Posts on this forum frequently refer to train types by their class numbers: 153, 165, 180 and so on. Those, like me, who don't remember which number refers to which type but would like to know whether someone's talking about "the small bouncy one" or "the 3-car one with the tippy side-facing seats at the end" or whatever, can look it up in the very useful Acronyms and Abbreviations section. There are two ways in which this doesn't always quite work though: Sometimes, people use names instead of numbers, talking about a "Turbo" or a "Sprinter" or whatever. The names are probably easier to remember and looking these names up cross-references the class number, but the entries for the numbers don't refer to the names. Secondly, neither the name nor the number give a feel for what sort of train it is. This is easily solved by a quick google (there seem no limits to Wikipedia's geekery!) and no, I don't want links from the A&A; but would it be possible, in time, to have names added to the corresponding class number definitions? Thank you in anticipation!
I'm sure we can adjust A&A ... in the meantime, here's a checklist - with a "*" in front of trains currently running
GWR▸ passenger services. Drawing this up has reminded me that I'm not totally sure of 800 v 801 v 802, what with the uprating and stifling and adding diesel engines to otherwise electric trains!
Pacers
142 Some Formerly operated from Exeter
* 143 Now Exeter based
Sprinters
* 150 Subclasses 150/0, 150/1 and 150/2 Mostlt 2 carriages
* 153 Single carriage trains
* 158 Mostly 3 cars on
GW▸ 159
SWR» Salisbury depot 3 car trains
Turbo
* 165 Thames Valley, many moving to Bristol based services
* 166 Thames Valley, many moving to Bristol based services
Turbostar
168 Chiltern
170 Cross Country
Adelante
* 180 Five car high speed trains - a few around but leaving soon
High Speed Trains
* 125 (or 253 and 254) - current intercity
HST▸ workhorse
220 Voyager - Cross Country
221 Super Voyager - Cross Country
* 800 (
IET▸ )
802 Extra IET units on order for working on primarily diesel lines
Electric Units
* 360 4 and 5 car Heathrow Connect. Also 1 with Heathrow Express
* 387 4 car Thames Valley stock
332 Heathrow Express - main trains
801 Electric only IET