|
eightf48544
|
 |
« Reply #60 on: May 01, 2008, 14:13:46 » |
|
Vacman
Loco change 3 minutes top given autocoupler and suitable layout.
After all the XC▸ 47s used to run round at Reading in 5 minutes and that was screw couplings, ETH and airpipes. Also Cambridge were pretty slick with the Kings Lynns before the wires went up.
We seem to have forgotten how to run a railway. Loco changes are not a problem if it means that you can run most of the journey under electric power and then change locos for the last bit until you can get the wires up along that stretch as well.
However, as FarWest says HSTs▸ were built as Intercity trains,
I can remember when an afternoon trian from Bristol did the 70 miles 72 chains from Bath to Reading in around 40 minutes in a non stop dash at an average of around 105mph. That's what they were built for, not 18 mile sprints on the Oxfords.
The problem is that they've become de-faco commuter trains because they were too succesful in shortening journey times so that longer distant daily commutes became possible. Plus we haven't electrified and produced suitable 125 commuter units. 125 mph with suitable acceleration is not very efficient using diesel.
Although only 90 mph something like the original Clactons 309 units fit for 125mph. You could watch the speedo in the intermediate cabs as you left a station and be doing 60mph at the platform end.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
Boppy
|
|
« Reply #61 on: May 01, 2008, 16:48:23 » |
|
I would also like to add that one area where I really think the refurbishment has been a failure is in the quiet carriages (or the "argument carriage" as my friend calls them).
Before we had proper signs (using red and black so they were noticeable) on every seat back as well as the door and windows.
Now I find that because the no mobiles signage is no longer on the seat backs that due to the new high back seats there are several seats from which it is not possible to see the quiet carriage signs when seated. So a lot of people simply don't realise they are sitting in the quiet carriage which was not a problem before.
Also, the fact that the new signs on the doors and windows are carriage colour schemed rather than red & black warning sign-esque is a poor decision as it makes them unnoticeable again defeating the point of informing people that it is the quiet carriage.
Boppy.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
vacman
|
|
« Reply #62 on: May 02, 2008, 13:52:28 » |
|
Vacman
Loco change 3 minutes top given autocoupler and suitable layout.
After all the XC▸ 47s used to run round at Reading in 5 minutes and that was screw couplings, ETH and airpipes. Also Cambridge were pretty slick with the Kings Lynns before the wires went up.
We seem to have forgotten how to run a railway. Loco changes are not a problem if it means that you can run most of the journey under electric power and then change locos for the last bit until you can get the wires up along that stretch as well.
However, as FarWest says HSTs▸ were built as Intercity trains,
I can remember when an afternoon trian from Bristol did the 70 miles 72 chains from Bath to Reading in around 40 minutes in a non stop dash at an average of around 105mph. That's what they were built for, not 18 mile sprints on the Oxfords.
The problem is that they've become de-faco commuter trains because they were too succesful in shortening journey times so that longer distant daily commutes became possible. Plus we haven't electrified and produced suitable 125 commuter units. 125 mph with suitable acceleration is not very efficient using diesel.
Although only 90 mph something like the original Clactons 309 units fit for 125mph. You could watch the speedo in the intermediate cabs as you left a station and be doing 60mph at the platform end.
They were built for Cardiff/Bristol - Padd services (in FGW▸ territory) which is a commuter corridor, no they weren't built for the start/stop work which I did actually put in my first post, "commuter" route doesn't just mean suburban services! |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
vacman
|
|
« Reply #63 on: May 02, 2008, 13:55:44 » |
|
I would also like to add that one area where I really think the refurbishment has been a failure is in the quiet carriages (or the "argument carriage" as my friend calls them).
Before we had proper signs (using red and black so they were noticeable) on every seat back as well as the door and windows.
Now I find that because the no mobiles signage is no longer on the seat backs that due to the new high back seats there are several seats from which it is not possible to see the quiet carriage signs when seated. So a lot of people simply don't realise they are sitting in the quiet carriage which was not a problem before.
Also, the fact that the new signs on the doors and windows are carriage colour schemed rather than red & black warning sign-esque is a poor decision as it makes them unnoticeable again defeating the point of informing people that it is the quiet carriage.
Boppy.
New antimocassers (sorry, don't know how the hell to spell that word) are now being added to the quiet coach with "quiet coach" and some other literature on them. As for the high backed seats has it not yet sunk in that these are now a REQUIREMENT!!!! |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
TerminalJunkie
|
|
« Reply #64 on: May 02, 2008, 15:55:14 » |
|
antimocassers (sorry, don't know how the hell to spell that word) It's 'antimacassars'. Alternatively 'head rest covers'. If anyone cares, the word is derived from macassar oil, an imported hair tonic from Sulawesi... |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
Daily Mail and Daily Express readers please click here. |
|
|
|
Chris from Nailsea
|
|
« Reply #65 on: May 02, 2008, 23:40:16 » |
|
I care: I simply will not leave the house unless my valet has applied it, as directed on the bottle.  
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
|
|
|
|
vacman
|
|
« Reply #66 on: May 02, 2008, 23:57:20 » |
|
Anyone who travelled on the down "Golden Hind" tonight will have seen why it has been ESSENTIAL to add far more seats into HST▸ 's, the train was full and standing from Padd to Liskeard, had there been any less seats then people would probably have been left behind!
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
oooooo
|
|
« Reply #67 on: May 03, 2008, 00:15:18 » |
|
Anyone who travelled on the down "Golden Hind" tonight will have seen why it has been ESSENTIAL to add far more seats into HST▸ 's, the train was full and standing from Padd to Liskeard, had there been any less seats then people would probably have been left behind!
Or we could of course run a bank holiday relief with a class 50 and load 13..... haha, well...... |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
Super Guard
|
|
« Reply #68 on: May 03, 2008, 00:16:12 » |
|
but regular commuters have been (rightly so) prioritised by cramming in more seats so less of them have to stand, something HAD to be done about overcrowding and now it has. FGW▸ are damned either way. Some will be happy, some will not... I have only worked for FGW for a short time but general opinion I find is very positive for the refurb. |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
Any opinions made on this forum are purely personal and my own. I am in no way speaking for, or offering the views of First Great Western or First Group.
If my employer feels I have broken any aspect of the Social Media Policy, please PM me immediately, so I can rectify without delay.
|
|
|
|
Conner
|
|
« Reply #69 on: May 03, 2008, 08:40:21 » |
|
Anyone who travelled on the down "Golden Hind" tonight will have seen why it has been ESSENTIAL to add far more seats into HST▸ 's, the train was full and standing from Padd to Liskeard, had there been any less seats then people would probably have been left behind!
Or use the 15:05 Paddington-Penzance any friday, full and standing London-Plymouth. That nearly leaves behind now, hate what it would be like as a un refur train. |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
devon_metro
|
|
« Reply #70 on: May 03, 2008, 13:38:19 » |
|
1505 is a killer! Likewise the 1803 and presumably the 1903.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
Conner
|
|
« Reply #71 on: May 03, 2008, 18:52:18 » |
|
I borrowed an antimacassar from the Quiet Coach today. Says: Quiet Carriage Please keep noise to a minimum FirstFGreat Western Wil try and get a pic. Oh and the sticker on the vestibule door say Welcome to the Queit Carriage on as well as First Great Western now. |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
vacman
|
|
« Reply #72 on: May 03, 2008, 23:05:57 » |
|
1505 is a killer! Likewise the 1803 and presumably the 1903.
The 1903 was 90 late, due into Penzance at 0205!!! |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
Mookiemoo
|
|
« Reply #73 on: May 04, 2008, 00:12:41 » |
|
Anyone who travelled on the down "Golden Hind" tonight will have seen why it has been ESSENTIAL to add far more seats into HST▸ 's, the train was full and standing from Padd to Liskeard, had there been any less seats then people would probably have been left behind!
The problem is probably those who do 90 minutes plus and those who do local commutes....... For your Swindon - London busy routes etc - yes, it probably makes a difference I would not do WOS» to RDG‡/ PAD» if I could not get a table. (The return journey is the reason I pay exhorbitant first fees - in the morning I can alway guarantee one - not so on the return) I REALLY do think there should be two seperate HST fleets.... High density Bristol-PAD OXF» -PAD Maybe Wales -PAD Or shock, horror, go back to express e.g the cathedrals express being first stop oxford (which it was when I started commuting in 2004) - run a low density set and make the reading commuters get on a high density bristol/oxford service Similar make the penzance train be first stop ( Swindon/Taunton? - somewhere - my geography on that line is not great) So then you have high density sets doing what they are designed for and table sets doing longer distances |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
Ditched former sig - now I need to think of something amusing - brain hurts -I'll steal from the master himself - Einstein:
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."
"Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love"
|
|
|
|
devon_metro
|
|
« Reply #74 on: May 04, 2008, 08:21:08 » |
|
The problem is, routes that need tables also need the extra seats!
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
Click on the map to explore geographics
