TPEX Class 68 & Mk5 Nova 3 fleet to be withdrawnDec 2023

[black and decker boy]

20 minutes ago, adb968008 said:

Doesnt mean it will be a UK supplier… it could be imported.

It will clearly be imported since there is currently no U.K. based production of HVO, 

 

That means we are still reliant of external parties for our energy. It means traceability of the source oils is harder / more vague. It means we are still competing for scarce resources against the source country and everyone else. It means abuse of the system, use of cash crops and deforestation are real concerns on the production of HVO.

 

HVO is no panacea 

[adb968008]

7 minutes ago, black and decker boy said:

It will clearly be imported since there is currently no U.K. based production of HVO, 

 

That means we are still reliant of external parties for our energy. It means traceability of the source oils is harder / more vague. It means we are still competing for scarce resources against the source country and everyone else. It means abuse of the system, use of cash crops and deforestation are real concerns on the production of HVO.

 

HVO is no panacea 

I’m sure even if we had a HVO plant, we would get excuses of the wrong type of vegetable.

[icn]

On 03/09/2023 at 18:26, Steadfast said:

It's just the standard UIC multiple working system isn't it? The name escapes me at the moment, but locos all over the continent have the two connectors, usually just under the windscreen, and also present on coaching stock ends.

 

Jo

A little late I know: I'm pretty it's just WTB, they certainly list it on the Class 68 datasheet: https://www.stadlerrail.com/media/pdf/ldeuklightbrlldrs0816e.pdf

 

I wouldn't say that most locos on the continent have it. Plenty of newer locos do, but plenty don't - I think ZWS/ZMS is an older standard and the most common  for cargo locos for example (so much so that BLS went to the effort of retrofitting it to the RE465s to let them work with their Traxx's and Vectrons.

 

I don't think it's entirely standardised, but sufficiently so that plenty of mixing and matching is and will be possible - currently most operators seem to be standardising on something called WTB-ÖBB which is ÖBB's take on things, used by various ÖBB stock (Railjets, other push-pull sets), and in future by the DB on their Talgos ("ICE-L"), along with locos to be used with it including Vectrons. I assume that the differences between WTB-ÖBB and other usages lies primarily in the area of PIS and other specialty functionality, but clear information is hard to find.

[ess1uk]

Off to Mexico?

[The Meerkat]

any news on were the Mk5 are going yet?

[rodent279]

1 hour ago, The Meerkat said:

any news on were the Mk5 are going yet?

Knowing our great & glorious DfT's ability for forward planning, they'll get stored in the open air for 5 years pending further use, then when someone does want them, they'll be too far gone to bring back into use.

[The Meerkat]

4 minutes ago, rodent279 said:

Knowing our great & glorious DfT's ability for forward planning, they'll get stored in the open air for 5 years pending further use, then when someone does want them, they'll be too far gone to bring back into use.

 

sounds right 

[298]

2 hours ago, The Meerkat said:

any news on were the Mk5 are going yet?

 

TfW.

[25901]

Was told by a TPe driver they are going to an operator with 68s. 2+2=

[jamie92208]

According to Modern Railways, Chiltern want them. 

 

Jamie

[The Meerkat]

On 16/10/2023 at 19:20, 298 said:

 

TfW.

 

cant see them going to TFW as people said in post above,  would be nice tho

[The Meerkat]

On 17/10/2023 at 00:58, 25901 said:

Was told by a TPe driver they are going to an operator with 68s. 2+2=

 

On 17/10/2023 at 06:47, jamie92208 said:

According to Modern Railways, Chiltern want them. 

 

Jamie

Chiltern

[Talltim]

On 29/09/2023 at 14:42, adb968008 said:

It probably suits DRSs plans to get the 68’s back..

1. Its one less passenger contract

2. they can “green up” by kicking out 37’s

3. fleet standardisation.

 

its the mk5’s that become the issue.. they join 379’s, Voyagers, 769’s in having no work.

 

i’d imagine they would be a very saleable asset overseas, many countries will not pass up a bargain like these, and loco haulage is quite the norm outside Britain.

 

tbh I could image voyagers also being very saleable outside the UK too, especially Uganda or Nigeria both of which are planning standard gauge renovations and recently saw “big” Chinese money dissappear and need low cost solutions, and offer political influence

 

Why would DRS not wan tpassenger contracts? In theory they are nice steady long term income stream?

Getting rid of 37 means that they can't provide loco's with the 37 RA. Maybe there's not enough need for that for them to be worth keeping, but if so they could have got rid of them before.

I'm sure I've read that DRS only have long leases (from Beacon?) on some of the 68s, if so in theory they could hand some surplus ones back

[25901]

2 hours ago, Talltim said:

Why would DRS not wan tpassenger contracts? In theory they are nice steady long term income stream?

Getting rid of 37 means that they can't provide loco's with the 37 RA. Maybe there's not enough need for that for them to be worth keeping, but if so they could have got rid of them before.

I'm sure I've read that DRS only have long leases (from Beacon?) on some of the 68s, if so in theory they could hand some surplus ones back

DRS have already said they will lease back some 37s as part of the sales deal to cover the 37 RA issue.

If not the new owners of the 37/4s , I can think of the few 37/6s that are mainline and have the paperwork DRS would want

[Nova Scotian]

The MK4 formerly Nightstars over here are crumbling into dust - maybe we can ship the MK5s over here once they've sat long enough for the corrosion to set in?

[adb968008]

Chiltern makes sense but how many set of mk5’s do they need ?

 

The residents of Marylebone have been brainwashed into thinking the 3x 68’s a day are the source of all Londons W2’s pollution.. but not the hundreds of 30 year old DMUs.

Would they really want to antagonise that well heeled area with 13x mk5 sets ?

 

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by adb968008
Edit can’t count.

[black and decker boy]

7 hours ago, 25901 said:

DRS have already said they will lease back some 37s as part of the sales deal to cover the 37 RA issue.

If not the new owners of the 37/4s , I can think of the few 37/6s that are mainline and have the paperwork DRS would want

That plan died when no 3rd party wanted to buy them on those terms. There is currently a live tender for another batch of 37s but as a straight sale.

 

DRS contract for RA5 RHTT work ends this year apparently.

[black and decker boy]

6 hours ago, adb968008 said:

Chiltern makes sense but how many set of mk5’s do they need ?

 

The residents of Marylebone have been brainwashed into thinking the 3x 68’s a day are the source of all Londons W2’s pollution.. but not the hundreds of 30 year old DMUs.

Would they really want to antagonise that well heeled area with 15x mk5 sets ?

 

 

It’s ok, the 68s now run on HVO and one carries full body side branding so the push folk of Marylebone can read it as they listen to it.

 

isn’t it 13sets of mk5s?

 

Chiltern could use them all on the Birmingham’s and release some 168s to EMR. Chiltern do struggle to keep the full fleet of DMUs in service with short forms & overcrowding more common that it has been before.

 

Passenger levels are rising on the route including Fridays but whether that’s sufficient for DfT to agree to the £££ is a different matter. 

[jamie92208]

I've found the comments on page of the latest MR.  Apparently Chiltern are looking at ways of reducing the noise from their 68's and are also looking at using the Mk5's to replace their ageing ml 3's.

 

Jamie

[Mike_Walker]

The residents of those flats that overlook the approach to Marylebone have been a pain in the wotsits ever since they were built.  Adrian Shooter told a story of how when the first residents moved in they were outraged to find a working railway outside and threatened legal action to get it closed!  Adrian told them it had been there since 1906 and if they hadn't noticed it when purchasing their flat then tough and to go away.

 

Another related but even more off topic story concerns the number of complaints Chiltern started to get from residents near where the Chiltern line crosses the WCML between the tunnels over the sudden increase in the loudness of train horns.  Chiltern were mystified as nothing on their fleet had changed.  Then the penny dropped: this was the time Virgin were introducing the Pendolinos which do have louder horns than those that went before.  The complaints were acknowledged and forwarded.

[lmsforever]

Reading above it seems as people are becoming more and more pathetic as the months go by.

[woodenhead]

1 hour ago, lmsforever said:

Reading above it seems as people are becoming more and more pathetic as the months go by.

Or people are finding life is getting harder and more stressful and this has just been adding to it.

 

I know that recently things have been getting to me more and more, just this morning I could hear a rhythmic thump in the house, I had to open the window to establish where it was coming from.  Probably some workmen laying paving or something, but it wound me up, so if you are in your flat and the local TOC decides to employ new locos and keep their engines running for electrical power to the train I can imagine that too might grate over time.  But I also accept that it's a risk living next to a railway line (or a factory) that a change might occur that results in noise pollution and you need to consider it when purchasing.

[25901]

I love the fact that here in York a merry stink is caused by a 68 while in the old days you had a shed full of Deltics with their merry tune round the corner lol

[Busmansholiday]

68032 "Destroyer" and a Nova set (with 29, "Enterprise" at the other end) at Scarborough today.

 

[Pete the Elaner]

5 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

I've found the comments on page of the latest MR.  Apparently Chiltern are looking at ways of reducing the noise from their 68's and are also looking at using the Mk5's to replace their ageing ml 3's.

 

Jamie

 

Seeing as the Chiltern line is the only remaining diesel route into London, it is about time it was electrified. DRS have some 90s they could re-deploy. They make less noise than 68s.