Ex LNER (and Grand Central) Mark 4 sets for TfW

[Diedinium]

Very long term absentees 67017 and 67010 should be heading back to TfW in the Next day or two after testing. 010 is planned to be on HD06 whilst it undergoes an exam and 017 should head to Canton to act as recovery loco. In the meantime, 67023 will be hired from Colas and used as the recovery loco and based in the Shrewsbury area to cover both ends of the network.

Set wise, HD05 is now back from Crewe ETD after tyre turning and is undergoing final testing and finishing before heading back out as the final 5 car. HD06 is now in for its heavy exam and should be the final set to have its SV mods with improved ventilation and air con in the kitchen vehicle. As 06 and 05 are now both on exam at Crewe, until 05 is released, HD02 is now temporarily stored at Holyhead.

As HD02 is now stored, 1V91 from Holyhead will be a unit tomorrow with 67014+HD01 planned to pick up the diagram from the 10:52 Cardiff to Manchester
Edit- it will now work the 08:49 from Cardiff replacing 67020+HD04 which failed earlier with low power caused by a faulty traction motor.

Ah I saw 67023 based in the Coleham sidings when driving by it today and wondered what that was doing there, nice to see it explained.

 

[mikestone1952]

According to RTT 67015 finished at Holyhead on Friday night, but following this mornings failure appeared to have made its way to Crewe to take over 1W57 - despite which journeycheck is apologising for 1W65 having no first!

 

[sd0733]

According to RTT 67015 finished at Holyhead on Friday night, but following this mornings failure appeared to have made its way to Crewe to take over 1W57 - despite which journeycheck is apologising for 1W65 having no first!

67015 ran light engine back to Crewe on Saturday morning, leaving HD02 in Holyhead. It's now gone onto HD04 replacing 67020 which is the one that had the failure.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Jul 2024 ==

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Posted 09/07

HD05 is due out on its test run tomorrow which will finally end the 5 car programme, as long as no issues are found it will then be available for service from Thursday (although could be a spare set as 3 will be available at Crewe)

67010 now at Canton will take 67022 to Crewe ETD tomorrow for repairs, 010 will then return light to Canton on Thursday morning.

67020 is now repaired and after a test run is now powering HD06 whilst it undergoes it's heavy exam at Crewe.

 

[Lurcheroo]

67015 ran light engine back to Crewe on Saturday morning, leaving HD02 in Holyhead. It's now gone onto HD04 replacing 67020 which is the one that had the failure.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Jul 2024 ==

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Posted 09/07

HD05 is due out on its test run tomorrow which will finally end the 5 car programme, as long as no issues are found it will then be available for service from Thursday (although could be a spare set as 3 will be available at Crewe)

67010 now at Canton will take 67022 to Crewe ETD tomorrow for repairs, 010 will then return light to Canton on Thursday morning.

67020 is now repaired and after a test run is now powering HD06 whilst it undergoes it's heavy exam at Crewe.

Awesome stuff! Is there a plan for the 5th diagram ?

 

[sd0733]

Awesome stuff! Is there a plan for the 5th diagram ?

Believe it's still planned for late August/Early September now but things change so much it's hard to keep up sometimes.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Jul 2024 ==

HD05 wasn't ready in time so is now planned out for a test run tomorrow. It is then planned to re-enter service in Friday replacing HD01 which will stop for exam.

 

[Lurcheroo]

Believe it's still planned for late August/Early September now but things change so much it's hard to keep up sometimes.

Ahh ok, once it’s ready and in service, would be nice if they can get it covered sooner but we shall see

 

[craigybagel]

Most of the MU speed differentials were replaced with Passenger/Freight differentials between Shrewsbury and Craven Arms last week - meaning that MKIV operated services are no longer limited to 70mph through this section.

Sadly the 90MU/40 restriction over a small bridge just North of Craven Arms remains, as does a short section of 90MU/75 on the approach to Craven Arms from Onibury, but overall this should still save a few minutes on MKIV operated services.

 

[Philip Roberts]

Most of the MU speed differentials were replaced with Passenger/Freight differentials between Shrewsbury and Craven Arms last week - meaning that MKIV operated services are no longer limited to 70mph through this section.

Sadly the 90MU/40 restriction over a small bridge just North of Craven Arms remains, as does a short section of 90MU/75 on the approach to Craven Arms from Onibury, but overall this should still save a few minutes on MKIV operated services.

Great to hear. Are those remaining sections likely to ever get done?

 

[craigybagel]

Great to hear. Are those remaining sections likely to ever get done?

From what I've heard, the bridge needs a lot of work or maybe even complete replacement to allow higher speeds. No idea if there's any plans for that or not.

If the bridge doesn't get fixed, there's no point doing anything about the other section either, as the section before it is 75 for everything, and then it's uphill so a MKIV rake isn't likely to accelerate to a much higher speed before it needs to start braking for the 40 over the bridge. It looks like it's tied in with braking distances for the signals so Craven Arms, which are pretty tight.

 

[SuperLuke2334]

Most of the MU speed differentials were replaced with Passenger/Freight differentials between Shrewsbury and Craven Arms last week - meaning that MKIV operated services are no longer limited to 70mph through this section.

Sadly the 90MU/40 restriction over a small bridge just North of Craven Arms remains, as does a short section of 90MU/75 on the approach to Craven Arms from Onibury, but overall this should still save a few minutes on MKIV operated services.

I did wonder why we were do quick on Saturday morning! That's excellent progress. Hopefully timekeeping is on the up!

 

[BillStampy]

HD05 wasn't ready in time so is now planned out for a test run tomorrow. It is then planned to re-enter service in Friday replacing HD01 which will stop for exam.

Excellent, what 67 is on it and what diagram will it do when it returns on Friday? Going to try take a look at it as soon as possible.

 

[sd0733]

Excellent, what 67 is on it and what diagram will it do when it returns on Friday? Going to try take a look at it as soon as possible.

It's got 67012 on it. It more than likely will be put onto the 04:54 from Crewe diagram, they're normally kept 'captive' on that for a couple of days starting and finishing in Crewe but can't be 100% at this point.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Jul 2024 ==

HD05 completed its test and Is now back at Crewe, effectively ending the 5 car programme, it's planned out of Crewe as expected on the 04:54 tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow evening, the 17:14 Cardiff to Holyhead is a planned substitution to a unit, this will allow 67017+HD02 to re-enter service on Monday morning on the 05:30 from Holyhead.

 

[BillStampy]

HD05 worked full diagrams today, truely now the end of the 5 car programme! Only took it so long...

 

[Lurcheroo]

HD05 worked full diagrams today, truely now the end of the 5 car programme! Only took it so long...

Certainly has been a long time coming! But we shall reap the rewards of it at least!

 

[BillStampy]

Certainly has been a long time coming! But we shall reap the rewards of it at least!

Indeed! Set reliability has certainly increased now and way less are being swapped off for issues. Same with the 67s, which do seem to be working for the most part well, especially with the return of two more 67s.

 

[sd0733]

Certainly has been a long time coming! But we shall reap the rewards of it at least!

It was around 14 weeks later than originally planned for the last set to enter service, some of that was caused by the condition of the TOs after several years out of use, others was different tasks/mods being added to the scope whilst sets were long term stopped.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Jul 2024 ==

Indeed! Set reliability has certainly increased now and way less are being swapped off for issues. Same with the 67s, which do seem to be working for the most part well, especially with the return of two more 67s.

The mods that have been undertaken certainly seem to be paying off. Availability is a far cry from where it once was, both loco and rakes. Timekeeping is also much much better recently especially since the speed limits were increased. Now the exams are pretty much caught up and better balanced too, there shouldn't be a need to store/exam sets in Holyhead anymore which will reduce swaps as there won't be a need to balance those sets in/out of diagrams.

 

[Lurcheroo]

It was around 14 weeks later than originally planned for the last set to enter service, some of that was caused by the condition of the TOs after several years out of use, others was different tasks/mods being added to the scope whilst sets were long term stopped.

Oh that’s not so bad to be fair!

Indeed! Set reliability has certainly increased now and way less are being swapped off for issues. Same with the 67s, which do seem to be working for the most part well, especially with the return of two more 67s.

The mods that have been undertaken certainly seem to be paying off. Availability is a far cry from where it once was, both loco and rakes. Timekeeping is also much much better recently especially since the speed limits were increased. Now the exams are pretty much caught up and better balanced too, there shouldn't be a need to store/exam sets in Holyhead anymore which will reduce swaps as there won't be a need to balance those sets in/out of diagrams.

Well it’s certainly an improvement and hopefully the general public are noticing the better consistency.

 

[Caaardiff]

That's excellent news. With the 5 cars done, hopefully it'll mean good availability before the 5th diagram starts, alongside the increases in capacity of 197s on the Marches TFW are finally starting to see good progress.

 

[sd0733]

That's excellent news. With the 5 cars done, hopefully it'll mean good availability before the 5th diagram starts, alongside the increases in capacity of 197s on the Marches TFW are finally starting to see good progress.

Certainly looks as If everything is planned out, and spare rakes every day into next week with 6 sets available most days.

 

[Lurcheroo]

Certainly looks as If everything is planned out, and spare rakes every day into next week with 6 sets available most days.

Wow fantastic! Should be a good week hopefully

 

[BillStampy]

Certainly looks as If everything is planned out, and spare rakes every day into next week with 6 sets available most days.

Brilliant! A lot better compared to the past and when they were introduced to Manchester originally (), hopefully we can get that 5th diagram in soon!

Any news regarding HD08, supposing Transport for Wales now turn to see what condition it's in, would be excellent.

 

[craigybagel]

Quite a nice sight on the depot at Crewe in the wee hours this morning - all 4 of the roads regularly used to stable the MKIVs had full rakes occupying them. It would have been nice if they were all facing the same way but you can't have everything!

 

[SuperLuke2334]

Quite a nice sight on the depot at Crewe in the wee hours this morning - all 4 of the roads regularly used to stable the MKIVs had full rakes occupying them. It would have been nice if they were all facing the same way but you can't have everything!

Hopefully in the future they will be managed well enough to keep them the same way, like the Mk3 sets. It would make it a lot easier for passengers!

 

[BillStampy]

Quite a nice sight on the depot at Crewe in the wee hours this morning - all 4 of the roads regularly used to stable the MKIVs had full rakes occupying them. It would have been nice if they were all facing the same way but you can't have everything!

Believe TfW prefer the locomotive in the shed at Manchester, in the future it could end up simply being made to be that way as much as possible. Not entirely sure, but that's what I heard before. Hopefully they will be though!

 

[craigybagel]

Hopefully in the future they will be managed well enough to keep them the same way, like the Mk3 sets. It would make it a lot easier for passengers!

Indeed. Work has been going on behind the scenes to make sure the ECS services booked to run via Warrington actually run that way the vast majority of the time, so sets should be getting turned less often - but at the moment even if the sets never turn there's still a mix until someone goes to the effort of getting the sets the wrong way round turned.

Believe TfW prefer the locomotive in the shed at Manchester, in the future it could end up simply being made to be that way as much as possible. Not entirely sure, but that's what I heard before. Hopefully they will be though!

Correct. I believe it makes it easier at Canton if the loco is at that end.

 

[Bikeman78]

Indeed. Work has been going on behind the scenes to make sure the ECS services booked to run via Warrington actually run that way the vast majority of the time, so sets should be getting turned less often - but at the moment even if the sets never turn there's still a mix until someone goes to the effort of getting the sets the wrong way round turned.

I don't see how that could work because one set runs via Eccles each morning and evening. So, if they are all the same way round during the day, one of them will be the other way round when it arrives at Crewe. It's then 50/50 which diagram it will work the next day. At the moment, it is further complicated by the fact that 5V33 runs via Eccles but both sets run from Manchester to Crewe via Wilmslow in the evening.

 

[sd0733]

I don't see how that could work because one set runs via Eccles each morning and evening. So, if they are all the same way round during the day, one of them will be the other way round when it arrives at Crewe. It's then 50/50 which diagram it will work the next day. At the moment, it is further complicated by the fact that 5V33 runs via Eccles but both sets run from Manchester to Crewe via Wilmslow in the evening.

There does lie some of the problem with keeping things the same way round as if the set which runs via Warrington in the evening is always sent back out on the via Warrington in the morning, it means the other set is stuck on the same Crewe-Crewe diagram for several days at a time.
There's also the diversions via Chester vice Nantwich or the Holyheads diverting via Crewe from time to time which ends up turning sets, also the first Cardiff to Manchester is semi-regularly booked via the East Usk chord, again turning it round.
It's certainly an aim to have things consistent but in practice is proving difficult.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Jul 2024 ==

Any news regarding HD08, supposing Transport for Wales now turn to see what condition it's in, would be exexcellent.

Now the 5 car programme is over, attention can turn to assessing that set. It won't be a quick process though so any return wouldn't be particularly imminent. It's heavily stripped so just putting back the missing bits is quite a long process.

 

[craigybagel]

I don't see how that could work because one set runs via Eccles each morning and evening. So, if they are all the same way round during the day, one of them will be the other way round when it arrives at Crewe. It's then 50/50 which diagram it will work the next day. At the moment, it is further complicated by the fact that 5V33 runs via Eccles but both sets run from Manchester to Crewe via Wilmslow in the evening.

It's booked to be the same set via Warrington both in the evening and the following morning, and in practice it needs to be; there isn't enough time to service the sets at Crewe if you swap them. The evening situation is just a temporary one, in the LTP it's meant to run both ways.

There does lie some of the problem with keeping things the same way round as if the set which runs via Warrington in the evening is always sent back out on the via Warrington in the morning, it means the other set is stuck on the same Crewe-Crewe diagram for several days at a time.
There's also the diversions via Chester vice Nantwich or the Holyheads diverting via Crewe from time to time which ends up turning sets, also the first Cardiff to Manchester is semi-regularly booked via the East Usk chord, again turning it round.
It's certainly an aim to have things consistent but in practice is proving difficult.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Jul 2024 ==

Does the East Usk move actually happen? I'd be surprised given the difficulties of changing ends there, unless they're double manning it.

 

[SuperLuke2334]

There does lie some of the problem with keeping things the same way round as if the set which runs via Warrington in the evening is always sent back out on the via Warrington in the morning, it means the other set is stuck on the same Crewe-Crewe diagram for several days at a time.
There's also the diversions via Chester vice Nantwich or the Holyheads diverting via Crewe from time to time which ends up turning sets, also the first Cardiff to Manchester is semi-regularly booked via the East Usk chord, again turning it round.
It's certainly an aim to have things consistent but in practice is proving difficult.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Jul 2024 ==


Now the 5 car programme is over, attention can turn to assessing that set. It won't be a quick process though so any return wouldn't be particularly imminent. It's heavily stripped so just putting back the missing bits is quite a long process.

It's booked to be the same set via Warrington both in the evening and the following morning, and in practice it needs to be; there isn't enough time to service the sets at Crewe if you swap them. The evening situation is just a temporary one, in the LTP it's meant to run both ways.

Does the East Usk move actually happen? I'd be surprised given the difficulties of changing ends there, unless they're double manning it.

I often see that it's booked via East Usk, however it very rarely actually does that. It often just sits at cwmbran for about 10 minutes

 

[sd0733]

Does the East Usk move actually happen? I'd be surprised given the difficulties of changing ends there, unless they're double manning it

Definitely not every time it's booked but does happen now and again.