London Midland Class 172 units

[whole diary]

[willc]

The 172 production line was apparently restarted at Derby about a month ago, but as I said previously, I've seen no suggestion that they have completed a single train yet, never mind two, nor tested any. And after their experiences with the London sets, I would have thought they will make sure the LM^▸ (London Midland - recent franchise) ones work properly before passengers are let anywhere near them.

[Don]

Hm.  Maybe the signs were going up because the contractor contract said they had to be up before the start of the new timetable on 12th December and everyone is relaying gossip.  But you would have thought that the driver would know the truth.

He had obviously been on some training (simulator?) as he was moaning about all the different computer controls that would no doubt breakdown and cause him problems. 

He also moaned about loosing the 150s as because of their simple (no computer) design, they did not breakdown as much as the 170s and even if they did have a problem, you could always nurse them home. 

Earlier this year I remember seeing a 153 and 170 at Hereford. The 170 had completely failed and the 153 had to run round it, before they set off for Worcester.  The 170 was very dead and had a portable tail lamp on the rear. The 153 had passengers onboard.

[Don]

A friend of mine says there is/was a 172 at Bromsgrove yesterday.  Not working, sitting in a siding.  Not sure how reliable this is, anyone know more?

[devon_metro]

A friend of mine says there is/was a 172 at Bromsgrove yesterday.  Not working, sitting in a siding.  Not sure how reliable this is, anyone know more?

Correct

[paul7575]

There was a photo of it on the wnxx forum - but it was LO unit 172008, not an LM^▸ (London Midland - recent franchise) version.
 
Paul

[Don]

Oh, not LM^▸ (London Midland - recent franchise).....  I wonder what it's doing round here?  Crew training / familiarisation ?

Incidentally, the same friend has noticed that since the 12th December timetable change, all of LM 153 units are no longer in service.  So London Midland must be 9 or 10 coaches down with no new 172s into service yet.  That must be hurting somewhere. 

[paul7575]

Testing on the Lickey bank?

Seems unlikely to have gone all that way otherwise, and if so it also suggests to me that the possibility of the three variants having different gearboxes and top speeds for their specific roles may not necessarily be correct...

Paul

[d5351]

Testing on the Lickey bank?

This week's "Weekly Operation Notice" to traincrew has details of the special arrangements in place for testing of 172s on the Lickey, under full power and with engines isolated I believe, so yes, testing on the Lickey.

[Don]

Thanks, interesting.

I know that Worcester drivers with a 170 that is down an engine won't attempt Lickey.

[willc]

Might this thread be moved to the Wider Picture? While it touches on the western end of the Cotswold Line, it's not exactly a core concern east of Worcester.

[smithy]

Thanks, interesting.

I know that Worcester drivers with a 170 that is down an engine won't attempt Lickey.

correct a 170 with an engine out is not going to make the bank very easy if at all.
if it did make it then speed will be sub 10mph by the top,what normally happens is remaining engine/s will overheat the transmission and go back to idle or shut down if the engine overheats.

170/s great when running but awful if they have a problem way to over complicated just to move people from a to b

[smithy]

The 172s unlike the 170s are fitted with SDO^▸ (Selective Door Opening) - Selective Door Opening - which is how they will cope with short platforms. 

The original plan was to start training the Worcester crews first and run 172s on the Hereford-BNS^▸ (Barnes (not Birmingham New Street)) service because this would cause the least problems - with few stops between Droitwich and BNS , I don't know if this is still the plan, or if any of the crews have been trained on them, but the belief is that a pair will be in use from Worcester on Monday morning.   The two Hereford - BNS services have been chosen because they are considered by LM^▸ (London Midland - recent franchise) management to be the worse two overloaded services and an extra coach with SDO operation is what they have been waiting for. 

As the 172s have corridor connections and the 170s don't, the intention is to try to replace the 170s that have to work in pairs (or with 153s) and use the 172s on these 2-unit, 4 and 5 coach services. So a current two coach service that does not need to be strengthened is likely to be a 170 in future, and a similar 3-coach is likely to be either one of the five 3-coach 170 or one of the fifteen 3-coach 172s, whereas a current 4-coach is likely to be a pair of 172s.

Once the are in normal service (post shakedown and crew training), most are expected to spend much of there working life running between Malvern-Worcester-Kidderminster-Stourbridge-Snow Hill. 

This is supposed to free up all the 150s and the 153s to be redeployed to other operators (FGW^▸ (First Great Western) in Devon and Cornwall and Northern around Leeds).

As for 150s in Hereford, they used to be very common before the 170s came along.  Now there is, I think, just one on a Saturday evening and perhaps another on Sunday.   

the 170's that LM have are fited with SDO on the in train control panels not 100% the cab control panels have it though.

[ChrisB]

Talking with LM^▸ (London Midland - recent franchise) management last week, they're not expecting any 172s before end-March / April, with driver training likely between Moor Street & Stratford-upon-Avon.

Don't expect them in service before September though.....

[devon_metro]

First 172/3 has left Derby...

http://cw-railpic.fpic.co.uk/p68624468.html

[willc]

Short clip of the first set on the test track at Old Dalby
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpmjY6IbuKU