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HST early modifications


murray1

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I have bought a Lima HST in blue grey livery and want to re-number it as an East Coast 254 set. It will remain blue grey but as it it has the single window on the power car, can anyone advise as to the ealriest date that would be correct for a set on the East Coast and what numbers it/they would have. In addition, any tips on the best source/manufacturer for the transfers to supply the 254 XXX number on the front of the power car would be of great help.

 

All the pictures I can find in the book Heyday of the HST by Gavin Morrison show the blue grey sets running with the TGS but the power cars still have the 2 windows - indicating a gaurds compartment. The Western sets appear to have the modiification earlier than Eastern but any help on this will be much appreciated.

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I have bought a Lima HST in blue grey livery and want to re-number it as an East Coast 254 set. It will remain blue grey but as it it has the single window on the power car, can anyone advise as to the ealriest date that would be correct for a set on the East Coast and what numbers it/they would have. In addition, any tips on the best source/manufacturer for the transfers to supply the 254 XXX number on the front of the power car would be of great help.

 

All the pictures I can find in the book Heyday of the HST by Gavin Morrison show the blue grey sets running with the TGS but the power cars still have the 2 windows - indicating a gaurds compartment. The Western sets appear to have the modiification earlier than Eastern but any help on this will be much appreciated.

 

As built, 43002-43152 had guard's accommodation (two windows each side at the rear of the power car, plus one small window adjacent to the gangway), and 43153-198 were built without guard's accommodation i.e. van area only, as modelled by Lima (one small window only each side at the rear, and no small window adjacent to the gangway).

 

From memory, of the power cars without guard's accommodation, only 43153-43162 were allocated to the ECML from new. These sets were delivered in 1982, several years after the main batch of East Coast HSTs, which were delivered in 1978-79. 43193-198 were transferred to the ECML later, having been delivered in Class 253 sets for the North East - South West route. I think that set numbers 254033-254037 may have been allocated to the units containing 43153-162. In practice, power cars were usually mixed up and rarely kept with their allocated partner or coaching stock rake. For this reason the 254 numbers disappeared fairly early in the lives of the ECML HSTs and it may be that they were never carried by 43153-162 from delivery in 1982. This picture of 43153 and 43156 on test, brand new in 1982, seems to confirm that 254 xxx numbers were not carried by this batch: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=305291

 

If you want to use your Lima power cars in an East Coast HST, then your best option is to number them both as one of 43153-43162 and not bother with 254 numbers. This would be OK for the years 1982 to 1986 or 1987, depending on when the power cars were repainted into Executive livery. 43193-198 should be viable options too, although I can't remember when they were transferred from the WR - and they may have entered traffic on the East Coast with 253 xxx numbers still in place.

 

Hope this helps

 

Tom.

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Good question! I have just had a quick Google and couldn't find this information easily. Set formations used to be published in the RCTS coaching stock books - I had a copy of the one for 1982 - and later in the Ian Allan ABC combined volumes and Platform 5 spotting books.

 

If I find these details later I will post them here.

 

Cheers

 

Tom

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Did the set formations listed in Platform 5 and similar books not just list the coach numbers within the set rather than the power cars at each end? Presumably because the power cars changed frequently with maintenance requirements and any publication would rapidly become out of date

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the 1981 and 1982 Ian Allen combineds give the following

 

253 001 W43002 and W43003 in sequence to 253 027 W43054 and W43055

 

254 001 E43056 and E43057 in sequence to 254 032 E43118 and E43119

 

spare W43120 W43121 E43122 E43123 W43124

 

253 028 W43125 and W43126 in sequence to 253 041 W43151 and W43152

 

254 033 to 254 039 on order with 43153 and 43154 to 43161 and 43162

 

253 042 to 253 059 on order with 43163 and 43164 through to 43195 and 43196

 

spare 43197 and 43198

 

253 001 to 032 had set numbers as did the early 254s,

 

I,m not sure at what stage they were deleted and the E and W prefixes went at some point and then much later the numbers started to appear in class 43 format such as 43 003

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Great pictures - almost all with the gaurds compartment window and door window. Thank you. The picture of the power car with the single window looks like it has no number on front panel. All the information on the sequence of numbers posted earlier is very useful. Still looking for an example as built by Lima with the 254XXX number showing to finish off my model.

 

Thanks all for your help.

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Here are the earliest ones I can find on the ECML, in chronological order.  Sorry I don't have the numbers for many of them.  None of them are carrying set numbers.

 

post-5613-0-96940000-1382564340_thumb.jpg

Claypole Class 254 up ex pass Feb 81 C5281

 

post-5613-0-84598200-1382564368_thumb.jpg

South Newsham Class 254 diverted up ex pass going away April 81 C5310

 

 

post-5613-0-20159100-1382564365_thumb.jpg

Scremerston Class 254 up ex pass Aug 81 C5482

 

post-5613-0-63330000-1382564346_thumb.jpg

Lucker Class 254 up ex pass August 1982 C5809

 

 

post-5613-0-90989000-1382564354_thumb.jpg

Morpeth Class 253 Edinburgh to Plymouh Oct 83 C6317  more for the livery variation - white double arrow on front.

 

post-5613-0-32251500-1382564337_thumb.jpg

South Newsham 43056 down diverted ex pass going away 19th Feb 84 C6462

 

 

post-5613-0-85708600-1382564350_thumb.jpg

Morpeth 43158 up diverted via Blyth and Tyne after sleeping car train derailment 24th June 84 C6546

 

 

post-5613-0-32731900-1382564359_thumb.jpg

Newcastle 43161 13th Aug 84 C6638

 

 

David

Edited to add information

D

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