Supaned

And for all of those thing, we drivers are most grateful. Those one-shot sanders have proved their worth for me on several occasions.

Having just skimmed through the report , on the face of it a lot sounds positive. Naturally having a vested interest , chapter 8 regarding staff was the bit I was looking closely at. Whilst my salary is in the public domain , I'm not necessarily happy with the concept of comparison with other sectors and labour markets - we've been down this road before with McNulty comparing train drivers to white van man. I think we can all see where this is heading....

Just to add a thumbs up for Mech Models. I've been to the shop a couple of times and always found the chaps working there to be very friendly and helpful. Today has further cemented that. I had a phonecall this afternoon to tell me that two Athearn locos I had pre-ordered via Mech had arrived. I made my card payment over the phone , and then when it came to discussing post/delivery the chap mentioned that he lived not too far from me so we arranged to meet at a convenient location halfway between the two of us so I could collect my locos - I can't say fairer than that.

"The" Badger (89001) won't be coming to the rescue though , sadly the ACLG have reported that the recent testing at Soho has revealed some traction motor issues.

I did ponder some pages back whether this situation could have been down to infrastructure rather than manufacture. That's not to point the finger at Network Rail, just a thought process. Consider for example , that Japanese infrastructure is by and large maintained to a far higher standard that that of the UK (and yes , I appreciate that funding and actually being able to get a possession to carry out any maintenance are both in short supply here in the UK ) , could it be that the Hitachi design doesn't take into account the condition of the p-way the train is being operated on, or the forces at play from the less than perfect trackwork ? Widening this a bit , SOMETHING is causing the spate of yaw damper failures on both CAF and Hitachi units , and now , although more than likely unrelated to that , these lifting bracket cracks. It could be any number of things from poor design , poor materials , poor construction , infrastructure impacts , or any combination of those or something else entirely. I think everyone in the industry would rather this was resolved in a safe and timely manner rather than just blaming each other (that's what Delay Attributions are for).

Nope. Whilst I can't speak for the situation at GWR, if it's anything like the TOC I am familiar with , there are still not enough drivers to run the full timetable , a combination of lapsing route knowledge due to services being curtailed as a result of the pandemic , drivers lapsed on competency due to being required to shield for the past 12 plus months on medical grounds and various other issues. Added to which , most TOCs have only limited agreements for in-cab training due to the continued COVID situation. In reality this means training on a one to one basis rather than the usual one Instructor to two trainees, and a strict testing and monitoring regime. Whilst there may be drivers available to train, they all have to be done individually and there are also only a finite amount of Instructors to go around, so any training period is greatly extended in terms of time and cost. Until it's determined how long the IET situation is likely to continue for and thus what sort of resources are going to be needed to provide a replacement service and for how long, there is unlikely to be much in the way of extra staff training beyond that absolutely necessary, even more so when the DfT are clutching the purse strings.

40 on the curve at Westerleigh now old chap, Yes , you'd still need a fair wind to get anywhere near 125 before Winterbourne though.

None at all. The Hitachi trains are stopped for safety concerns. They are't going to replace them with 1950s slam door rolling stock proven to be unsafe in a major accident , nor 1930s steam locos, particularly with that TOC and their past safety record regarding isolation of vital in-cab equipment. As has been alluded to elsewhere, any such unusual workings will quickly become a magnet for enthusiasts rather than actually providing a public transport SERVICE, and judging by the misbehaviour on the EMR HSTs, it simply isn't worth the effort.

Nope, not fitted and never intended to be. The GWR ATP system is different to that used by Chiltern as well, to further complicate the matter. As an aside to this , XC Voyagers are limited to 100mph from Westerleigh Junction to Bristol Parkway due to a lack of ATP as well.

Perhaps this episode might focus minds to get that done to make things far simpler in future, especially if it's only a short stretch

Different trains/locomotives of the same type will also handle differently with braking, depending on factors such as overall weight, brake pad/shoe wear, cylinder pressures, brake valve setup . No two are exactly alike, and that's the same even with modern trains with computer systems involved.

It's not a conspiracy theory I'm spouting , just thinking aloud. Lots of fingers being pointed towards manufacturers, including from some quarters some downright xenophobic language , what if it actually isn't them at fault? Going back to the Boeing 737MAX , Boeing were adamant that the crashes were due to pilot error when in actual fact it was anything but, so the most obvious answer isn't necessarily the correct one. Whatever the reason, I hope it's resolved in a safe and timely manner, and whatever lessons need to be learnt are done so.

Just expanding on this with a thought. So far we have 80x & 385 (both Hitachi) and 19x (CAF) with similar issues re yaw dampers . I appreciate the current 80x situation is down to the jacking points, however , it did make me wonder. Whilst the Hitachi units could well be impacted by the Kobe steel situation , surely the CAF ones aren't made of the same stuff, so I have to ask ,exactly what is causing these issues and how? As the units are from different manufacturers, that probably has to be ruled out, so is it the infrastructure they run on? Are the dampers themselves too stiff causing excessive forces on the mountings? I'm by no means an engineer , but to me it seems to be very coincidental - were it all Hitachi units I'd go with the Kobe Steel theory, but as CAF are also involved that is less likely.

He who pays the piper....

Yes and no. And I'll give an example. I'm a train driver and have been for 21 years. I've signed a lot of route miles and a lot of different traction types. My current TOC uses 3 different traction types , including HSTs , and I am qualified to drive and instruct on all 3 types. We only have limited HST work, it can be months between turns (although enough to retain that competency on paper) and often that HST turn may only be one way for 35 minutes in the seat with only one station stop. They are a very different beast to anything else, and even though I have been driving them from the outset , you still need to maintain that "feel" for them and they can and will catch out people if you aren't on the ball with them. The same applies for other traction types - however much I may have been familiar with them and how many miles I may have driven them, that "feel" has now gone. Class 47s were my basic traction and if I got into one now , I can guarantee I'd be horrified by the braking performance compared to the trains I drive on a daily basis. Granted , I'd get used to it again in time , but a once every six months refresher isn't going to achieve that. The logistics of traincrew knowledge are such that unique or unusual traction or routes is more of an issue than a solution, further compounded by the current pandemic where the majority of TOCs have strict agreements regarding training "bubbles" on a one-to-one basis - it would simply take too long to get enough people trained to be able to run a service, so unless the IETs are out for a long term period it's just not feasible. And as for the "good old days" of BR steam, yes , traincrews were just expected to get on with it , so when V2s were sent to the Southern they did just that, however , times and standards have moved on, and anyone in charge of a large machine such as a train should be expected to be very familiar with it and it's operation rather than a quick once over and off you go.

One escaped from the regular coal traffic and was seen on a unit oil train on the BNSF Racetrack in Chicago, seen here at Downers Grove. Note that the leading unit is the NS Reading Heritage unit:

I've just caught up with the new format and presenter , and surprisingly I actually thought it was very good. As others have said, Ryo seemed to have been promoted to the main presenter with Cathy commenting and asking questions where applicable. The content of this particular episode seemed to be better as well. Time will tell if it remains so long term, but certainly a promising start.

I'm not 100% sure of the manning arrangements for such trains. For a separate class 3 trip I had in mind a single BG or GUV. The BG obviously has a guard's compartment , the GUV doesn't so presumably in that case the guard would ride in the back cab of the loco , so no rostering of a single class 20 as there wouldn't be any room. Loco wise you'd be looking at a 25, 31 or similar/

Mention of the Brickyard at Cardiff, it has featured on other threads on here and I've seen photos of it at different times handling newspaper traffic and also with a mobile crane unloading steel wagons (granted not in the same period). As others have said , perhaps specify one of the factories as a print works and have a van come in to collect the finished product? That would probably be easier to justify warranting a single van rather than a longer train, it may well also have run as a separate trip (Class 3 most likely) rather than as part of a freight service.

Watching with A LOT of interest - love visiting Thailand and travelling on Thai Railways. Thonburi is indeed a good choice . Even recently pretty much every main line diesel class (GEK , Alsthom , Hitachi and big GE) work there regularly , as well as a Daewoo railcar service out along the Southern Line. There was also a Henschel shunter (79) outbased there , that has recently been replaced by GEK 4014. SRT tends to use the vacuum braked GEKs on pilot duties more nowadays. The depot is home to the SRT preserved steam fleet , and also there is for some odd reason a solitary Krupp diesel (3118) which must be some sort of depot pet as it is keep immaculate and in working order , it sometimes has a little run out on the Southern line on one of the passenger trains.

I'm pretty sure on the real thing the ramps are folded away at night to allow the freight turn to run to Escondido - this is done remotely from the dispatcher. I guess for modular ops , this could be done when a freight turn runs along the line - perhaps have it set up as a self-contained branch with passenger trains , then stable them and fold the ramps away for the booked freight job? Escondido's frieght area itself would probably make a model in it's own right , there's a couple of industries there and I think a lumber merchant along the line and one of the intermediate stations had a spur with a boxcar at a warehouse behind the platforms. I've travelled the entire line visiting several of the breweries along there , hence the memories of my "modelling survey" are somewhat vague.....

Do you use a program such as JMRI for switching ? I've used it for Freemo meets and have set it up for the home layout I'm intending to build , which is useful as you can operate the layout virtually to see how it all works.

One has worked to Redditch on a railtour in recent years , also one went to Barnt Green on a test run following AWS repairs at Saltley (no wires) in Virgin days, and finally the only one known to have worked a passenger train on the Cross City south was when an 86 went to assist 47726 that failed at Kings Norton one summer saturday and dragged it into New Street.

I've probably asked this elsewhere and before , but what magnets do you use to get the reliable remote uncoupling?

Given that the Escondido branch that those Sprinters run on still has a freight service that's an interesting subect for a modern layout.