v DC OHL was rigged up, or whether it was just for static testing- I'd  guess the latter.