Great Western Coffee Shop

Not sure if this is new or not.

Staff have been briefed on the differences (SWT have fitted a revised direction switch and other minor differnces in cab controls), to allow one unit to be hired in daily.

Any news on resulting diagram changes?

Lee I think they could be anything, I heard this last night as well, and possible reasons for their arrival, choose from either:

1 - they are to replace 150^s going back to ATW
2 ^ with the current state of FGW 158^s they are desperate for anything that runs.

I go with the latter if recent experience is anything to go by. Anyone know how many 158/9^s are currently 2 car?

just the one at present 158952 although thats due to be reformed.

i would hazard a guess the swt set is to displace a set from elsewhere for weymouth strengthening over summer.

i have not heard about any of the atw sets going back but it is always a possibility.

Oh god, 158952. What an awful unit. 100% Richmond seating!

Nice to see two rival companies transport companies First and Stagecoach working together to provide a solution to FGW rolling stock shortage problems. It shows that FGW are doing their best to provide as much rolling stock as possible for the busy summer period when additional DMUs are needed to bolster the Cornish branches.

Whats causing the issues with FGWs on 158s, thought they were addressed during refurb?

Is there any possibility that this may be linked to the discussions that FGW have been having with the DfT about replacing some SWT services west of Exeter from December 2009, or are the two strands entirely seperate?

I know they are struggling in the west country at the moment with overcrowding, last week saw issues on Looe and Newquay branches with chronic overcrowding, to an extreme that has never been seen before on the Looe line! St Ives was a 4 car 150 last week and was running full all day (usually booked a 2 car until the end of June in previous years!!), I think with the credit crunch and not being able to get many euros for your pound combined with good weather will see a real bumper summer and plenty of full branch trains!

i am led to believe it is engines giving up,something that was not addressed on refresh.in fact refresh was basically painting and new carpets,seat covers.

And a nice warm summer will only exacerbate the problem when all the A/C will go kaput, some are already running around with open windows.

Although I'm led to believe that cabs will be nice and cool.

Cab ac is indeed being upgraded. 158s first.

only in cab where driver is,case of who cares about the guard

The guard will be out in the carriages, checking tickets, surely, rather than sitting in a stuffy cab?  :P ::) ;D

please be on barny lol i wonder if the onboard passender info system and auto anouncements will work

Should be ok for Portsmouth to Salisbury and Salisbury to Bristol - even if they have to stop at a few extra stations for accuracy... ;D

Bit risky for FGW though, pax could start asking when the FGW trains are going to be refurbished, when they see an SWT one, with things like drop down tables?  ;)

Paul 

They could even offer 1st class! though I suspect 1st will be declassified when in use for FGW as every seat is needed.

i didnt think of that! lets be honest with perhaps the exception of the hst fleet (i prefer the 159's) these are better than anything fgw has... i hope they look after them! lol

Are FGW trains internally still ok now they have been refubrihsed, in terms of decor and fittings?

ok break down of refurb

the 142's actually have these been refurbed.... moving on
the 143's look good seats are comfortable too early to see of the quality will last end of the day you can put a turbo in a nova,,, its still not a merc
the 150's looked great when done but are already ageing is this build quality or amount of use... most fgw services are packed i gotta be honest cleaning doesnt seem to be a priority maybee thats it
the hst's apart from the seating arrangement and lighting there ok look good, astetic point the powercar should have the dynamic lines livey not just blue but they still look good shame the seats are uncomfortable
158 cant comment from what i have seen externally they already look tired
best refurb is the 153's! only let down by uncomfortable seats

The SWT refurb is no better than the fgw one. It just so happens that swt have hundreds of units in Salisbury cleaning depot.

The fgw ones are all a bodge but much better than the state they were in under Wessex. Those ex Alphaline 158s make me cringe how awful they were!

ive not been on a fgw 158 but heard horror storys, i dont know what the swt 158's are like im guessing there the same as the 159's they are comfortable clean good seating arangements underfloor engines do not spoil the journey air con works toilets dont smell ...

The Engines are changed as are bogies wheel sets  etc at specified intervals and tolerances on a rolling basis

thats correct same with every single mainline train on the network

Your wrong then! The 158/9 is coming out to play vice an ATW 150/2 which is required back for the Grumbly gasworks network.

FGW drivers are receiving a phamplet on the differences between a SWT 158 and the FGW version. The SWT 158/9 has had the same modifications as the 159/0's and /1's and all FGW drivers that sign 158's sign 158798. Therefore anyone for a 159 should the need arise?
 ;)

You want to stop listening to those horror stories then and ride the product before commenting!

Have worked several FGW 158's lately and they all seem to have performed to specification. Even the Aircon. And the new cab air coolers are working well on the ones tried so far.

Well to be fair I havnt been on one but the fact that so many on the forum bring it up and I've been at Bristol and heard I'm sorry to anounce the following has been cancled look across oh look a 158 yes your correct not all units are the same some work some don't but in general customers dwell on the bad points and don't always praise the good, on average if someone has a bad experiance they will tell nine people a good experiance one if your lucky so that added with most peoples hate for these units ( not mine) what's wrong with underfloor engines? I don't think it's wrong of me to clearly state that others have not been impressed but I have not witnessed them.........

Went to Salisbury and back the other day: very hot outside, nice and cool inside - no complaints.

As opposed to the 150 this morning with the heating on full blast.  >:( >:( >:(

Had the same on an XC HST not so long ago and it was at the time one of the hottest days of the year >:( Also happened on a voyager last week >:(

Voyager I can understand, HST unforgivable. ;)

If I understand correctly, the 158 from SWT will have a daily diagram that goes Salisbury(ECS)-Westbury-Swindon-most of the day on Golden Valley route-Cheltenham-Bristol TM - return to Salisbury coupled to SWT Waterloo service.

I also heard it will spend most of the day on the Golden Valley route, not sure about the rest of the day.

Would a possible reason be that because SWT 158s have 1st class this could be used by any 1st class passengers coming off a London train heading to Gloucester/Cheltenham?

The First Class will have to declassified unless they advertise the service as having First Class in the timetable which I doubt they will do.

From my information, the diagram is partly governed by the requirement to return to Salisbury each night. The Golden Valley diagram was the best suited. Using the set on the morning peak Melksham Flyer (2M10) releases an FGW 2-car to Bristol area where it is more needed.
Regarding 1st class on the Golden Valley, it is already a mix of 150/153/158 units - often with a 1st class section.

Really? I've obviously missed that part of the refurb. ???

No FGW West units have first class

hold on i just realised something i thought only the 159's had first class not the 158's

No, SWT 158s definitely have first class as well. You definitely don't see many people using it on the Salisbury - Romsey service, or the various other Hampshire locals, but it is never declassified because there are FC fares available in the area.

Paul

I believe there was a set that had dynamic lines on the power cars but I think they kept peeling off because of the engines or something...

The vinyls were getting trashed in the carriage washers.

hull trains have done there class 180's they look smart

...if we're talking about 43 004 and 43 009 as the prototype MTU refurbishments, the other problem was they they were, quite frankly, bleedin' ugly with a hideous colour gradient up the side. The current power car livery started off as a temporary measure but then various people decided to agree with me by noticing that it looks really rather good (including, I have heard tell, that incorrigible HST fan Alison "I want one in my back garden"* Forster), and I still think that the current livery of the dynamic lines on the deep blue ground looks fab.

*this is absolutely true. I heard it on Radio 4, you know.

Unfortunately refurbishment has removed the three 'heat fan' circuit breakers in a cupboard on the inner end on the 150 which could be used to shut down / disable the box heater fans if the thermostats played up. They can be shut off using the circuit breakers in the cab however in an 'thermostat failure' situation, although it is frowned on officially.

Video of 43004 in dymamic lines  here  (http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-1911358297442529013)

It was agreed by quite a few staff that it looked appalling. Including some converations with the fleet people. The current powercar livery was agreed as an interim thing but it was decided that it looked dignified and very smart when kept clean as already posted. Also easier to deal with if subject to graffiti attack. To my mind it is a shame that the unit fleet wasn't painted the same way with the neons applied as the transfer on just the relevant part of the bodywork. My thoughts on Vinils on steel bodied vehicles are well known elsewhere.

your rite it doesnt look so amazing on the hst i would show you a picture of the 180's in this livery however i dont own an image and cant get permission to display however if your interested just search for recent photos on flikr

no it has not the 3 heat fan circuit breakers are still in rear cupboard drivers side,reason it was on full blast is more than likely the cover missing from thermostat in centre section and has been hit by peoples knees and turned to max by mistake.

well it would seem the SWT 158 is coming in to replace an ATW 150 that is returning.
have it on good authority 150280 is going back today sometime.

doesnt that imply exeter or taunton-bristol

No, why would it?

ATW 150/2s are diagrammed like any other 150/2

The diagram remains the same as I advised last week - Salisbury to Salisbury via Westbury, Swindon / Cheltenham (2.5 rounf trips) and Bristol TM

well 150280 was on exmouth last week, i know its not that simple ... but being on that line it could be  connected to the last sailsbury bound 159 at the end of the day would make sence

did you get the 150's from wessex trains or atw

Welcome boi123, and enjoy the forum.

ar'nt there enough 158's and anyway why would fgw use swt liveries on trains when they are there main competition on the wessex franchise

There aren't enough dmu's, particularly given the need to strengthen the west country branches in the summer and the fact that ATW has taken one back that FGW had on loan. In the scheme of things the livery isn't at all important - after all FGW have still got several ATW sets running around on loan.

Not sure what you mean by the Wessex franchise - there's no such thing.

to be fair i think in this area they dont really compete, they seem to work together quite well

I'll have a look for those circuit breakers later on. I'm fairly sure they came out on refurbishment.

150280 is still with FGW, last seen heading for WSM this afternoon. Did another return in its place?

everytime i see this unit its eather on the taunton to btm or exmouth to paignton

Ok - The diagram is now on my desk. Mons-Fris from next Monday. As I advised early on, Salisbury-Westbury-Swindon-Cheltenham-Swindon-Cheltenham-Swindon-Cheltenham-Bristol-Salisbury. First class declassified. Diagram is not allowed to vary. Interesting news is the re-negotiation with ATW to keep all 5 150's a bit longer - FGW will have one extra 2-car spare from Monday - rumour has it that Cornwall branches are the likely benifactor (especailly to cover any failure of one of the 153's on Falmouth line)

You can hear that one a mile off, rather noisy alternator splitter gearbox on the 52280 car.

According the the July edition of Modern Railways FGW have agreed to release all five of 150s that it hires in from ATW.

Does anyone know when the remaining four are due to be handed back? Hopefully after the summer peak!

Modern Railways, it must be true then  ;) i dont think this is new there only leased so they were always going back at some point

Tony Miles is pretty reliable with his reports on rolling stock.

Reason I mentioned it was because earlier in this thread talk was that only one set is going back but this report says all five are to return hence me asking if anyone knew when the remaining four are heading back under the Severn.

Reading between the lines here, is the compensation for these 150s if they are returned the collective total of:
1. DfT Approval of the LHCS/67 for another year.
2. Completion of refurbs of the 142 and 143 fleet
3. The hire of the single 158 from SWT.

Odd that TM in MR didn't give any dates though. It might be well into the future that it happens...

Paul

That's true he didn't...only mentioning the three months notice that was given for the set that has been returned.

With things getting tight at SWT revenue wise, I would imagine they are more than happy to have their spare 158s out earning revenue by being sub leased as is the case with sister company EMT and now with FGW.

SWT 158 ran yesterday as follows:

2E16 06.04 Salisbury - Westbury
2M10 07.02 Westbury - Cheltenham
2B90 09.39 Cheltenham - Swindon
2G83 11.54 Swindon - Cheltenham
2B94 13.40 Cheltenham - Swindon
2G87 15.54 Swindon - Cheltenham
2C24 17.30 Cheltenham - Westbury
2C92 20.38 Westbury - Bristol TM
1O86 22.25 Bristol TM - Salisbury (FP with Class 159 attached)

Thanks to SWT yahoo group for info.

Paul

The FGW West fleet refurbishment has been completed, with the exception of 150121/127. 143611 re-entered traffic last Sunday (28-06-2009). The 142's were internally retrimmed and repainted some time previously.

Spotted the SWT 158 today at the Cheltenham Spa turnback. Guaranteed the aircon will be working, no probs. Unlke the FGW one and a half 158 I was on later in the day from Newport to Patchway. Couldn't FGW have spent a bit of that re-fresh budget for the ex-Wessex fleet on sorting out the aircon? I was actually glad to de-train at Patchway into a refreshing rain shower!

It appears that the aircon on the FGW 158 fleet has been a bit hit and miss this week. One of the problems is that there is no standard installation as such, there are Leibherr and original spec Transtemp ones in the fleet. All the appaling EBAC ones have long since gone. Shame the Transtemp units didn't get the Leibherr units fitted as part of the refurb though.

Contrary to that statement of yours there have been SWT 159's running around with the hopper vents open, indicating a failure of the aircon. And thats with an all Leibherr fitted fleet, Leibherr being one of the better variants of Aircon that found its way onto the 158/159 fleets. I suspect 158 aircon is going to be one of those problems which can never be entirely cured without huge expense bearing in mind it only ever gets used 3 months out of the 12 and sits idle no doubt accumulating faults for the remaining 9.

I'd question whether aircon sits idle for a period of nine months. There must be days from May-September in an average year when it is needed. Even so, should it not be routinely inspected and tested for when it IS needed. On my regular trips (not a daily commute, but fairly frequently) on SWT 158/159s I have yet to experience a lack of aircon when it has been needed. The same cannot be said for FGW.

I'd suggest that in general, air conditioning is working all year round. It isn't just air cooling, it does moisture removal and fresh air input as well.   

Paul

SWT 158 is now being hired in on Saturdays as well - similar diagram to M-F. And the rumour mill is suggesting it might have a friend joining it soon.....

Spotted in Cheltenham on Saturday as we were on the way to Hereford.

Here is the SWT unit in what is currently First monopoly territory this morning ...

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/swt_at_mkm.jpg)

FGW has depots at Fratton and Bristol ... and SWT at Salisbury.  There would seem to be a degree of sense in the longer term in having services which originate in Wiltshire served from Salisbury.

is this where i think it is  :)

I think you think it's on the TransWilts, which it is.

FGW also have a sizeable traincrew depot at Westbury, also in Wiltshire. There is also space at Westbury to build a small depot capable of fuelling / FPX should the need arise. No requirement for Salisbury (which will probably be fully stretched when the Waterloo - Exeter goes hourly in December) involvement in the longer term on current FGW operated routes.

... And the cyclist in your pic commutes from Taunton - Melksham everyday by train and bike! [I know 'cos I work at the same place!].

and there is going to be a depot at westbury within the next few years on left hand side as you head toward warminster,long term aim to look after the 172's if/when they arrive.