Thames valley pre turbos

[ess]

What stock were used on the Thames stoppers between Oxford, Reading and Paddington before the Thames Turbos? When was that?

 

[waffles]

Hi there, mostly class 50s and some 47s with mk2
Seconds and mk1 first in Network southeast livery .
47 in BR blue on the paddington reading oxford runs.

 

[bronzeonion]

1st Genereration DMU's such as Class 117. The Greenford line was worked by a single car Class 121

 

[G_A_C_C_C]

and 119s

 

[Class172]

I think there may have also been the odd class 116 on some local services.

 

[Buttsy]

Some of these...

 

[Manchester77]

This has some good shots of the interiors and the trains used, even though its a train care video

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=l3yj7TGtJl0

 

[fgwrich]

I know i've posted posted about these services before somewhere on here. The Pre Turbo Network SouthEast services on the Thames Valley routes were previously worked by a mixbag combination of 1st Gen DMUs. These ranging from:
101s
104s
108s
115s - Largely confined to the Chiltern Routes
117s
The odd few 118s - Usualy snuck there way up from Bristol
119s
121s - Mostly confined to the Thames Valley Branches in the end, although many did work a few Mainline Services
And IIRC, there may have been a few Reading based 122s as well.

Mainline services would have been worked by either OOC or the odd few Laira based 47s and 50s. These would have been with either Mk1 or Mk2 stock and would have mostly been Oxford & Newbury, Worcester & Hereford services. Usually Laira had the good old trick of making sure the best ones went to Padd and the worst to Waterloo. Hence one of the reasons why the 50 replacement was sped up, and 158s brought in.

There's quite a good few images of the NSE era on this website, including some of the mixbag combinations churned out of Reading. Shame to think this proper depot will be lost forever soon under the Reading Flyover.

104 / 101 / 117 Combination

http://www.hondawanderer.com/L408_Didcot_North_Junction_1992.htm

119 / 121 Combination

http://www.hondawanderer.com/L594_Didcot_North_Junction_1990.htm

http://www.hondawanderer.com/index.htm
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Some of these...

Ah, and the prototype 210s of course. Shame whats happened to them, but i'll admit - given the choice of what essentially is a 317 with a Paxman diesel lump in it and a 165 / 166, I'd rather take the 'Thames Turbo'. Ironic of course that we now have 150001 & 002 Working the Basingstoke / Reading branch now!

 

[Class172]

Some of these...

Ah the class 210. If only these had been put into production...

 

[Helvellyn]

Hi there, mostly class 50s and some 47s with mk2
Seconds and mk1 first in Network southeast livery .
47 in BR blue

NSE originally used Mk 1 SKs and a mixture of Mk 1 FKs and Mk 2A FKs/BFKs. Mk 2 TSOs started replacing the SKs after the electrification of the route to Cambridge, and I think some Cobbler Mk 1 TSOs/CKs may even have made it over to the Paddington services at the very end.

If I recall, in the late 1980s the NSE sets (based at Old Oak) could turn up on some odd workings as hire-ins for InterCity, including one Paddington-Carlisle train on a Saturday afternoon, that returned South as a Carlisle-Paddington train on a Sunday morning (was also the first train of the day headed South if I recall).

 

[bronzeonion]

This has some good shots of the interiors and the trains used, even though its a train care video

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=l3yj7TGtJl0

If only trains were looked after as well as that video shows these days.

 

[Wolvercoter]

I only just remember the pre-Turbo days... as fgwrich says, the locals were a real mixed bag of DMUs.

Here's a 101 (L200) with a 108 (L210) in the background at Didcot in 1990:http://www.flickr.com/photos/wolvercotewanderer/8033556285

 

[Buttsy]

I only just remember the pre-Turbo days... as fgwrich says, the locals were a real mixed bag of DMUs.

Here's a 101 (L200) with a 108 (L210) in the background at Didcot in 1990:http://www.flickr.com/photos/wolvercotewanderer/8033556285

In the 80s the 117s were ubiqutous in Oxford, it was a surprise to get a 118 or a 101...

 

[Wolvercoter]

In the 80s the 117s were ubiqutous in Oxford, it was a surprise to get a 118 or a 101...

Indeed. I was too young to fully appreciate it at the time though! The 108, 115, 116, 117, 118 & 119 all looked the same to me. I could tell a 101, 104 and 121 though!

Saying that, were there some 121s with only one cab?

 

[jopsuk]

I only just remember the pre-Turbo days... as fgwrich says, the locals were a real mixed bag of DMUs.

Here's a 101 (L200) with a 108 (L210) in the background at Didcot in 1990:http://www.flickr.com/photos/wolvercotewanderer/8033556285

The numbering of 1st gen DMUs- not the class numbering, the set numbering- is there a guide to how it worked?

 

[starrymarkb]

The numbering of 1st gen DMUs- not the class numbering, the set numbering- is there a guide to how it worked?

IIRC Letter is Depot and Number is the Set Number... 1st Gen units were very mix and match with many Hybrids - it was only as their numbers dwindled were they kept in permanent sets. Some depots didn't apply set numbers and just used vehicle numbers

 

[Wolvercoter]

The numbering of 1st gen DMUs- not the class numbering, the set numbering- is there a guide to how it worked?

Not to my knowledge, although there were patterns:

e.g. In the early 1990s, the 'London' sets in the L2xx tended to be 2-car class 101s or 108s, L4xx were 3-car 117s, L5xx were the class 119s, L7xx class 104s and L1xx class 121.

But, reformations saw many combinations that didn't stick to these trends.

Some depots, like Bletchley, didn't have set numbers on the units.

 

[tom1649]

I remember having NSE liveried Class 101 set L840 on the Llandudno - Blaenau Ffestiniog service in around 2000. Would this have been a lucky survivor from the Thames Valley area? I quite enjoyed sitting in the declassified 1st class looking at the driver's view ahead.

 

[Buttsy]

Saying that, were there some 121s with only one cab?

There were some driving trailers that would often be attached to 121s and 117s.

 

[CarltonA]

I used the superb Network Expresses and loathed the smelly and slow old bog units. Now of course I view the old DMUs as interesting heritage vehicles.

 

[sprinterguy]

I remember having NSE liveried Class 101 set L840 on the Llandudno - Blaenau Ffestiniog service in around 2000. Would this have been a lucky survivor from the Thames Valley area? I quite enjoyed sitting in the declassified 1st class looking at the driver's view ahead.

L840 was one of the last handful of class 101 sets in use with NSE on the Reading to Gatwick Airport route, which was the final route that they had regular work on. It did indeed move up to the North West after that.

 

[gimmea50anyday]

<-------- that!!!!! with a rake of mark 1's on Oxford services. Tho it wasn't uncommon to see a nse 50 at the head of an IC mk2 Aircon rake heading to Bristol or Penzance.

47's were also used, some from Anglia when Ely and kings lynn routes were electrified and oths from scotland when 158's replaced the push pull workings as well as those borrowed from intercity although in later NSE days the more expensive to run 50's were concentrated on Waterloo Exeter services to help push up the cost figures for that route and so justify the investment in turbos. when authorisation was finally given some TPE 158's were commandeered from RR's allocation and converted into 159's instead. the 47's then replaced the 50's as 165's were introduced on thames and chiltern routes, before they were outed themselves by the 159's. Ironically when the 185's were introduced on TPE routes in 2006 some 158's were sent south and converted into 159/1's

 

[Waldgrun]

If you include the Branch to Basingstoke, you could add to your list, Classes 204, 205, and 207!

 

[Helvellyn]

The numbering of 1st gen DMUs- not the class numbering, the set numbering- is there a guide to how it worked?

As others have said, there wasn't a lot of logic, although the Western Region had the more logical system. It used a letter for depot, plus three numbers. Depot letters were: -

B - Bristol Bath Road (BR)
C - Cardiff Canton (CF)
L - London (Reading) RG)
P - Laira (Plymouth) (LA)
S - Landore (Swansea) (LE)

The Scottish Region formed some units up by Class number, e.g. 1077xx.

 

[jopsuk]

it seems curious this numbering scheme persisted so long after the introduction of TOPS

 

[Buttsy]

it seems curious this numbering scheme persisted so long after the introduction of TOPS

I think it was more of a local thing rather than anything to do with TOPS as occassionally you'd see L407 on the front car and L425 on the last car, so you couldn't always take it that they were in fixed formation.

HSTs were originally sent out as sets (253001 etc) but teh power cars often got shuffled around so they stopped that, but that was under TOPS.

 

[Wolvercoter]

Here are some hybrids I recorded in the dying days of 1st Gen DMUs in the Thames Valley:

L265 - 53539 (104) 54491 (108)

L480 - 55024 (121) 59498 (117) 55025 (121)

L408 - 53477 (104) 59115 (101) 51385 (117)

L745 - 51319 (118) 53820 (116)

 

[Jack1989]

What stock were used on the Thames stoppers between Oxford, Reading and Paddington before the Thames Turbos? When was that?

1st gen DMU's and 47 & stock. Occasionally you got others used on stoppers such as HST's and 155's!

 

[tom1649]

L840 was one of the last handful of class 101 sets in use with NSE on the Reading to Gatwick Airport route, which was the final route that they had regular work on. It did indeed move up to the North West after that.

Thanks. I believe North Western (Longsight) also had set L835 although it seemed to be one of the lesser used units and I never saw it in service. It was in Regional Railways rather than NSE livery.