Ncarter2

That’s some dent on the fuel tank, I’m sure it will polish out!

Amazing work as always Jerry.

Seconded. Had many a cab ride in these between Euston and New Street. NSE and Silverlink would be good, hint hint.

Agree with you comments, but at the same time, my point was aimed at those roles which have been ‘created’ to provide a role for individuals, one for instance being transformation manager.

The 59/2’s are 75mph machines, they have yaw dampers fitted. If memory serves, this was trialled on 59104, but I believe since removed. Are the 73/9’s and 69’s still rated for the same speed?

Hi Fran, Will the upgrade price be the original or the revised?

Very! But they are a people company and it’s a job for life, well that’s what is preached.

NR has gone full circle and is now a ‘top heavy’ organisation again. The amount of management positions or senior leader roles created over the last few years, who have no staff sat under them just shows the mentality. I fully agree there needs to be a shake up, it’s just a shame it’s not with the right groups of people who offer little to no benefit. Sadly, reality is, these people will keep their jobs, their six figure salaries, a hefty bonus, while those who actually make a difference and keep the railway operating will be decimated once again, have much greater pressures weighted against them and when, because it is a matter of when, we have the next major disaster, these staff will be blamed, hauled through the ringer and spat out like they never existed. The senior leaders don’t have a clue. As long as they get their pay check. As for the CEO, not one of them is in the role long enough to make a difference or do any thing worthwhile. I’d go so far as to say they are government puppets, appointed to deliver the next set of goals.

Not totally true. The team I am part of was not part of the VS offered. Also, they are not accepting all submissions, there are colleagues that have been refused, most being a couple of years from retirement, with no reason given. Each Region seems to have a different approach.

It will indeed. Over the next few years, staff at NR & GBR when it takes over, are in for a tough time, with reorganisations and impossible targets which generally lead down one not so good path…..

Exactly that, I will say, the rail industry has really invested in its people and their welfare / wellbeing. More are reaching out for help and support, there are also much better programs, the stigma is also beginning to fade towards those who ask for help or admit to having a problem. Those who are fully aware of what they are doing and continue to do so are the dangerous ones, and IMO, they tend to get others hurt or worse before being caught out.

Unfortunately, while it certainly is less these days, there are still a number of staff across the rail industry that are dismissed for failing to comply with this requirement. One of the problems that exist will be we simply don’t appreciate what someone may be dealing with outside of the railway, and that is just one aspect, there are some who see themselves as clever enough to never be caught. What most may see as illogical, some will see no concern.

Indeed, when my cab pass is renewed, there is a document that I sign to say I have read and fully understand driving cab etiquette. NR is hot on it if they receive a report of one of their staff not following the rules. I’ve been made aware of an individual being banned from holding a cab pass following a report being made.

I put a couple of items up for sale Monday, first a Bachmann 90 in Powerhaul. Brought brand new, never used and now Kernow are doing the model I was intending on getting it sprayed into, was no longer needed. Listed at what I paid, got two offers today, one for just over the start, the other for £50. I countered with £2500 to that one, he didn’t see the funny side. I did take the other one though. Was surprised as they seem to be still in stock at a lot of places for not to much more than the offer I received. The other item I put up was a Hattons 66. This was one I pre ordered when first announced, and other than a test run to ensure all was well, has not been used. Again, listed at what i paid, and after a few offers of mid 90’s, got one today at near double the listing price. Was very surprised as how much these are demanding when it’s not the Garish orange.

Got a response, basically ignoring everything I asked and simply said they think it’s a new tooling.

A couple of the early inners are now down to 3.

You can add to that BR, Rail Track and NR changing track design hasn’t helped. Mixtures of vertical and inclined track, varying track gauges, all upsets the balance of the bogies. Most drivers and staff would also say the older stock rides better, some of the modern vehicles ride very poor indeed. It used to be a case of the rails were softer than the wheels, but now we use harder steel as standard, with even harder grades as required. It does tend to resist cracking for longer, but if not kept in check, when it goes, it propagates at a faster rate. On my route, RCF propagation around vertical S&C on the straight can result is drastically reduced asset life, granted, we have Desiros which hammer the track. Induce hunting and it can take some distance to settle, another cause of cracks. Grinding is generally positive, but in some instances can have a negative impact and open cracks which then causes no end of issues.

I think modern vehicles braking systems may play a part as well, particularly those with disc brakes as opposed to tread brakes. Sliding through Watford Jn in a Voyager when it was hammering it down was interesting. To quote the poor ole driver ‘that’s going to be a please explain when we get to Euston’. I’ll give him his due, it was one of the slower approaches to the buffers I’d experienced. Some very disgruntled passengers walked by the cab. I understand that 700’s motor bogies are tread brakes, so definitely some advantages for them scrubbing the wheels.

Apologies, I think my point was potentially missed. I’m a Senior Track Engineer for NR, so fully aware of the requirements for ballast, though I would note the standards today are the same as they were many years ago. You are correct, CWR track has a ballast shoulder that is generally required to be 375mm wide, if the radius is 2000m or less it should 450mm. In all cases the height should be 125mm. This applies to track up to 125mph. On jointed track, the shoulder can be level with the top of the sleeper. Ballast serves a bigger purpose than pinning the track in place. Heaped ballast is not enough to hold the track in place if there are other discontinuities, it requires the correct stress to be applies, the fastening system, to be doing its job, any stress transitions to and adjustment switches to be set correctly. What I was getting at, is there are numerous locations where ballast is deficient, yet loads where there is excess. I have know sites take shoes off 3rd rail units, I’ve even have the misfortune to watching a colleague hit the deck like a sack of potato’s due to a Pendolino catch a high shoulder and sending ballast flying. Just one of many examples where incompetence leads to another’s injury.

Interesting, when a tree falls and seriously injures or kills somebody, the local news often reports on it, but you never see or hear about the trees struck by trains and the injury to drivers. Now, if it affects the passenger compartment, different story. It happens a lot more than the public are aware of. Line side trees are a huge problem, even more so those that diseased and dying. So many line side neighbours will argue and fight for a tree to not be cut, yet when said tree ultimately comes down and damages their property, they very quickly ‘blame the railway’. Now I’m not saying trees next to the road are any less a problem, but there is more a driver can do, most of the time. The poor train driver can generally do nothing, Salisbury is a very good example of this. We could always make the maximum line speed much much lower, I doubt that would go down well mind. NR has a plan to cut all line side vegetation/trees back, but it costs and there just is not the budget.

In addition to what others have said, for the Wessex route, it’s a requirement for it to be T’n’T. This is due to some of the locations it’s use on not being gauge cleared and there being no place to run round. Cant say it’s the same for other Routes, but it’s my understanding the contract for movement between GBRF and SCO is T’n’T.

I dropped him a message just to see if it was sound fitted and mentioned that Hattons still have them new for just over £100 for non sound. No response.

Good old 07’s. They were good machines, Balfour Beatty had the last operational ones on the main line if I remember right. The other machine looks like one of the ballast regulators. We need more of these, well their modern equivalent. There’s always too much ballast were it’s not needed!

Words fail me! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hattons-OO-H4-66-036-Freightliner-Class-66-loco-66623-Rare-DCC-READY-/154831220091?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

Thank you, was not sure if I wanted one or not, but having missed out on other popular models I have decided to bag one.