FGW Fleet Status

[whole diary]

[Sprog]

3-car 'hybrid' 158952 has been returned to a 2-car unit as of today, due to its additional '57' car, 57748 (originally part of 158748) having a defective engine & requiring immediate warranty attention at SPM^▸ (St Philip's Marsh (Bristol depot)). Its is pressurising & burning it's coolant for some reason, probably due to a fractured cylinder head, cylinder liner or a defective compressor.

[devon_metro]

Is 956 back out after some tw@t threw a brick at it?

[smithy]

Is 956 back out after some tw@t threw a brick at it?

yes

[Sprog]

Is 956 back out after some tw@t threw a brick at it?

3 people arrested for the attack, in which both the Secondman's side was shattered & the all of the laminates were penetrated in the centre of the Driver's side screen, showering the driver with glass shards. He was hospitalised & the train was taken out of service @ Southampton Central before being taken to SPM^▸ (St Philip's Marsh (Bristol depot)) to have the windscreens replaced. The windscreens have been retained as Evidence ... Snip - I have removed a sentence here as it could have been seen as predujicing any possible court proceedings, and thus placing this forum in contempt of court - Graham

As a result of the incident, FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are now examining fitting the 158s (and other DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) classes) with Anti-Spall windscreens, as fitted to HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) & other more modern vehicles.

[Sprog]

Re. The attack on 158956 Interestingly/Oddly, i have since read that in fact, when attacked the cab that had its windows smashed was actually trailing (ie, on the rear of the train) & that the train was subsequently terminated at Southampton Central the driven back ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) to SPM^▸ (St Philip's Marsh (Bristol depot)) (instead of being reversed so it could be driven from the 'good cab', then go ECS to SPM via Chandlers Ford.

The 'smashed' cab was facing towards the West while it was being worked on at SPM, which means that both 'happenings' are possible, but can anyone shed any light on what actually happened? The hole in that windscreen was mighty big for one that was apparently caused by an object hitting it while the unit was heading away from the point of origin (aka, hands of oxgen wasters)

My report of things came from a mixture of word of mouth from Team Leaders who had spoken to Control, TRUST^▸ (Train Running System TOPS) incident log/delay attribution report and the BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) who attended to take statements & gather evidence etc.

[Sprog]

158950 has also gone to Wabtec Eastleigh for re-work. 158950 is formed of 158761, which was the first 158 to be 'refreshed' & this it was in effect the prototype. It will be brought up to the same standard/specification as the rest of the 158 fleet.

[r james]

What as different about the prototype 158 refresh on that unit?  I thought it just lacked tables on the baks of seats?  Anyone know what was significantly different to warrent redoing the whole thing?


Also, anybody know if the prototype HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) carraige will ever get redone?  I ask, as this is the coach tha has got the red micky mouse ears (grab handle) on the seats, instead of the big pink ones as featured on rest of the fleet.  It also has a lot of issues with the underseat power sockets falling loose, and the plastic parts of the arm rests missing the plastic ends I have noticed.  Or do we just have to live with this now?  Or maybe will be done as part of the work when the new unit arrives? 

[devon_metro]

Don't think it has CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele-Vision)

[smithy]

Don't think it has CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele-Vision)

correct no cctv,old end lights and desk panels plus some other little things that need addressing.

[devon_metro]

The whole fleet could do with being "addressed"!

[Sprog]

The whole fleet could do with being "addressed"!

Sorry??  Please expand on that.

Almost the entire FGW^▸ (First Great Western) fleet has in the last 7/8 months been refreshed & many have recieved a mixture of C4 & C6 exams. We are +3 or 4 DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) almsot every day now.

Just the 150s to finish & the 143s to do now..................

[Phil]

I think it may be a reference to one of our busiest ever threads on this forum, Sprog - some while before your time on here, admittedly, but easily findable via the search option.

It was hotly debated amongst a number of our readers at that time that the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) refurbishment was arguably the "worst refurb ever". This isn't an opinion that I personally align myself with, I hasten to add.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=2578.0

[devon_metro]

I was in fact referring to the state of the 158s externally. The front end for example. I appreciate the yellow surrounds around the light may wear off, but the half coated finish as many of them are looks awful!

[smithy]

I was in fact referring to the state of the 158s externally. The front end for example. I appreciate the yellow surrounds around the light may wear off, but the half coated finish as many of them are looks awful!

correct wabtec painted over the old yellow on screen and light surrounds with black,over time this has worn off making them look tatty.

the whole fleet will be having some items addressed that have came to light since refresh

[The SprinterMeister]

I was in fact referring to the state of the 158s externally. The front end for example. I appreciate the yellow surrounds around the light may wear off, but the half coated finish as many of them are looks awful!

correct wabtec painted over the old yellow on screen and light surrounds with black,over time this has worn off making them look tatty.

the whole fleet will be having some items addressed that have came to light since refresh

And hopefully somebody will see the light and fit the Liebherr type airconditioning to the ex TPex sets as well.