Great Western Coffee Shop

1. What is a diagram?  Well I *know* what a diagram is in the general sense but what is the significance in rail terms

2. What does it mean when "xyz crew only sign for abc route"

3. I am not a train spotter so can anyone give me a run down of the main classes and what is good/bad about them........I currently have a lot of time in meetings I use to browse forums and would lover to further understand theposts..... I know HST's, 180s, 165s, 166s, and 170s (because arriva run them to crewe - think they are the newer ones not the crappy ones).

Just a one liner would help decode the foreign language

1. What is a diagram?

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2. What does it mean when "xyz crew only sign for abc route"
Train drivers (and guards, for that matter) have to know where all speed limits, signals, stations, junctions and level crossings are on their routes, and until they prove they know a route they are not allowed to work over it.

142/3/4=Pacer - Hated across the Network as they are designed on buses, and only have 3 sets of doors on each side
150/1= A unit popular with traincrew and passengers alike. Operated by London Midland.
150/2= Also popular with crew, /2's are oparated by Northern, FGW and ATW
153= Single car pile of crap! Very slow off the mark, and normally kept in a state that you wouldn't keep your home in!
155= 2 car and nicer varient of the 153
156=?
158= 2/3 car units, air conditioned (aparently) operating longish distance routes around the country - can be found from Penznace to Wick!
159= Nicer varient of the 158 - operated by SWT and kept in VERY good condition
165/6= Turbos operated on mainly local stopping serivces. FGW ones not as good as Chilterns  - who have very good 'air cooling'
168= Chilterns stop gap between 165's and 170's, shown by the design as /0's look like 165's and the rest look like 170's
170= Long distance and local units, many different livery and interior varients
175= Mini 180
180= Long Distance unrealiable 5 car units, comfy but sadly the air-con is very dodgey

Thanks, Jim.   The 156 units were - I think - 2 car sets that were split to produce 2 x 153 each.

Of these, I think FGW run only:

142 (just arriving) and 143, 150/1 (just arriving), 150/2. 153 and 158 ("The West" fleet)
165 and 166 (Thames Valley)
125 and 180 (just leaving us) (High Speed Fleet)

No, 153s were derived from 155s.

156s are two-car units with single-leaf sliding doors. Scotrail use them on the West Highland line, and I think Northern use them on Leeds-Settle-Carlisle. They are much nicer than 150s - including the Wessex refurbs!

There is a website dedicated to the 156 here (http://members.madasafish.com/~dysgraphyk/156/).

In train crew terms, it is what we pick up when we book on for duty. Basically tells us where we are going, stopping patterns, timings, etc. Also tells us what units are booked to form the trains, but this is not usually correct due to failures and stock shortages!

156's are I believe the most reliable DMU's ever built? I think thats actually official!

Arriva actually use 175's on the Marches line, Arriva Trains Wales don't have any 170's, oh God I sound like a train spotter!   ;)

Not as much as me - so don't worry :P

156's were pretty much the same as 155's but they proved more sucessful so 155's were split up to form 153's. 156's are apparently very nice and used in a similar way to 158's which is long distance regional journeys. They are also refurblished to high standards.

156's aren't great for long distance as they don't have air con.

But the same goes for a majority of 158's in Wales and the West!

156s did operate on the Cardiff to Pompey line for a while along with 155s but eventually they left for pastures new. They came out about the same time as the 155s but were much better built.

The 158's i've been on in wales all have working aircon  :P

Train Crew are also diagramed. Book on/off times and what one is required to do in between.