Class 800 - Updates

[RJS1977]

I'm a little confused by the '5 for 8' comments as the Hitachis don't run in 8 coach formations. Are these cases where 800s are standing in for HSTs?

 

In which case, is the problem with HSTs rather than Hitachis?

[HillsideDepot]

It looks like a 5-car IET is standing in for an HST. As there are no "8 for 10" workings showing it looks like a HST short rather than a swap to make an IET working 8 cars when they only have 5 cars available but are booked for 10. If that's so one of the "5 for 10" diagrams negatives should be balanced by (in effect) the positive that the "5 for 8" would otherwise be "Cancelled".

[royaloak]

It might  be, I know that cars with A/C are fitted with pollen filters, well the German ones anyway.

Pollen/other summer crap is blocking the filters and radiators, something which should have been realised at the design stage, it isnt exactly a new phenomenon.

Edited June 27, 2018 by royaloak

[royaloak]

It looks like a 5-car IET is standing in for an HST. As there are no "8 for 10" workings showing it looks like a HST short rather than a swap to make an IET working 8 cars when they only have 5 cars available but are booked for 10. If that's so one of the "5 for 10" diagrams negatives should be balanced by (in effect) the positive that the "5 for 8" would otherwise be "Cancelled".

We are short of HSTs anyway due to the number going off lease and others getting barbecued.

[Richard E]

800201/2 just passed through York.

[Indomitable026]

Nipped out the back earlier, caught this 9 car unit running, 103 I think...

 

[HillsideDepot]

That photo looks more like an "artist's impression" than the real thing. Very nice.

[Indomitable026]

 

That photo looks more like an "artist's impression" than the real thing. Very nice.

Because we’re not used to good lighting conditions in the UK?

 

Here’s the other end, note the front pan was in use not the rear.

 

[Zomboid]

If it's a 9 car it would only have 1 pan up at a time.

[Indomitable026]

If it's a 9 car it would only have 1 pan up at a time.

Yes, but there’s been some debate elsewhere about which one.

[RJS1977]

Pollen/other summer crap is blocking the filters and radiators, something which should have been realised at the design stage, it isnt exactly a new phenomenon.

 

I know that feeling :-(

[jim.snowdon]

Pollen/other summer crap is blocking the filters and radiators, something which should have been realised at the design stage, it isnt exactly a new phenomenon.

Fluffy airborne seeds, something that Hitachi should have learned about some time ago with the Javelin fleet. But then, perhaps the design office hasn't talked to the maintenance arm of the organisation (which won't be anything new).

It just means more filter cleaning than they anticipated, and at their expense, although doubtless the contract specification will be being examined closely, just in case.

 

Jim

[HillsideDepot]

BBC News are reporting that GWR are seven trains short (although they don;t say what they are) of the number required for a full service.

 

The article is basically little more than a collection of "copy and paste" Twitter complaints though, so maybe the BBC is "critically short" of serviceable journalists....

[exet1095]

800 307 is in traffic, and very shiny. It just left Oxford for Paddington...

[Coryton]

BBC News are reporting that GWR are seven trains short (although they don;t say what they are) of the number required for a full service.

 

The article is basically little more than a collection of "copy and paste" Twitter complaints though, so maybe the BBC is "critically short" of serviceable journalists....

 

"Travellers have reacted to the problems, saying that services are running with fewer carriages or much slower."

 

They don't seem to have realised that the extra journey time between Swindon and Cardiff is due to the Severn Tunnel being closed and nothing to do with the train failures.

[The Stationmaster]

"Travellers have reacted to the problems, saying that services are running with fewer carriages or much slower."

 

They don't seem to have realised that the extra journey time between Swindon and Cardiff is due to the Severn Tunnel being closed and nothing to do with the train failures.

 

But are there 'heat speeds' on as well?

[St. Simon]

But are there 'heat speeds' on as well?

 

There were some heat related TSRs on Wednesday, not so sure about yesterday or today...

Simon

[tomparryharry]

I wouldn't mind doing Swindon-Cardiff. I haven't done it for years. I still assume via Gloucester?

[The Stationmaster]

I wouldn't mind doing Swindon-Cardiff. I haven't done it for years. I still assume via Gloucester?

 

Via Gloucester until 06 July but note that route is also blocked       on Sunday 01 July so Paddington - S.Wales trains will terminate at Bristol on that day.  Looks like NR have 'planned' engineering work in their all too familiar incompetent manner.  

 

Back in BR days the situation was very simple - blockades were not allowed on the diversionary route via Gloucester if there was a blockade on the Severn Tunnel route (and vice versa) and Rules of the Route were planned accordingly, hardly a difficult task.  Looks like that bit of railway commonsense has joined plenty of other bits of railway conmonsense in the NR dustbin.

[Coryton]

But are there 'heat speeds' on as well?

 

I'm not aware of any on GWR, but in any case the implication was that the slow speeds were due to train failures (not track), and they were referring to a tweet from someone complaining about how long it took them to get from Swindon to Cardiff.

[Coryton]

I wouldn't mind doing Swindon-Cardiff. I haven't done it for years. I still assume via Gloucester?

 

Yes and it's a very pretty route.

 

A pleasant journey...if you're not in a rush to get anywhere.

 

Mind you, the rail replacement bus over the Severn Bridge is quite good too as unlike in a car you can actually see over the barriers.

[Coryton]

Back in BR days the situation was very simple - blockades were not allowed on the diversionary route via Gloucester if there was a blockade on the Severn Tunnel route (and vice versa) and Rules of the Route were planned accordingly, hardly a difficult task.  Looks like that bit of railway commonsense has joined plenty of other bits of railway conmonsense in the NR dustbin.

 

If electrification had gone all the way to Swansea and thus the trains used on the South Wales route been electric "only", presumably Gloucester would be lost as a practical diversionary route anyway unless bi-modes could be drafted in from other routes for the duration. (Of course once the Severn Tunnel is wired it shouldn't have to close again for electrification...)

[rodent279]

Fluffy airborne seeds, something that Hitachi should have learned about some time ago with the Javelin fleet. But then, perhaps the design office hasn't talked to the maintenance arm of the organisation (which won't be anything new).

It just means more filter cleaning than they anticipated, and at their expense, although doubtless the contract specification will be being examined closely, just in case.

 

Jim

Is it possible that the pollen being encountered on GW is different to that on SE?

 

Laugh not, I am being serious. I had a big problem with pollen kicking off asthma last year. The asthma nurse said pollen varies not only regionally, but year on year as well. So maybe they've got away with it on 395's so far, because they just haven't been encountering the same type of pollen?

Edited June 29, 2018 by rodent279

[jim.snowdon]

Is it possible that the pollen being encountered on GW is different to that on SE?

Laugh not, I am being serious. I had a big problem with pollen kicking off asthma last year. The asthma nurse said pollen varies not only regionally, but year on year as well. So maybe they've got away with it on 395's so far, because they just haven't been encountering the same type of pollen?

I doubt that it is actually pollen, which is quite fine, but a highly likely candidate is the fluffy airborne seeds that are floating around at the moment. They're a problem I ran into on the Docklands trains back in the 1990s. The traction equipment used centrifugal filters (the name swirly-flow comes to mind) and whilst these were OK for most things, the fluffy seeds were too big to escape and just ended up clogging the filters. There wasn't a cure other than pulling the units in more frequently just to clear the stuff out of the filter banks.

 

Jim

[Coryton]

Is it possible that the pollen being encountered on GW is different to that on SE?

 

Laugh not, I am being serious. I had a big problem with pollen kicking off asthma last year. The asthma nurse said pollen varies not only regionally, but year on year as well. So maybe they've got away with it on 395's so far, because they just haven't been encountering the same type of pollen?

 

I've come across this as well - apparently there are regional variations depending on which type of tree different councils favoured.

 

However, I suspect that trains are somewhat less sensitive to the exact type of pollen than people with allergic reactions.