Porterbrook Cl.769 'Flex' trains from 319s, initially for Northern

[The_Train]

Latest updates as far as I can ascertain:

Number	Ex No.	Livery	TOC	Depot/Location	Current State
769002	319002	TfW	TfW	Cardiff Canton	In Service
769003	319003	TfW	TfW	Cardiff Canton	In Service
769006	319006	TfW	TfW	Cardiff Canton	In Service
769007	319007	TfW	TfW	Cardiff Canton	In Service
769008	319008	TfW	TfW	Cardiff Canton	In Service
769421	319421	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	TfW	Cardiff Canton	Converted - awaiting testing
769424	319424	Northern	Northern	Allerton	Undergoing testing
769426	319426	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	TfW	Loughborough Works	Undergoing conversion
769431	319431	Northern	Northern	Allerton	Converted - awaiting testing
769434	319434	Northern	Northern	Allerton	Undergoing testing
769442	319442	Northern	Northern	Allerton	Undergoing testing
769445	319445	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	TfW	Cardiff Canton	Undergoing testing
769448	319448	Northern	Northern	Allerton	Undergoing testing
769450	319450	Northern	Northern	Allerton	Undergoing testing
769452	319452	TfW	TfW	Cardiff Canton	In Service
769456	319456	Northern	Northern	North West	Undergoing testing
769458	319458	Northern	Northern	Crewe Arriva Traincare	Undergoing testing
769509	319009	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	ROG		Conversion work yet to start
769510	319010	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	ROG		Conversion work yet to start
769922	319422	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Conversion work yet to start
769923	319423	GWR	GWR	Wolverton Works	Conversion work yet to start
769925	319425	GWR	GWR		Conversion work yet to start
769927	319427	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Conversion work yet to start
769928	319428	GWR	GWR	Nemesis Rail, Burton	Converted - awaiting testing
769930	319430	GWR	GWR	Reading Traincare	Undergoing acceptance exam
769932	319432	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Long Marston	Conversion work yet to start
769935	319435	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Long Marston	Conversion work yet to start
769936	319436	GWR	GWR	Reading Traincare	Undergoing acceptance exam
769937	319437	GWR	GWR	Wolverton Works	Converted - awaiting testing
769938	319438	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Nemesis Rail, Burton	Converted - awaiting testing
769939	319439	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Conversion work yet to start
769940	319440	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Undergoing conversion
769943	319443	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Reading Traincare	Converted - awaiting testing
769944	319444	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Derby RTC	Converted - now stored
769946	319446	GWR	GWR	Nemesis Rail, Burton	Converted - now stored
769947	319447	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Conversion work yet to start
769949	319449	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Undergoing conversion
769959	319459	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Conversion work yet to start

I've highlighted the bits I've changed in bold

 

[FGW_DID]

Latest updates as far as I can ascertain:

Number	Ex No.	Livery	TOC	Depot/Location	Current State
769002	319002	TfW	TfW	Cardiff Canton	In Service
769003	319003	TfW	TfW	Cardiff Canton	In Service
769006	319006	TfW	TfW	Cardiff Canton	In Service
769007	319007	TfW	TfW	Cardiff Canton	In Service
769008	319008	TfW	TfW	Cardiff Canton	In Service
769421	319421	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	TfW	Cardiff Canton	Converted - awaiting testing
769424	319424	Northern	Northern	Allerton	Undergoing testing
769426	319426	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	TfW	Loughborough Works	Undergoing conversion
769431	319431	Northern	Northern	Allerton	Converted - awaiting testing
769434	319434	Northern	Northern	Allerton	Undergoing testing
769442	319442	Northern	Northern	Allerton	Undergoing testing
769445	319445	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	TfW	Cardiff Canton	Undergoing testing
769448	319448	Northern	Northern	Allerton	Undergoing testing
769450	319450	Northern	Northern	Allerton	Undergoing testing
769452	319452	TfW	TfW	Cardiff Canton	In Service
769456	319456	Northern	Northern	North West	Undergoing testing
769458	319458	Northern	Northern	Crewe Arriva Traincare	Undergoing testing
769509	319009	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	ROG		Conversion work yet to start
769510	319010	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	ROG		Conversion work yet to start
769922	319422	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Conversion work yet to start
769923	319423	GWR	GWR	Wolverton Works	Conversion work yet to start
769925	319425	GWR	GWR		Conversion work yet to start
769927	319427	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Conversion work yet to start
769928	319428	GWR	GWR	Nemesis Rail, Burton	Converted - awaiting testing
769930	319430	GWR	GWR	Reading Traincare	Undergoing acceptance exam
769932	319432	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Long Marston	Conversion work yet to start
769935	319435	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Long Marston	Conversion work yet to start
769936	319436	GWR	GWR	Reading Traincare	Undergoing acceptance exam
769937	319437	GWR	GWR	Wolverton Works	Converted - awaiting testing
769938	319438	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Nemesis Rail, Burton	Converted - awaiting testing
769939	319439	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Conversion work yet to start
769940	319440	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Undergoing conversion
769943	319443	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Reading Traincare	Converted - awaiting testing
769944	319444	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Derby RTC	Converted - now stored
769946	319446	GWR	GWR	Nemesis Rail, Burton	Converted - now stored
769947	319447	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Conversion work yet to start
769949	319449	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Undergoing conversion
769959	319459	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Conversion work yet to start

I've highlighted the bits I've changed in bold

@The_Train My apologies, I appear to have given you some duff gen with a typo back in post #5084. I'm in work now and looking at the maintenance log, I see we actually have the following 769s at Reading:

769930
769943
769946 not 769936 as previously typed

Their status hasn't changed, still undergoing acceptance exam work and 9943 will join them on that status now.

Sorry to muck your great list up!!

 

[Llama]

Acceleration-wise on AC the 0-20mph crawl will probably negate the slightly higher theoretical maximum speed they could attain.

For comparison on the Chat Moss route the timings stayed pretty much the same for a few years for the stoppers when they changed from 15x to 319s - about an hour and a minute from Victoria to Lime St or vice versa. The 319 would normally have up to a couple of minutes standing time either side of the long stretch of mostly 90mph between Newton le Willows and Astley but for the rest of the route 319s had to be driven surprisingly hard to keep to the timings.

The timings were tightened up (possibly May '18) to remove even the couple of minutes spare.

319s will be quicker on frequent stopping services by comparison to the 769s with their 20 tonnes of dead weight, even with the 769 on AC.

However the much better brakes on 319/769s will allow for some later braking than 15x timings which will free up a few seconds here and there.

 

[The_Train]

@The_Train My apologies, I appear to have given you some duff gen with a typo back in post #5084. I'm in work now and looking at the maintenance log, I see we actually have the following 769s at Reading:

769930
769943
769946 not 769936 as previously typed

Their status hasn't changed, still undergoing acceptance exam work and 9943 will join them on that status now.

Sorry to muck your great list up!!

No need to apologise - it's great to have you offering updates from 'within'

Is 769936 at Nemesis Rail, Burton then or Long Marston? I can't remember where I had it down prior to changing it to Reading!
Also, is 943 in GWR livery as I still have it down as the ex TL white and blue?

 

[warwickshire]

No need to apologise - it's great to have you offering updates from 'within'

Is 769936 at Nemesis Rail, Burton then or Long Marston? I can't remember where I had it down prior to changing it to Reading!
Also, is 943 in GWR livery as I still have it down as the ex TL white and blue?

Yes 943 is in gwr livery complete with inside gwr seating green style. However it just needs gwr decal named branding still to be applied. When it was towed through leamington Spa with 37800 yesterday Thursday the 11th March 2021.

 

[FGW_DID]

No need to apologise - it's great to have you offering updates from 'within'

Is 769936 at Nemesis Rail, Burton then or Long Marston? I can't remember where I had it down prior to changing it to Reading!
Also, is 943 in GWR livery as I still have it down as the ex TL white and blue?

Back in post #5068 it was showing at Nemesis, Burton.
769943 is in GWR Green.

 

[adc82140]

769509 and 510 have been repainted at Eastleigh into Orion blue livery. Not sure if the decals have been applied yet.

 

[The_Train]

769509 and 510 have been repainted at Eastleigh into Orion blue livery. Not sure if the decals have been applied yet.

Do we know if they have actually been converted to 769s or have they had a repaint as 319s to be converted?

 

[adc82140]

They are still 319s as far as I know.

 

[The_Train]

They are still 319s as far as I know.

Thanks

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Mar 2021 ==

Here's the updated list including the updates from @FGW_DID and @adc82140

Number	Ex No.	Livery	TOC	Depot/Location	Current State
769002	319002	TfW	TfW	Cardiff Canton	In Service
769003	319003	TfW	TfW	Cardiff Canton	In Service
769006	319006	TfW	TfW	Cardiff Canton	In Service
769007	319007	TfW	TfW	Cardiff Canton	In Service
769008	319008	TfW	TfW	Cardiff Canton	In Service
769421	319421	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	TfW	Cardiff Canton	Converted - awaiting testing
769424	319424	Northern	Northern	Allerton	Undergoing testing
769426	319426	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	TfW	Loughborough Works	Undergoing conversion
769431	319431	Northern	Northern	Allerton	Converted - awaiting testing
769434	319434	Northern	Northern	Allerton	Undergoing testing
769442	319442	Northern	Northern	Allerton	Undergoing testing
769445	319445	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	TfW	Cardiff Canton	Undergoing testing
769448	319448	Northern	Northern	Allerton	Undergoing testing
769450	319450	Northern	Northern	Allerton	Undergoing testing
769452	319452	TfW	TfW	Cardiff Canton	In Service
769456	319456	Northern	Northern	North West	Undergoing testing
769458	319458	Northern	Northern	Crewe Arriva Traincare	Undergoing testing
769509	319009	Orion Dark & Light Blue	ROG	Eastleigh Works	Conversion work yet to start
769510	319010	Orion Dark & Light Blue	ROG	Eastleigh Works	Conversion work yet to start
769922	319422	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Conversion work yet to start
769923	319423	GWR	GWR	Wolverton Works	Conversion work yet to start
769925	319425	GWR	GWR		Conversion work yet to start
769927	319427	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Conversion work yet to start
769928	319428	GWR	GWR	Nemesis Rail, Burton	Converted - awaiting testing
769930	319430	GWR	GWR	Reading Traincare	Undergoing acceptance exam
769932	319432	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Long Marston	Conversion work yet to start
769935	319435	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Long Marston	Conversion work yet to start
769936	319436	GWR	GWR	Long Marston	Converted - awaiting testing
769937	319437	GWR	GWR	Wolverton Works	Converted - awaiting testing
769938	319438	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Nemesis Rail, Burton	Converted - awaiting testing
769939	319439	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Conversion work yet to start
769940	319440	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Undergoing conversion
769943	319443	GWR	GWR	Reading Traincare	Converted - awaiting testing
769944	319444	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Derby RTC	Converted - now stored
769946	319446	GWR	GWR	Reading Traincare	Undergoing acceptance exam
769947	319447	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Conversion work yet to start
769949	319449	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Undergoing conversion
769959	319459	Ex TL White & Blue Doors	GWR	Wolverton Works	Conversion work yet to start

Bold items are the ones I have changed since the last update

 

[Defiance149]

319010 has had its Flex conversion. Last I heard a new number hadn't been decided on.

 

[KendalKing]

I believe that the Northern 769's, will finally to enter service from Monday 17th May, on diagrams AN290-294/296, is anybody able to confirm?

 

[175001]

That's the plan. Driver training on them is progressing well

 

[31160]

I believe that the Northern 769's, will finally to enter service from Monday 17th May, on diagrams AN290-294/296, is anybody able to confirm?

Do you know what those diagrams are please

 

[KendalKing]

Do you know what those diagrams are please

They are the diagrams for the Alderley Edge - Southport service.

 

[Peter A]

Do you know what those diagrams are please

See Monday-Friday diagrams attached

 

[jonesy3001]

Will they be stabled at Newton heath looking at the diagrams.

 

[31160]

See Monday-Friday diagrams attached

Thanks

 

[PHILIPE]

Will they be stabled at Newton heath looking at the diagrams.

AN should be the clue. Allerton

 

[Mollman]

Will they be stabled at Newton heath looking at the diagrams.

Main depot is Allerton but it appears some over-night at Springs Branch and NH.

 

[delticdave]

See Monday-Friday diagrams attached

Thanks for the info, where does the change-over from diesel to electric happen?
(I'm not familar with the area.....)

TIA, DC.

 

[jonesy3001]

Thanks for the info, where does the change-over from diesel to electric happen?
(I'm not familar with the area.....)

TIA, DC.

Probably be Bolton as the line from lostock jct to Wigan and Southport isn't wired and Victoria to stalybridge unless it gets wired during the blockade.

 

[175001]

Manchester Victoria and Bolton is where all the excitement will happen.

Salford Crescent too if having to go via Atherton which will be only on the early morning and late night diagram

The unit has to be at a stand to switch power mode

 

[Greybeard33]

Manchester Victoria and Bolton is where all the excitement will happen.

Salford Crescent too if having to go via Atherton which will be only on the early morning and late night diagram

The unit has to be at a stand to switch power mode

I see that only one of the four Southport - Stalybridge diagrams is booked as a 769, with the other three booked as a 156+150 combo, a 150+150 combo and a solo 150. All five of the Alderley Edge diagrams are booked as 769s, leaving two of the eight units on exams in Allerton depot each day.

 

[Jamesrob637]

I see that only one of the four Southport - Stalybridge diagrams is booked as a 769, with the other three booked as a 156+150 combo, a 150+150 combo and a solo 150. All five of the Alderley Edge diagrams are booked as 769s, leaving two of the eight units on exams in Allerton depot each day.

Off topic for 769s I appreciate however is there a reason why the fourth Stalyvegas can't be booked 4-car? These services get very busy under normal circumstances.

 

[delticdave]

Probably be Bolton as the line from lostock jct to Wigan and Southport isn't wired and Victoria to stalybridge unless it gets wired during the blockade.

Thanks (& also 175001 too), can a 769 on diesel keep to the timings? AFAIK, the Welsh units in the valleys are slower than the normal DMU's.

 

[Greybeard33]

Thanks (& also 175001 too), can a 769 on diesel keep to the timings? AFAIK, the Welsh units in the valleys are slower than the normal DMU's.

The Alderley Edge services are pathed as a Class 150 DMU between Southport and Bolton (on diesel) and as a Class 319 EMU between Bolton and Alderley (under the wires). The Stalybridge services are pathed as a Class 150 all the way from Southport, including between Bolton and Victoria under the wires (the diagram also includes a late evening working from Southport to Victoria via Atherton, so on diesel as far as Salford Crescent).

I fear the 769s will struggle to keep to the timings on the diesel portions of the routes.

 

[175001]

Where a 769s acceleration is poor, it's braking capabilities will make up for it.

As someone who will drive them to Southport soon, it'll take us some time to get use to braking points. We've driven 158s up there in the past, but a 319(769) is far superior in step 2 than a 158.

 

[Wyrleybart]

Where a 769s acceleration is poor, it's braking capabilities will make up for it.

As someone who will drive them to Southport soon, it'll take us some time to get use to braking points. We've driven 158s up there in the past, but a 319(769) is far superior in step 2 than a 158.

That is interesting. Thanks for that

 

[mjn]

Saw one of these up around Carnforth yesterday. Are they being tested up that way just because there are free paths, or is it for planned service use?

769434 by Mark, on Flickr