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Unidentifiable train seats for sale online - What train are they from?

GWVillager

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I’m not sure if this is better in the Memorablia/books area, but seen as this might be of relevance to rolling stock, I decided to put it here. Feel free to move it.

I saw this tweet (https://x.com/Off_The_RailsUK/status/2092528684301242734) which shows a pair of what look to be Fainsa ‘ironing board’ seats for sale on eBay. My question is - what on Earth are these from?

My first thoughts were the Northern demonstrator seats when they were specifying the Civities, but they look a thinner fabric than moquette and the colour is wrong. I’m assuming they were from a demonstrator refurbishment of something, as happened to a lot of stock in the mid 2010s, but which one exactly? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

1787823652088.jpeg
 
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SuperLuke2334

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GWVillager said:
I’m not sure if this is better in the Memorablia/books area, but seen as this might be of relevance to rolling stock, I decided to put it here. Feel free to move it.

I saw this tweet (https://x.com/Off_The_RailsUK/status/2092528684301242734) which shows a pair of what look to be Fainsa ‘ironing board’ seats for sale on eBay. My question is - what on Earth are these from?

My first thoughts were the Northern demonstrator seats when they were specifying the Civities, but they look a thinner fabric than moquette and the colour is wrong. I’m assuming they were from a demonstrator refurbishment of something, as happened to a lot of stock in the mid 2010s, but which one exactly? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

View attachment 210407
Click to expand...
Could it be Heathrow Express? Looks fairly similar but not totally sure!
 
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Bletchleyite

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Doesn't look like HEx. It's a different colour and the HEx refurb used the thicker cushions.

Heathrow-Express-Review-Hero-1024x683.jpg

View of Heathrow Express seats, from https://londonmymind.com/heathrow-express-review/

I don't recognise the colour at all, could well be example demonstrator seats which were just salvaged from a skip or something.
 
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ainsworth74

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They remind me of Thameslink seats with the lack of armrests and no seat back tables but they're the wrong colour. Was there a Class 700 demonstrator?
 
GWVillager

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ainsworth74 said:
They remind me of Thameslink seats with the lack of armrests and no seat back tables but they're the wrong colour. Was there a Class 700 demonstrator?
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There was a mock-up, but its seats looked less like these than the production sets’, in my opinion. They were a slightly richer blue and still had that fleck effect.
 
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Bletchleyite

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The colour scheme looks a bit "Barbie" era FirstGroup, but I don't think it's exactly the same. I'm sure I've seen it on a bus though. It might just be a generic moquette that is supplied to small bus companies who lack a specific requirement, hence potentially them being demonstrator seats.
 
GWVillager

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Bletchleyite said:
The colour scheme looks a bit "Barbie" era FirstGroup, but I don't think it's exactly the same. I'm sure I've seen it on a bus though. It might just be a generic moquette that is supplied to small bus companies who lack a specific requirement, hence potentially them being demonstrator seats.
Click to expand...
Yes, it’s similar, but not the same, as one of the two First Barbie moquettes. I can’t say I’ve ever seen this exact one on a bus, though. It reminds me more of the SWR cloth in a different colour.
 
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£200 seems incredibly cheap for two sets of brand new train seats! Folk wanted more than that when well used ex HST seats were being flogged all over the place!
 
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ainsworth74

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Towers said:
£200 seems incredibly cheap for two sets of brand new train seats! Folk wanted more than that when well used ex HST seats were being flogged all over the place!
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Sure but the HST has more of an emotional attachment which drives up the price. Versus some random seats which don't look very comfy and we can't even work out what train they're from!
 
GWVillager

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py_megapixel said:
That seems plausible - in which case is it possible this Ebay seller has got the frames from somewhere and had them upholstered with a generic design?
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It’s possible, but I doubt it. The seller would have to be an extremely skilled upholsterer to do such a tidy job of it.

Bletchleyite said:
The colour scheme looks a bit "Barbie" era FirstGroup, but I don't think it's exactly the same. I'm sure I've seen it on a bus though. It might just be a generic moquette that is supplied to small bus companies who lack a specific requirement, hence potentially them being demonstrator seats.
Click to expand...
On this again, are there any photos of the bus moquette? I can’t find nor think of any.
 
rmHawk765

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Not from some 707 or 717 prototype are they? The rear of the seat is of a design only seen on 701s and the Desiro Cities (and maybe also 730s, I can't remember).
 
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rmHawk765 said:
Not from some 707 or 717 prototype are they? The rear of the seat is of a design only seen on 701s and the Desiro Cities (and maybe also 730s, I can't remember).
Click to expand...

It's the Fainsa-Compin ironing board which is used all over the network in various forms, such as 195/331, 701, the newer Electrostars, the 700 etc. One of the most common seats on the railway.

720 and 730 use a Kiel seat which is unique to those units, similarly hard but a very different shape.

Where you get it with armrests such as the Heathrow Express pic above the side looks different but that's just where the armrest and associated fairing are bolted on, the seat is the same. There are two main types of cushion, a thinner, flatter, harder one (as per these) and a thicker, more contoured one (as used on 195/331, 701 and Heathrow Express).
 
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