Great Western Coffee Shop

I was at Paddington tonight.. I got the 20.48 to Slough to then change on to the train that had left Paddington slightly earlier (20.42) at Slough.. All was running to time so even though I was there really early I waited for the 20.48 as the slower one was going from platform 13..

All was going well.. People got on the train..  20.48 came and went.. At 20.49 we got an announcement to say that anyone in the back two coaches would have to get off and move into the front 3 as the back two would be locked out of use from Reading but they were going to do it now anyway.. That didn't make total sense to be honest as why not do that at Reading (people would have had some warning by then too)..

So the net result was a 10 minute delay leaving Paddington and the connection at Slough was missed (just)..

In hindsight when I first got to Paddington, before the train had a platform, it did say front three coaches only.. I ended up on the front part of the train anyway (but only really as the back 2 carriages were quite full)

I'm thinking human error meant the back 2 carriages were left unlocked?

Log states that the 20:48 was a 4-car set instead of a 5-car and as a result the driver called control to confirm the set was still splitting at Reading.

Not knowing the full details, it sounds as if the driver might have been newly passed out so was being a bit over cautions.  Most experienced drivers would have just taken it with no questions.  It doesn't take too long to detrain to carriages at Reading.

I often use the Oxford/Cotswolds fasts to Slough to get the stopper onto Taplow. Sometimes it can be very frustrating if you just miss the stopper at Slough due to delays on the fast.

The main trouble is that you can never predict when the fast will be late so it's always a gamble.

As one of those passengers in the rearmost carriage I can offer an even worse perspective. ....

What also happened was that passengers embarked initially through all doors onto all carriages.  Then the doors on the rear carriages were locked.  THEN the driver announced that everyone in the rearmost two carriages should get off and move into one of the carriages further forwards....which obviously we now couldn't do because the doors had already been locked.  After a few minutes somone on the platform with a high viz vest managed to unlock one set of doors and we disembarked/re-embarked accordingly.

Definitely sounds as if the driver didn't know what he was doing!  Unless there was a fault with the rear set, which it doesn't sound as if there was, there's no reason to lock the rear set out of use from Paddington.

I have no idea what happened the other night at Paddington.

I can offer some insight about the workings of Turbos which may be of help.

On a Turbo the driver can only release all the doors at once, and the driver can only close all the doors at once.
This means that the driver couldn't have closed the doors on the rear unit and kept them open on the front unit.

On a Turbo, the doors can be physically locked shut by hand.
This is how it is possible to stop at 6 car Turbo at stops like Appleford. In theory all doors are released, but there is a physical lock preventing them being opened.

So the only way the doors can be locked shut is someone walking through the inside of each carriage with a key at each set of doors (the door out of order light is lit when this has been done). The person locking the doors inside the unit lets them-self in/out the train via a cab door.

Platform staff are trained to physically lock/unlock doors, so it may not have even been the driver's fault. The driver may not even have known as there is no indication in the driving cab that a door is locked.

Driver diagrams tell the driver when to lock/unlock part of a train, so I find it hard to believe that the rear unit was locked out for any particular reason other than some kind of fault.


Now then. Interesting ways to delay a train. I once had a small delay at Hungerford on the way to Paddington. From the cab it looked like I could see two women standing close to each, gesturing, other towards the rear, one inside the train and one on the platform, perhaps wishing the other goodbye. Nothing unusual there. However, I didn't have a clear view of the whole train so I couldn't close the doors. After a few more seconds it became apparent that they weren't waving or hugging each other, but trying to drag a dog on the train. This dog was having none of it, it could not be moved. After a little while longer I thought I would have to get out and help, but just as I stepped off the train the woman on the platform gave the dog a shove and it finally jumped on board. I never did see where they got off. Perhaps they are all still on the train?  ;D

I thought that turbos had a button on the outside (inner end) that enabled the doors for that coach only to be locked whilst walking along the platform similar to tube trains?

That shuts the coach doors - not sure it locks them?

Shuts and locks them electrically, but not physically, they will stay shut until such time as the doors are released again from an active cab.