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TGV La Poste at St Pancras 21-03-12

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ainsworth74

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Id quite like to see a 225 in france though, let her get to the 140mph she was designed to do :)

Or it could just use HS1 (assuming the signalling issues could be sorted somehow)?
 

HSTEd

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So are these trains carrying generic palletised freight or smaller parcels traffic?

Ie. parcels or "less than truck/wagonload" freight?
 

Mike C

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Thanks both. I look forward to these returning to the UK under their own steam! (well ok, their own pantographs..)

You mean these ones... :)

The set was powered up while stationary at SPI and some pre-departure checks were done while under it's own power.
 

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Mike C

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So are these trains carrying generic palletised freight or smaller parcels traffic?

Ie. parcels or "less than truck/wagonload" freight?

Pretty much. If you look at the second photo I posted earlier this evening, you'll see the sort of cargo they usually carry being unloaded.
 

D1009

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Pretty much. If you look at the second photo I posted earlier this evening, you'll see the sort of cargo they usually carry being unloaded.

Was this just for show, did they reload the containers back into the train before departure ?
 

Mike C

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Was this just for show, did they reload the containers back into the train before departure ?

As far as we could see, they were real TNT and FedEx deliveries unloaded without ceremony, video or photos (except mine!). I think the reasoning was that if you are going to go to the trouble of dragging the thing all the way to London, you may as well sell some space on it. Can't fault them for the plan.
 

D1009

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As far as we could see, they were real TNT and FedEx deliveries unloaded without ceremony, video or photos (except mine!). I think the reasoning was that if you are going to go to the trouble of dragging the thing all the way to London, you may as well sell some space on it. Can't fault them for the plan.

I was just wondering how they'd get the containers out of the secure area at St Pancras ?
 

Mike C

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I am afraid that is cheating - you are on the "intresting" side of the fence :D

(Could you not at least walk round and try and push your camera through the mesh? :lol:)

Ha ha - sorry! A couple of us popped in for a quick cab tour. But, it's standard TGV PSE stuff in the pointy-end, nothing that I've not seen before at Le Landy. I think the novelty was a)seeing the la poste machine (or one of the 3 and a half such sets SNCF have) and b) seeing it at St Pancras.

The third photo I took on that first upload was the most strange to me Seeing a TGV alongside an EMT set. #surreal.
 
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DarloRich

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Ha ha - sorry! A couple of us popped in for a quick cab tour. But, it's standard TGV PSE stuff in the pointy-end, nothing that I've not seen before at Le Landy. I think the novelty was a)seeing the la poste machine (or one of the 3 and a half such sets SNCF have) and b) seeing it at St Pancras.

The third photo I took on that first upload was the most strange to me Seeing a TGV alongside an EMT set. #surreal.

just rub it in a bit more :roll::lol:
 

Schnellzug

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As an aside, i note that the MaK diesels it was dragged by are referred to on another popular Web site as 21904/905. Does this mean they're registered on TOPS now?
 

Harbon 1

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How did the French diesels get here? Were they dragged through earlier in the week? Or did the TGV drag them through on it's way and they ran round at Dover? I was under the impression that nothing diesel was allowed through under it's own power, or am I mistaken?
 

lewisf

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How did the French diesels get here? Were they dragged through earlier in the week? Or did the TGV drag them through on it's way and they ran round at Dover? I was under the impression that nothing diesel was allowed through under it's own power, or am I mistaken?

They're Eurotunnel's I believe.
 

jopsuk

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I notice that the company that ran the test plans to get an all-new build of high speed cargo units built, and have been talking to Alstom and Siemens since 2008.
 

Mike C

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Another shot for you. Credit for this to my colleague who was with me. Nice one Colin...
 

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sprinterguy

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That's rather, um, brown!
Indeed! While I know that I should have realised that with the late-seventies/early eighties vintage of the TGV-PSE and La Poste units that the cab design probably would look quite dated compared to modern standards, I had always expected to see something considerably more space age from the cab design of a TGV and something a little less, you know, brown and seventies looking!
 

Mike C

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Power/rheo brake controller. Only on PSE, Atlantique and most Reseau sets have this. All other TGVs (POS, Eurostar and Duplex) have lever style controllers. Forward for power, back for brake, which is the opposite way to most UK stock controllers.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Indeed! While I know that I should have realised that with the late-seventies/early eighties vintage of the TGV-PSE and La Poste units that the cab design probably would look quite dated compared to modern standards, I had always expected to see something considerably more space age from the cab design of a TGV and something a little less, you know, brown and seventies looking!

Yes, well remember this set was built in 1981. It is of similar vintage to an HST. Most other interiors are black, not brown. Also the drivers seat is now central as on Eurostar, POS and Duplex rather than on the left as here.
 
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brianthegiant

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I was just wondering how they'd get the containers out of the secure area at St Pancras ?

Since the containers need to go to a parcel hub to allocate to trucks to different locations, so the logical thing would be to initially send them all there in a few arctics with some sort of customs seal to this initial hub with customs screeening facilities (eg heathrow) with automated handling . (rather than trying to create an ad-hoc system of scanners & sniffer dogs at StP)
 
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