Mike_Walker

9 hours ago, adb968008 said:

Are these units lifted up that often to cause cracks ?
 

or

is the crack representing itself in a location of a strong point as a result of  a greater than expected force being imposed at a weaker point that manifests itself at the point of greatest resistance  ?.. if that stress force is generated from motion.. that would be a problem to continued use wouldnt you agree ?

It might not fall apart whilst moving, but if you cant lift it at a strong point without considerable damage.. its equally a bit useless.

 

is it just a case of identifying an issue, benchmarking it across the fleet and the monitoring it going forwards for a future decision ..maybe its within a certain tolerance ?

 

Ironically 800109 only emerged last week for testing following its rather high impact low speed incident.

 

 

Whilst the number of times the units have been lifted to date, if ever, the same jacking points are used to support the vehicle when over a bogie-drop which is used fairly often - for motor or wheelset changes for example.  Therefore the cracks could lead to failure in such circumstances.

Should the worst happen then it would not lead to a catastrophic failure in itself.  Should the attachment of the yaw damper fail the damper could flail around and strike some lineside object which could in turn lead to a derailment.  Remember what happened to D1007 at Longfield Junction, Ealing back in 1973.  The same applies to the CAF units although the method of attachment is different on those units.

8 minutes ago, corneliuslundie said:

Interesting. I have just seen a photo by Ken Mumford of the 10.40 from Swindon to Swansea (ex Paddington), a 5-car Azuma. Presumably it started its journey before the alert.

Jonathan

As I said earlier, as units are checked and found to be fault free they are being returned to service.  On GWR we don't call them Azumas - we have our own pet names which I won't share here...

6 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Is that attachment plate/bracket welded to the skin of the car-body?

As I understand it, it is a large unit which goes completely across the underside of the body.  The body itself is constructed from extrusions not a framework with a skin applied.

1 minute ago, Peter Kazmierczak said:

Even our beloved "Thousands" had to be stopped for checking cracks, back in the 60s. And before that the "Kings"... 
Just add your favourite loco class to the list.

Agreed, but back then the affected locos/units amounted to only a small part of the fleet and could be covered by other types.  No so today regrettably.

1 minute ago, Zomboid said:

Mechanical boxes used colour lights reasonably frequently.

 

Another example of the thing you're asking about is Eastleigh to Romsey via Chandler's Ford, which was controlled (including the double to single junction at Eastleigh) from the mechanical box at Romsey, until that box closed and control moved to wherever it is.

Eastleigh PSB

2 hours ago, meil said:

4. set instrument to TRAIN ON LINE and then send 4

 

Should be LINE CLEAR not Train On Line.

Yes, that confirms it's an up train but the reporting number appears to be displayed on the frame not chalked on the smokebox door - far too neat for one thing!  My earlier comments about it being left from a previous assignment remains.  At that time up expresses on the Joint Line were 1Axx if they'd originated at Wolverhampton, Birmingham or Shrewsbury and 1Vxx if they'd originated at Birkenhead.  DMU services to/from Marylebone were 2Cxx.

As I said previously, it was not uncommon for trains to display completely wrong reporting numbers back in those days unlike today when it is imperative that every train displays it's own unique ID even if it is no longer shown to the outside world.

9 minutes ago, nicktamarensis said:

Thanks chaps. The photo taken from the footbridge to the west of the station was definitely of a down train passing the HW 'Middle 'box coming in from the West Wycombe direction, carrying Class A lamps and with the 'B10' reporting number - not chalked but boarded. As you say, the lamps by this date would indicate '1' as a prefix.

Chris - this was a query in conjunction with the Transport Treasury not BRILL or Bylines!

Nick. 

Then it would be an up train, not down.  The fact that the number was chalked on the smokebox suggests it was left from a previous assignment - in 1962 1B10 was the 10:45 Paddington - Weston-Super-Mare - not uncommon in those days.

8 minutes ago, NHY 581 said:

 

Morning Mike. 

 

Thanks for the kind words. It just takes practice and continuing experimentation. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it doesn't.  Either way, you learn something. 

 

Rob. 

Hi Rob,

Yes, but it's plucking up the courage to dive in!

Mike

10 hours ago, The Johnster said:

There were several diagrams of B set coaches, and the E129 that is the prototype for the Airfix coach was never used as an individual coach, so the inner short buffers never had to be used with ‘normal’ stock.  The final diagram of B sets, the E147, were in some cases given normal buffers and thus could be used as individual coaches, and I believe some were in their later lives in Devon and Cornwall.   These were flat ended coaches with 9’ ‘pressed steel’ bogies. 

Really?  I've always been under the impression they were based on the E140 design.  There was a version of those with 9' bogies which were E145.

12 hours ago, big jim said:

There are a couple of SP speed restriction board on a couple of curves on the chilterns at high Wycombe and aynho jn that don’t apply to certain sprinters!

 

if your in a 165/168 etc the speeds don’t apply but if you have a ‘sprinter’ with a centre gangway such as 156 or 158  then you must go at the slower SP speed as there are signals on the curves that are obscured by the centre gangway 

 

as for HST speeds, after Solihull heading toward Marylebone then the loco hauled chiltern services (class 68 and previously 67) adhere to the HST speeds 

Here's a picture of the speed boards mentioned, or least the up direction AWIs for them between West Wycombe and High Wycombe.

When they went up they caused some astonishment not least to Chiltern's drivers as no "Sprinters" are scheduled to use the line.  Questions were asked by Chiltern management and the answer came back it was to allow for operating Class 158s over the route.  Some will remember that around the time Wrexham & Shropshire was being set up there was a rival plan put forward by Arriva Trains Wales to run a service from Aberystwyth to Marylebone which would have used 158s.  The issue was that with their gangwayed cabs there was thought to be reduced signal sighting around the curves through High Wycombe station compared to say a 165 or 168 hence a lower speed was posted under the SP category.  There is a similar restriction on the down line approaching Aynho Junction for the same reason.

The 60 PSR applies to all other passenger trains whilst 35 applies to freight trains.

The irony was that by the time the signs went up the Arriva plan had been abandoned.

8 hours ago, NHY 581 said:

Morning all. 

 

I'm afraid I have nothing new to report.  However, here is an old Norman Lockhart image by way of a reminder. 

 

Rob. 

 

 

 

 

 

I wish I could weather mine half as good as that!

2 hours ago, Wickham Green too said:

Hasn't pretty well everything else got disc brakes nowadays tho' ??!?

Passenger stock yes.  But braking performance varies between types. 

1 hour ago, KeithHC said:

On the Gloucester Bristol line just south of the Charfield loops is a speed sign. In fact there are two speeds shown one for 90 and one that says HST 100. Does the HST 100 only apply to HST sets or does it also apply to Cross Country 220 and GWR 800.

 

Keith

Yes, in this instance.  HST refers to a whole group of classes not simply the classic HST.  There is often a note in the Sectional Appendix specifying which types can run at the HST speed at a particular location.  It is usually based on braking performance rather than speed. 

2 minutes ago, pH said:

See post immediately above!

Oops!  

Here's an example of perfect framing...  https://www.railpictures.net/photo/770314/

1 hour ago, Broadoak said:

 

A night time visitor this time a Green Bay & Western Alco RS27 #316 seen passing the grade crossing next to the store at Benson’s west yard.

Photo by Andy Knott

 

Peter M

That is superb.  Hard to decide whether it's a model or the real thing.

1 hour ago, Martync said:

Looking forward to getting my copy via Alton Model Centre - supporting my local model shop!!  Was Aylesbury featured in other magazines pre MRJ??  I'll have to dust down my old Railway Modellers and have a look.

 

Yes, in the old MRN - can't say when exactly but must have been late 60s/early 70s.  I was surprised and delighted to find this was the same layout which still stands muster today.

1 hour ago, John Besley said:

Demolish and build an IKEA on the site..

We had a cottage on the edge of the village where I live that was far worse than that and it has been brought back to life.  No roof and trees growing inside!

52 minutes ago, adb968008 said:

Isnt that the truth.

 

A lot less people have hobbies, or I could rephrase, a lot less people have passion.

I find growing culture of “a job” and a “social life” and thats all there is.

 

Passion for a belief is increasingly acceptable in society than it used to be, but there is no money in that.

 

So you have a choice in life.. be passionate or get paid, its increasingly rare to get both, and have enough of it in a company to make a difference... it is a positive/negative spiral that can move a company to / from a good environment as it directly reflects its culture, as side from its financials.

At least one current and highly respected TOC managing director is a life-long passionate rail enthusiast, locomotive owner and good friend of Peter Hendy...  And, is highly respected by his team at all levels.

It does help if you have a passion for what you are doing in any walk of life not just seeing it as a means of earning a crust.

9 minutes ago, Robert Shrives said:

Fork also useful for fishing bags and shoes out of the oily cess at stations. 

Robert 

The mind boggles!

Reading the links kindly provided by Purnu's reply to my OP, it seems there are plans to lay a short length of line at the farm and run a "Zyder Express" for visitors.  The bizarre paint job has only recently been applied and it seems the hundreds of dots have been applied using a paint that glows when exposed to UV light.

8 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

I look forward to the 769s' introduction on the North Downs Line.  Before the pandemic, the regular 3-car 165s were always very well loaded at any time of day and in the morning rush hour into Reading, frequently crush-loaded; I have certainly been forced to stand from Blackwater and actually seen people left behind at Wokingham.  If nothing else, the guard can rarely sell all the tickets necessary before Reading.

 

The old units really seem to toil up the gradients as well, this impression is confirmed by an old friend/colleague who now drives them for GWR, including on this route.

Be careful what you wish for!  There's a lot of debate as to how the 769s will perform on the route.  Yes, the Turbos did struggle at times but that's because they were geared for 90 mph to take advantage of Brunel's billiard table.  That's why the Chiltern fleet are geared for 75 mph to cope better with the hills on that route. 

There were two tests last week. On Monday 769946 ran a single Reading-Didcot-Maidenhead-Reading trip on electric only.  On Wednesday it did two round trips.  They tried running on diesel but there were "issues" so most of the run was again on electric.

A third test was planned for today but was cancelled after two of the three units at Reading were declared failures.

The current tests, when they run, are being handled jointly by GWR and Colas and appear to be booked off Reading at 11:33 running as 5Q10.

As I understand it, they will not change between modes on the move as it requires actions by the driver which are regarded as a distraction risk if moving.  As to which mode will be used on which section of the North Downs route, that has still to be advised.