Night Riveria

[aictosphotos]

Back when the Night Riveria had a Plymouth portion, what was the operation like at Plymouth itself?

 

Bearing in mind I don't know if it was formed of a single carriage or two, was it shunted to a platform and left there all day or shunted to a platform than shunted to the depot once all the passengers had disembarked.

 

Rail says it was poorly used by passengers hence why it was withdrawn.

[hexagon789]

4 minutes ago, aictosphotos said:

Back when the Night Riveria had a Plymouth portion, what was the operation like at Plymouth itself?

 

Bearing in mind I don't know if it was formed of a single carriage or two, was it shunted to a platform and left there all day or shunted to a platform than shunted to the depot once all the passengers had disembarked.

 

Rail says it was poorly used by passengers hence why it was withdrawn.

At the end it was a single SLEP, shunted on/off by an 08.

[aictosphotos]

10 hours ago, hexagon789 said:

At the end it was a single SLEP, shunted on/off by an 08.

 

Was it stabled in Plymouth station during the day or did the Class 08 shunt it to/from the depot once all passengers had left?

[Kris]

2 hours ago, aictosphotos said:

 

Was it stabled in Plymouth station during the day or did the Class 08 shunt it to/from the depot once all passengers had left?

From memory in the late 90s it was 2 SLEPs. These were taken to Laira during the day. At times these were returned to the station by 4pm. 

[LBRJ]

It used to get brought down in the late evening from Laira by a class 08, and then waited time in platform 8.

I know the above, 'cos I have seen it often, the next bit is  just assumption,  me normally having gone back homeward in a taxi by the time the up sleeper arrived at Plymouth.

The Sleeper pulled into platform 7 and the 08 shunted the coach out of the west end of the station and onto the rear of the train..

 

Edited August 2, 2023 by LBRJ

[aictosphotos]

Fantastic, thank you all for the help. My trips on the Night Riveria were post Plymouth portion and I know from memory that the dwell time did seem excessive so wondered if it was a hangover from the days that the Plymouth portion used to operate.

[Siberian Snooper]

If the  slep arrived early from Laira it was kept in the siding next to platform 8, or there was no path back to Laira.  I used it several times to Paddington in the 80's and used to board on platform 8 with the  train engine on the front, providing hotel services. The Penzance loco would detach in platform 7 and LE to Laira. We would then shunt onto the front. Not much chance of sleeping with a 50 ticking over a few feet away,  not so bad once on the move, until a layover in Bristol.

 

 

[aictosphotos]

On 02/08/2023 at 18:05, Siberian Snooper said:

If the  slep arrived early from Laira it was kept in the siding next to platform 8, or there was no path back to Laira.  I used it several times to Paddington in the 80's and used to board on platform 8 with the  train engine on the front, providing hotel services. The Penzance loco would detach in platform 7 and LE to Laira. We would then shunt onto the front. Not much chance of sleeping with a 50 ticking over a few feet away,  not so bad once on the move, until a layover in Bristol.

 

I guess that the Class 50 would propel the SLEP from Laira all the way into Platform 8 if running on time or into the siding next to Platform 8 until the London bound sleeper arrived than the shunt would occur as you've explained.

 

For the operation in the Penzance direction, did they do as you explained but in reverse?

[DY444]

1 hour ago, aictosphotos said:

 

I guess that the Class 50 would propel the SLEP from Laira all the way into Platform 8 if running on time or into the siding next to Platform 8 until the London bound sleeper arrived than the shunt would occur as you've explained.

 

I would be very surprised indeed if that happened.

[The Stationmaster]

2 hours ago, aictosphotos said:

 

I guess that the Class 50 would propel the SLEP from Laira all the way into Platform 8 if running on time or into the siding next to Platform 8 until the London bound sleeper arrived than the shunt would occur as you've explained.

 

For the operation in the Penzance direction, did they do as you explained but in reverse?

Propelling was not permitted between any of the junctions at Laira and Plymouth station (which is hardly surprising in view of the distance, the gradients,  and the presence of Mutley Tunnel).

[nightstar.train]

Click through on this picture to Flickr and it gives a brief description of how it was done, at least in the FGW days.