First Class 91 goes for the chop

[Bucoops]

This made me feel old - it's getting dangerously close to people joining where I work that were born AFTER I started there  

[rodent279]

Nothing new though is it? Plenty of people thought the same when BR Standards were on their way to the scrapyards, having been built barely 5 years earlier in some cases. The 365 family, and the 91's, have at least had a decent lifespan, just about 30 years by my reckoning.

Edited December 17, 2021 by rodent279

[Mark Saunders]

1 hour ago, Bucoops said:

This made me feel old - it's getting dangerously close to people joining where I work that were born AFTER I started there  

It’s like the time second men were retiring as they’d never got a Drivers job and within a few years new starters were Driving!

[woodenhead]

12 minutes ago, rodent279 said:

Nothing new though is it? Plenty of people thought the same when BR Standards were on their way to the scrapyards, having been built barely 5 years earlier in some cases.

But probably not many 5-7 year olds remembering their first standard and seeing it going for scrap, "Daddy I feel old, I can remember 92199 when it was first built"

Edited December 17, 2021 by woodenhead

[pete_mcfarlane]

8 hours ago, jools1959 said:

The main reason the 365’s are heading towards the scrapper is there are virtually no spares available for the 1990’s built 365, 465 and 466 Networkers, as the whole series were fairly unique with a pretty much non-standard thyristor control system.  Good at the time but we’ve all moved on.

So are they scrapping some for parts to keep the others going?

[stewartingram]

I don't know about service life, but economics often use the 15 year cycle as the 'payback' time for a project.

[Titan]

The original contract for the Networkers specified a service life of 40 years...

[Fat Controller]

3 minutes ago, Titan said:

The original contract for the Networkers specified a service life of 40 years...

I've heard similar figures mooted elsewhere, with a major overhaul after 20. It would be interesting to see how many miles the Class 91s have covered over 30+ years.

[TravisM]

3 hours ago, pete_mcfarlane said:

So are they scrapping some for parts to keep the others going?

 

Pretty much, robbing Peter to pay Paul.  From what I understand, the body shells are in quite good nick, parts for the traction equipment is getting pretty desperate.  Think of it as trying to keep a early 90's computer up to todays spec.

[TravisM]

1 hour ago, Titan said:

The original contract for the Networkers specified a service life of 40 years...

 

Their just shy of their 30th year of service, so I think they've had their money's worth out of them.

[31A]

32 minutes ago, jools1959 said:

 

Their just shy of their 30th year of service, so I think they've had their money's worth out of them.

 

Seems a pity to see the 365s going for scrap though, when ScotRail are using AC EMUs that are quite a lot older.  They had some 365s up there not long ago, too.

[woodenhead]

The 365s also got clobbered going up and down the ECML, like the 91s they are probably knackered as well as old technology 

[Titan]

1 hour ago, jools1959 said:

 

Pretty much, robbing Peter to pay Paul.  From what I understand, the body shells are in quite good nick, parts for the traction equipment is getting pretty desperate.  Think of it as trying to keep a early 90's computer up to todays spec.

 

It was hard enough keeping them up to 1990's spec in the 1990's!  Perhaps Hitachi could buy some bodyshells for analysis on how to make an aluminium train that does not crack...

[Bomag]

2 hours ago, jools1959 said:

 

Their just shy of their 30th year of service, so I think they've had their money's worth out of them.

 

The majority of 365s went into services in 96, with the last in 97, so 25 years.