Recent content by craigybagel

When the 197s start taking over the Cambrian services, the 158s will be moved out of Machnylleth to another location within the TfW network before they move on to another TOC. At least that is the current plan anyway.

Thanks - all updated Was there ever any confirmation on this? The last I'd heard their work to Blackpool was so minimal they couldn't cope with both links signing it. Stalybridge and Crewe would make more sense however. Interesting - I'd always thought Ayr looked like a decent depot variety...

Although time consuming, the guard can travel in the front cab of the trailing unit. On arrival at the short platformed station, they can use the platform to move to the trailing cab of the front unit, turn the TUDI switch, and operate the doors from there. They can then close from there, reset...

When I was going through training for my first railway job, at an Intercity TOC (who's fleet all featured numerous toilets as you'd expect) I was shown a certain locked cupboard in a certain carriage of the train and informed that it contained, if I recall the numbers correctly, 50 travel-johns...

In my experience, a 175 will out accelerate pretty much any sprinter. They also have much better brakes even with the dynamic brakes isolated, so in most scenarios they'll outperform a sprinter, at least from start to stop. Dwell times on platforms aren't great in comparison to a 150 of course...

You could question the reliability of any TOCs announcements about introducing a new fleet over the last 10 years. It was hardly a master stroke suggesting that there were likely to be issues here. It was the other posts, many of which were demonstrably inaccurate, that got the poster...

As someone who spent 10 years working them, mostly on a line so steeply graded BR built a dedicated fleet of 158s with more powerful engines to cope, take it from me that it's almost entirely nonsense. 1788966314 It probably doesn't help as well that I would assume any inspections of the units...

Assuming the transmissions on 170s work the same as all the others, those speeds only apply at full power. If a lower power notch is selected, they'll change over at a lower speed too. It's likely that on reaching the line speed (50-60 depending on the section) and the driver reduced power to...

Thanks. I assume link 1 is senior, and that the depot is too large to justify all drivers signing all routes? Thanks - will do a big update soon

They were never visible in darkness when they were at TfW. Putting them in a more sensible position facing the driver won't fix that. It was accepted at TfW but the issue wasn't unique to that part of the fleet there. This is not a criticism of either TOC or ASLEF - but it is good to see that...

I'm not aware of any circumstances where self dispatch would be allowed at Cardiff Central. It would be especially problematic as ECS services require the dispatchers to activate the RA indicators. As others have stated, it is regularly used for certain TfW services at Shrewsbury in the early...

Even if there were paths,I doubt there are enough freight drivers available to pilot. I would be amazed if between TfW and Avanti we end up with much more than 2 tph.

I love that even Railway herald are throwing shade at WCR here: At the end of the day - why on earth would anyone trust WCR with any kind of exemption? They should consider themselves fortunate they're even allowed on the mainline at all

As I understand things, it's mostly demolition of the roofs at the South end of the platforms rather than renewal or replacement. Sadly we have to wait a little longer for that particular work - even though it needed doing yesterday.... There is a team working on the logistics for TfW at the...

Everybody wants trains to everywhere else and woe betide anyone who suggests streamlining things in a more simple matter. This is the cheapest way to achieve it - bearing in mind it's already a hugely subsidised network before you start trying to run 5 cars from Manchester through to Milford...