Railweek 2017 - Three Bridges Open Day

[Claude_Dreyfus]

One of the events for this year's Railweek was the opening of Three Bridges depot to the public. It proved a popular event, with plenty of visitors.

 

It was not a conventional open day - there were no visiting trains, or much in the way of stalls or the usual paraphernalia. Just the depot, and 5 class 700 units. Units 700120 and 700123 were open to the public, with the cabs open for supervised visits. 700128 was the subject of tours through the servicing pit beneath the unit; not every day you see the underneath an EMU.

 

The stars of the show - 700009, 700024, 700120, 700123, 700128.

 

Internal views of 700123

 

Inside the cab of 700123. Each cab was supervised by a driver, which added to the interest as he explained the various controls. The 700s are much simpler trains to operate than the 377s, and the cab ambience is considerably better (the driver particularly linked the larger windscreen).

 

A view down the depot walkway between 700120 and 700123

 

The tour beneath 700128 was a highlight. It was nice to see an effort was made labelling the various key components...

 

 

I believe this is a jack

 

This is an interesting bit of kit. Essentially it is a diagnostic centre, in direct communication with the trains themselves. It give the engineers a running commentary on the state of the fleet. Today, only one unit had a serious fault; 700009 - and that unit was within the depot awaiting attention. It is a Siemens tool - apparently the new Eurostars have the same software.

 

 

The stores:

 

Wheelset

 

New Pantograph

 

Bogie

 

Outside of the depot, there are a number of stabling sidings. One group is tucked away behind the engineers depot. These are shorter sidings, only long enough for the 8 carriage sets. 700015 was present today.

 

All in all a very enjoyable and popular day. Would be interested to know if anyone else from on here attended...

 

[nightstar.train]

 

IMG_0741.JPG

I believe this is a jack

 

 

Not quite a jack, but the reverse. It’s a bogie swap. The big yellow bits are supports. They slide in from the side and hold the carriage. Then the section of track between them lowers, and lowers the bogie with it. Then the depot workers wheel that bogie away and wheel a new one in, which is lifted up and attached. I think the whole thing can be done in about twenty minutes with a skilled crew. Much easier than lifting the whole train, or having to split it.

[jbqfc]

i was there a good day it was i spent ages taking to the chap with the diagnostic computer found it all very interesting

[Shedmaster]

Hi,

 

Many Thanks for posting these pictures from your visit.

 

Although never a fan of EMU's, I found this one to be really interesting and whether you like them or not, it seemed to be full of hi-tec features for both the passenger and the Driver's benefit ? The touch screen Diving environment looked impressive but is it just more hassle in reality ?

 

I wonder what they're like to drive compared to a 319 ? I bet you don't just 'shut off, key off and clear off' in half a second after driving one of these ?

 

 

Thank You again,

 

Kindest Regards,

 

Shed.

Edited October 15, 2017 by Shedmaster

[Foulounoux]

Ooooh our hose evident in one of those

 

Sad git aren't I

 

Great idea though to explain the components

[tjf4375]

Crikey, I would love to have known about this!! I've been trying to get photographs of the underframe detail of these units for my Class 700 OO gauge project, gutted I missed it.