Recent content by CDM

Yep, it was 434. https://twitter.com/steveboulton84/status/1653308711715188736?t=TW0aYimfI3ggG_gjj3qqkw&s=19 I hadn't imagined for a minute that they'd be splitting that up and shipping bits of it around the country on a low loader for that kind of work!

Yeah that could be a reason moved by road (though all units left GA hauled by rail and wasn't aware any had since been stripped to a condition where they would no longer be suitable for further movement by rail). I was really meaning, does anyone know which unit and where it was off to/coming...

Passed a 321 DTC on the A1(M) yesterday evening, near Stilton. It was heading north, blunt end leading. I was heading south on the opposite carriageway so didn't catch the number but it was a 'classic', in all white. Was surprised to see a road move of single vehicle, since they've got so adapt...

Yes, very much that. There's a lot more to it as well, but generally there's a real dearth of skills and experience and what there is, is spread about too thinly. With no strategic rolling plan and the fragmented management, knowledge and skills just aren't retained and re-used, they just move...

Exactly the same situation though - simply a case of what rolling stock was available at the time and what stacked up financially. Nothing more to it than that. And it was not an industry senior leadership team matter - it was simply good decision making by the local operator management team...

I wasn't making any comment in relation to the retention or otherwise of the HSTs. I was replying to the specific point made about the GBR team. That's why I specifically quoted the previous point about the GBR team, didn't quote anything about HSTs and why I also stated it was OT (Off-Topic)...

Yep. Unfortunately even if you did take the direct DFT meddling out of the equation, the senior leadership team in the industry is full of a hell of a lot of duffers these days. Uninspiring, lacking in real direct experience and absolutely no gumption to strongly represent the industry and take...

A pantograph exerts upward force onto the contact wire in order to maintain contact. Because the contact wire hangs under its own weight (supported from above, but not supported from below) it moves up, at the point the pantograph head is touching it. The wire then lowers again under its own...

Not at all. Nothing is done that makes them unfit for future use. It's simply a case of making them fit for movement and into storage off-network.

BR Era AC Tightlock EMU's could run up to 16-Car (4x 4-Cars) in ECS, or 12-Car in Service. Limiting factor is voltage drop on the control wires/brake circuits if the train consist goes over that. There's also infrastructure limits that affect it (maximum current draw from the OLE and pan bounce...

Same platform, but actually wildly different trains to 345/710/720. First DC Aventra, first 10-car Aventra etc. Turbostar is a simpler train than Electrostar, in lots of ways. As for Electrostars, they were also appalling in various ways throughout their introduction - even right up into the...

I'm not being ungracious, at all. I'm just being objective. By every objective measure, the 317's are not as good as train. Potentially the only one I can think of where they're better is the seating on the /1's being more comfortable (because it's the old big sprung cushions) but also for the...

Don't know the units in enough detail, but I'd wager it's just a case of which fans are broken / which ones the ducts have blocked up through debris - and that they're a massive pain to repair, so they don't get done outside of overhaul...

I get what you're saying. Essex starts between HRO and BRE though and besides working to SOV right up until TfL Rail started, 315's were also diagrammed to work services to Chelmsford, Southminster and Stansted (and I mean there, they were planned in timetables to operate services to those...

Interior space on the 720's is far inferior to Class 321, due to the narrower bodies. It's ridiculously tight to get through between the 3+2 seats on a 720, compared to the 321 (Renatus or classic). Completely unusable if you're travelling with luggage or (as has been found recently) if there's...