black and decker boy

It’s ok, the 68s now run on HVO and one carries full body side branding so the push folk of Marylebone can read it as they listen to it. isn’t it 13sets of mk5s? Chiltern could use them all on the Birmingham’s and release some 168s to EMR. Chiltern do struggle to keep the full fleet of DMUs in service with short forms & overcrowding more common that it has been before. Passenger levels are rising on the route including Fridays but whether that’s sufficient for DfT to agree to the £££ is a different matter.

That plan died when no 3rd party wanted to buy them on those terms. There is currently a live tender for another batch of 37s but as a straight sale. DRS contract for RA5 RHTT work ends this year apparently.

Simple, no one is building new stock. The HSTs are either not replaced (see XC) or will be replaced later on (on GWR) by cascaded 15x sprinters (ex-TfW). Chiltern will ultimately see DMU cascades to replace the LHCS but what DMU hasn’t been publicly identified as yet. DfT & Treasury do not think rail travel needs all its pre covid capacity as generalised passenger numbers are down and revenue is very down. That means cuts. Reducing train lengths in order to reduce fleet size and save money is therefore part of the cost cutting plan. The impact of shorter formations on those unlucky enough to use the trains seems unnoticed by the mandarins. running 2+4 HSTs was only ever a stop gap on GWR due to lack of spare 15x or 16x and operating costs are known to be a lot higher than running a sprinter.

DfT has instructed the removal of XC and GWR HSTs on cost grounds. Treasury wanted savings so stock reductions form part of the ‘plan’. The Chiltern LHCS are part of the same plan. many of the MTU lumps were running out of hours and approaching a major rebuild so that expense has also been saved. both Chiltern & GWR fought hard that they needed the capacity provided by these so have got a stay of execution for some. When more DMUs hit the off lease market, the plan will be completed. Scotrail is different, HSTs on section 54 lease until 2030. Union ‘black listing’ not carried through as modifications have been made. Medium term, who knows what could happen up there.

Posted over on WNXX news page today: The general cargo ship 'Panthera J' has spent the weekend at anchor near Great Yarmouth, ready for docking at the port and the commencement of loading power cars and stock tomorrow. Panthera J is a similar type of ship used for the shipment of the power cars and stock to Mexico, is registered in Liberia and has sailed in from the Netherlands.

Anyone who has driven (crawled) past a car fire on a motorway should understand the immense and intense heat given off, even in the open with 3 lanes gap. imagine that heat, 1m away in a confined space like a car park consider the tyres exploding. Consider plastic bumpers & trim of adjacent cars catching light (as in that video in herne bay) followed by interiors as the heat transmit through the thin steel body. That Herne Bay video shows adjacent cars well slight after 2mins. easy to see a crowded MSCP erupting before any fire service attendance could contain it.

The registration plate is visible in the photo: E10EFL that comes up as: Vehicle make LAND ROVER Date of first registration May 2014 Year of manufacture 2014 Cylinder capacity 2993 cc CO₂ emissions 194 g/km Fuel type DIESEL

OMG!!!! I need to sell the wife…… well done

Power door MK3s and PCs are massing at GT Yarmouth ready for their voyage. Quite a few there now

Given all the cutbacks, how intensive is HS2 actually going to be? Suggestions elsewhere are as low as 11tph and even that requires Euston I think. Chiltern manage a pretty reliable 12tph out of the 6 platforms of Marylebone in the evening peak (with slower accelerating DMUs) and that’s only a double track line. OOC isn’t designed as a terminal station so will throttle the capacity unless redesigned (perhaps a challenge as the box is being dug I think). They could perhaps save money building shorter platforms, the classic compatible services north of Curzon st will be limited to single 200m sets as none of the existing stations can handle 400m sets. If you make everything 200m (or 240m) you can reduce all 3 captive stations and perhaps add the odd extra Curzon St turn. if passenger numbers grow then you can extend later

Given all the cutbacks, how intensive is HS2 actually going to be? Suggestions elsewhere are as low as 11tph (and even that requires Euston I think). Chiltern manage a pretty reliable 12tph out of the 6 platforms of Marylebone in the evening peak (with slower accelerating DMUs). OOC isn’t designed as a terminal station so will throttle the capacity unless redesigned (perhaps a challenge as the box is being dug I think). They could perhaps save money building shorter platforms, the classic compatible services north of Curzon st will be limited to single 200m sets as none of the existing stations can handle 400m sets. If you make everything 200m (or 240m) you can reduce all 3 captive stations and perhaps add the odd extra Curzon St turn.

Don’t all cakes involve a rise?* Flat cake is no fun. Droopy cake is worse than a dodgy dipped digestive. Or are we straying into the baked cake vs biscuit debacle and no one wants to their pay to be biscuits unless you are a jammy dodger……

Dawsons at Middlesbrough Goods are still operating and receive / despatch an eclectic mix of goods

Not still open but you had a few such places in the Trainload / Speedlink ERA: Law Junction PD Stirling Mossend ISIS Salford Warrington Dallam there is the new Highland Spring loading point at Blackford You do get van traffic into places like DIRFT at Daventry but not short rakes. Aggregates & recycled stone seem to have taken over many of these locations these days and with a mix of wagon types and train lengths in use

Add another 10k for that 300 mile range. I disagree that the majority can’t afford that car as many do drive them, perhaps not off the forecourt as new but certainly once second hand. the bulk of EV sales at the minute are replacing the BMW 3 series / Passat / Merc C /Audi A4 in fleets. The lower BIK tax being a big driver. from this year onwards they will start to filter into the 2nd hand market in increasing numbers , my first Tesla was a19 plate on a 4 year lease.

Tesla model 3 (except the entry level trim) will do 300 miles in all weathers, there are few of a new trim; long range rear wheel drive - WTLP 385miles so real world 330 in winter, 350 in summer. Ive tried other EV (circumstance rather than choice) and for me currently, the only answer is Tesla. Never had a range, charging or reliability problem in 4 years of driving Model 3s

AIUI The recent direct award to Arriva XC includes an internal refurb / refit for the Voyagers

Even the government are stressing that HS2 will still meet the WCML at Delta junction (assume that’s Handsacre) and thence up the Trent Valley. this moves the congestion hot spot onto the Trent Valley rather than relieve it. all those Manchester / Liverpool to Brum services will remain where they are now and distinctly not HS. The approaches to the northern cities will remain as clogged and prone to delays as now. Freight & logistics will still struggle for paths. but it’s ok, Milton Keynes, Watford etc will gain extra stopping services.

They were all gone by December 1971 so there would be little change in rolling stock from Green (which most still carried) - so steam eta vacuum & unfitted wagons. A lot of 16t mineral wagons around central Scotland. The LGW grain wagons mentioned above. 12T box wagons etc loads of photos online. there is also a book on the 17s https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/The-Clayton-Type-1-Bo-Bo-Diesel-Electric-Locomotives-British-Railways-Class-17-Hardback/p/18826

https://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/2023-10-05/government-u-turn-on-rail-line-pledge-less-than-24-hours-after-announcement

The back tracking has begun, the list published yesterday has vanished and a 40 page report has popped up. reopening the Leamside line isn’t mentioned in the report…..

August 2022: The £830 million City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) is aimed at providing an integrated and inclusive transport network and was made possible thanks to the West Yorkshire Mayoral devolution deal Included within the investment is £160 million to develop and start to deliver the first phase of a Mass Transit network. Additionally, the programme includes fifteen new bus and cycle priority corridor improvements, three new cycling corridors, new zero emission buses, new electric vehicle charging points, improvements to rail stations across West Yorkshire as well as a rail accessibility package and essential highway maintenance and road safety improvements.    The programme will be delivered with an end date of 2027 https://www.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/projects/city-regional-sustainable-transport-settlement-crsts/

Only if you believe the hype. Leeds trams funding was already in place, as was more expansion of Metrolink. many of the rail schemes announced yesterday have no feasibility studies or business cases in place. Plenty of opportunities for HM Treasury to whittle them down on the grounds of poor BCR. Even those that get through won’t be seen in action until the 2030s many of the road schemes announced were existing committed schemes (ie with funding in place) but many were over budget so it’s taking rail funding to divert to roads. there is good news in the list, if it happens, but we’ve now lost valuable extra capacity along the WCML (and many consider it’s just got a lot worse on the Trent Valley) and on the critical approach into Manchester. Leeds station approaches also suffer a lack of capacity so again, loss of HS2 east and NPR makes solving them a lot more costly & difficult (so less likely to happen). NPR itself still doesn’t have a published route alignment nor date for hybrid bill or TWAO so is unlikely to see spades in the ground this decade. The terminology used yesterday suggests it’s more focused on the Liverpool to Manchester section than tunnelling under the Pennines.

That’s in the independent anti-motorist state of Welsh Wales. Rishi doesn’t worry about transport policy in Welsh Wales and generally now seems just to do the opposite as he is “the friend of the (English) motorist”

Our motorways are already extensively covered by ANPR cameras. many of our major cities have ANPR coverage and certainly do if they have a congestion charge or ULEZ. a lot of council car parks have ANPR cameras. that’s not full coverage but it’s easy to see how a time & distance charging scheme could be introduced. Rishi won’t do it though as he’s ‘on the side of the motorist’