Ron Ron Ron

I believe that is the off-peak service Mike. 2 tph off-peak 4 tph peak Again, I believe that's the off-peak service. HEX is to remain as a separate, independent service, until their agreement to operate on the main line expires in 2023. Originally Crossrail were to operate 4 tph to Heathrow T4. Some time ago now, TfL agreed with HAL to increase Crossrail services to/from Heathrow to..... 4 tph to T4 plus... 2 tph to T5 = a total of 6 tph. That is in addition to the existing HEX 4 tph to T5. From December 2019, there will be... 10 tph to/from Heathrow. Consisting of... 6 tph to T5 (4 Hex and 2 Crossrail) 4 tph to T4 (all Crossrail) .

I used to attend meetings in Frankfurt, Paris and Brussels and many of my continental European colleagues flew rather than took the HS train services. e.g. Brussels to Frankfurt, where they said the ICE took too long, it was a pain to have to travel into Brussels city centre to get to the station and it was easier to get to the meeting place from Frankfurt-Main airport, than from the railway station. The French guys and gals always took the train from Paris to Brussels, but always took the plane to Frankfurt and Amsterdam. .

Here is a detailed and comprehensive update on progress (Crossrail)....... Dated today, 30th January 2018. http://content.tfl.gov.uk/board-20180130-item10-elizabeth-line.pdf .

Chris, if that's the video I've just found.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EnWra5g24A ...then that was made back in 2014 and a bit out of date, with regards to the decoder he's talking about. What he describes as the "new" decoder, is in fact the old Soundtraxx made 36-557 (green coloured), which has now been supplanted by the "new" ESU made 35-557. A completely different product. n.b. The "old" decoder he's talking about is the old 36-554, which was the long discontinued ESU LokPilot Basic V1.0 The LokPilot Basic was replaced by the LokPilot Standard a few years ago, which is a much improved model with better motor control. .

A Chinese manufacturer. I'm not sure whether or not they've previously been one of the suppliers of cheap, own branded decoders sold by the likes of Gaugemaster and Hattons etc. http://laisdcc.com/about-us/ .

It was suggested by someone on another forum, that 444040 has gone off for the full interior refurbishment. .

"..their decoder..." ???? Which one is that then? Bachmann sell several different decoders under their own brand name. I think the one you are talking about is probably the 36-557 ? This is a 21-pin decoder. Originally this was a rebadged Soundtraxx decoder (green colour), but was replaced with a re-badged ESU decoder (blue colour) sometime last year. Most weirdly...and unhelpfully.... Bachmann have re-used the same model number for a completely different decoder! If anything, the new one is better. (It's a rebadged ESU LokPilot Standard). .

It might be a good idea to go back and edit your OP Chris. .

9-car 802 101 has been video'd running around on test, over this last couple of weeks. .

Bachmann have now put a news item up on their new website, regarding the big A. http://news.Bachmann.co.uk/2018/01/a-for-accessories/ .

The letter A should have been included in the symbols key for this years catalogue. However it is currently still in the drawing office, but with luck it should be progressing to tooling later this year. Bachmann are hoping to have EP samples of the A available at Ally Pally next year (2019) and decorated samples by Warley, later that year. If all goes according to plan, the production A will be available in time to be included in the symbols key for the 2020 catalogue. .

From memory, I was sure some of the XC Mk3's, if not one or two sets, were refurbished and converted LHCS. I found this which sort of confirms it.... https://shed83a.smugmug.com/CoachingStock/Mk3-Loco-Hauled/Mk3a-TSO-121xx/i-vR2wcRQ .

Flights to Newquay from Scotland are seasonal and tend to be on weekends. Flybe offer an all year round connection via Manchester. Exeter has year round, daily flights from Glasgow and Edinburgh. There are other daily connecting flights via Manchester. Other than the far SW airports, there are a dozen flights each day from Scotland to Bristol. From Edinburgh and Glasgow, the flight takes just over 1 hour and from Aberdeen, about 1 hr 15 mins and is cheaper than rail. By train (Cross Country) takes just under 6 hours from either Edinburgh or Glasgow to Bristol. Plus another few hours to get to Cornwall. .

According to RTT, the 1045 took 21 mins to reach Reading. It seems to have slowed around Hayes & Harlington and Airport Junction. That vital minute might have been lost there. http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C55335/2018/01/19/advanced ..

The youngest HST build Mk3's are 36 years old this year, with the oldest being about 42 years old. The LHCS Mk3A's are of a similar vintage, but the final build of LHCS, the Mk3B's are younger at 30 - 33 years old. A small number of LHCS Mk3's were converted for use in HST sets (I don't know how old these ones are?), but I don't think any of these are with, or have been with, GWR or VTEC. The GC and XC sets spring to mind? No doubt one of our number will have the answer to that. .

Satellite receiver for hi-speed internet & TV ?

Could a Valenta be refitted, considering that a fair amount of ancillary parts and control equipment will have been replaced or modified during re-engining? Spare engines may be available, but did anybody keep all the other bits and pieces, or were they chucked away, scrapped or sent for recycling? .

Some video now on YouTube showing 800's and a 9-car 802 departing Didcot with the pans up. Appears to have been a couple of days ago.

If the power output has met the technical specification (I don't know if does), then surely they can't be described as "underpowered". The trains will be delivering what was asked for. If it's not meeting the specification, then it would be considered "underpowered" and no doubt an issue that will have to addressed. A comparison with the HST performance is irrelevant on this matter. Do bear in mind that the original specification, pre-electrification, required the trains to match the full HST performance envelope. Hitachi produced a design to that spec. that should have had advantages over HST performance, with the hybrid diesel/battery system providing a large amount of boost across the performance range; combined with the advantages of distributed traction. That traction design was dropped and replaced with the less capable underfloor engines, when electrification came onto the table and the specification was changed. The travelling public will most likely see that the new trains are better in several areas (bright and clean interiors, increased leg room, less claustrophobic seating etc,), in addition to being better in areas they won't be aware of, such as crashworthiness. The diesel engine performance will probably not even register, if the trains arrive on time. Just look at comments by members of the travelling public in the press and on passenger forums. Comments like "replacing clapped out trains", "clapped out 40 year old trains", "still running ancient 40 year old HST's" are commonplace. All of which are rather unfair on the HST's, but nethertheless appears to be the general public view. .

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought they changed the design plans, so that for ease of production and compatibility, all intermediate vehicles were built the same, with the raised floor. Regardless of whether there was a diesel power pack raft fitted or not. AFAIK the only non-raised floor vehicles, are the driving, pantograph fitted trailers, because of the lowered ceiling (for the pans). . .

The IEP doesn't cover the MML. Class 800 series trains might be selected though. ..

Only on the 5-car bi-mode (under the 3 intermediate cars). On the 9-car bi-mode, there are 5 intermediate cars with engines and 2 intermediate trailers. .

The engine for emergency hotel power and limp home capability, is only needed on the all-electric Class 801. One diesel equipped vehicle, the same as a regular diesel fitted Class 800 vehicle, is included in the set. The driving vehicles do not have an engine. The Class 800's & 802's don't need this facility as they already have 3 or 5 Diesel engines in the set. .

The ones going to ScotRail (IIRC 26 sets?) are being shortened, so half the Mk3 trailers from them will go into storage. GWR are keeping something like 11 similar short sets (2+4), so again half of the Mk3's from them go into storage. VTEC, or any successor, may be keeping a few in the short term, but they'll all go eventually. That leaves just under half the ex-GWR & VTEC HST fleet as spare, so I think it likely scrapping will start in due course. EMT are getting a boost with extra sets, to release some 222's to be used on other routes, but when the franchise is relet, a replacement is quite likely to be part of the next incumbents terms. .