Great Western Coffee Shop

On my way back to Bournemouth today, saw a FGW HST at Basingstoke, looks like crew training has started for the Christmas blockade, looked like there were about ten guards and maybe around five drivers on board from what I could see.

Bit of digging in Genius confirms as:
1Z11 08:03 Paddington to Banbury North Signal Box
via Greenford and High Wycombe
1Z12 09:57 Banbury North SB to Westbury
via Swindon and Chippenham
1Z13 12:10 Westbury to London Waterloo
via Salisbury, Worting Jn, Staines and Putney
1Z14 15:10 Waterloo to Paddington
via Kenny O
5Z14 16:47 Paddington to OOC

Not sure what stock forms 1Z11 but genius shows as a HST from Didcot arriving into the same platform about half an hour before hand, without FGW access I can't confirm that though.

They should advertise this as a railtour, make a pretty penny out of it!

prob some rule that says they cant, as no staff on board would have full route knowledge. Although it would be good idea for a railtour.
I also reckon NR have waived the track charged as well, they wouldn't if it was a railtour.

according to some reports on WNXX  the diagram from Banbury to Westbury was supposed to be worked by the Network rail class 150/950

It was a proving run for the xmas diversions.

Went Paddington Banbury (via Chiltern) Westbury Waterloo and back to Pad.

Was a 2+7 and ran to time!

2+7 with 43183 leading from PAD to BAN with 43163 on the rear
2+7 with 43163 leading and 43183 on the rear after reversal at BAN

1Z11
Paddington 08:03
Ladbroke Grove 08/11
Park Royal 08/17
Greenford E Junc 08/20
Greenford W Junc 08/23
S Ruislip 08/40
W Ruislip 08/43
Gerrards Cross 08/48
High Wycombe 09/04
Princes Risborough 09/18
Bicester North 09/40
Aynho Junc 09/48
Banbury 09:54

1Z12
Banbury 10:00
Aynho Junc 10/05
Heyford 10/10
Oxford 10:20 ^ 10:34
Didcot N Junc 10/43
Foxhall Junc 10/46
Challow 10/54
Swindon 1108 - 1109
Wootten Bassett Junc 11/14
Chippenham 11/21
Thingley E Junc 11/25
Bradford Junc 11/34
Westbury 11:42

1Z13
Westbury 12:10
Warminster 12/19
Wilton Junc 12/34
Salisbury 12/37
Tunnel Junction 12/40
Andover 12/52
Worting Junc 13/05
Basingstoke 13:07 - 13:09
Farnborough 13/20
Woking 13/30
Byfleet & New Haw 13/35
Addlestone Junc 13/37
Virginia Water 13/57
Staines 14/11
Feltham 14/18
Hounslow 14/22
Brentford 14/27
Barnes 14/37
Clapham Junction 14/42
Nine Elms Junc 14/45
Waterloo 14:53

1Z14

Waterloo 15:10
Nine Elms S Junc 15/15
W London Junc 15/18
Latchmere Junc 15/24
Kensington Olympia 15/36
Mitre Bridge Junc 15/41
Willesden S W Junc 15/43
Acton W L S Junc 15/45
Acton Main Line 15/55
West Ealing 16/02
Drayton Green 16/05
Greenford S Junc 16/11
Greenford E Junc 16/12
Park Royal 16/20
Old Oak West Junc 16/30
Paddington 16:36

Not sure there is any rule as posted by SDS PAD above, which says there must be staff on board with full route knowledge.

I've been on lots of railtours and there is usually at least one crew change during the run. Otherwise many of them couldn't run. Admittedly they use mostly EWS drivers/guards who probably have the most extensive route knowledge of all drivers. I met a Hither Green Driver who was going to Leicester to bring back the Orient Express set to Stewarts Lane.

Must have been the first train from West London junction to Latchmere Junction (No 3 junction for the cognise) for years, wonder if it showed up on the track circuits!

I didn't know that HST were passed to travel on the Waterloo - Bournemouth line!  What is the boundary to which they are allowed to operate?

I think you'll find that any train, be it a timetabled service, charter, ECS, freight, engineering - whatever - needs to have a driver on board (or a pilot driver with him/her) and a guard on board (or a guard with him/her), unless it's a DOO service, that has full route knowledge.  Quite often that might be provided by another company, as will drivers who go to Paddington via the Chiltern Line over Xmas.

Couple of pictures of the HST in Oxfordshire/Northants (Kings Sutton is in Northants) here http://www.hondawanderer.com/Recent_Additions.htm plus an old one of a rare previous visit to the Chiltern Line by an HST. Plus some further down of Network Rail's Class 150 inspection train doing a run the previous  week which looks like it was connected with the diversion route.

Don't think there's any reason an HST can't run throughout Waterloo to Weymouth - so long as the crew have route knowledge and all the coaches have short swing link bogies (look for the SSL marking on the end of FGW HST trailers) so they don't foul the electrified third rail. XC HSTs used the route south of Basingstoke until 2002.

HSTs have been diverted to Waterloo from FGW-land in the past and they ran there regularly on Eurostar connecting services from the north in the early days of Eurostar - but hardly anyone used these trains as they were barred to anyone without a ticket to the Continent...

I believe on some parts of the mainline there are clearance issues which is why they are going via Virginia Water.

The 2009 online version of the sectional appendix (on NR's website) explains (at the time of its publication) that HSTs were not cleared on the SW main line between Basingstoke and Clapham Jn.  They are now cleared between Basingstoke and Byfleet Jn, where they head off to Virginia Water, thereby joining the Reading - Waterloo line which they are already cleared for.  However, even this route is shown as fairly restricted in the 2009 SA, with speed limits of 20 mph or less through a number of stations, (indeed Bracknell is 5 mph up and down although not relevant to the route being discussed here).

Not cleared doesn't necessarily mean they can't physically run up to Waterloo directly, just that they haven't yet checked that route out.  (Only a subtle point though.)  Apparently current policy is that they only undertake route clearance for a class when they definitely need to, ie just in time.  After all it is highly likely that the Mk3 HST coaching stock would be OK, because the Mk3 442 is known to be OK (although as it happens, 442s were not allowed into all platforms at Waterloo either)...

However, there are also platforming restrictions at Waterloo, HSTs are only cleared for 17, 18 and 19, for which access is normally only from the Windsor side approach from Clapham Jn, so there'd be very little point in going through vehicle change procedures for the main lines yet.

Link added: http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/baseline%20capability/gauge%20capability,%20route%20availability/wessex%20route/table%20d3_gauge%20capability_coaching%20stock_wessex%20route.pdf (http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/baseline%20capability/gauge%20capability,%20route%20availability/wessex%20route/table%20d3_gauge%20capability_coaching%20stock_wessex%20route.pdf)

Paul

UK Railtours "The Ness Monster" did this bit on 21 August this year