360/2s Heading to South Wales

[LNW-GW Joint]

Test centre acquires former Heathrow Connect EMUs

UK: The Global Centre of Rail Excellence has acquired three Class 360/2 EMUs which will be made available for testing ETCS, novel train control, traction systems and other innovations at the test centre which is being developed in South Wales. The 25 kV 50 Hz EMUs were previously used on...

www.railwaygazette.com

UK: The Global Centre of Rail Excellence has acquired three Class 360/2 EMUs which will be made available for testing ETCS, novel train control, traction systems and other innovations at the test centre which is being developed in South Wales.
The 25 kV 50 Hz EMUs were previously used on Heathrow Connect stopping services between Heathrow Airport and London Paddington. After withdrawal they were acquired by Rail Operations Group in February 2021, but hopes for further use did not materialise, and so they were destined for scrap.
The 160 km/h trains are currently stored at MoD Bicester and will be moved to GCRE next year, when the site’s commercial rolling stock storage facility becomes available to the wider market.

This seems to be the first sign that the Welsh Government's GCRE at Onllwyn is going to be a viable industry facility.

 

[Snow1964]

Sounds like things are moving forward with the test centre, if now got trains to use as test beds

 

[anthony263]

Pity they couldn't have saved the other two

 

[brad465]

Pity they couldn't have saved the other two

Would they have been needed in this proposal?

 

[dorsetdesiro]

So they are going to be used as "guinea pigs" for a research/testing facility? Not ideal, at least these will get some use out of them as Siemens Desiros are real quality trains least likely to fall apart therefore less headache for the researchers/testers.

 

[D365]

So they are going to be used as "guinea pigs" for a research/testing facility? Not ideal, at least these will get some use out of them as Siemens Desiros are real quality trains least likely to fall apart therefore less headache for the researchers/testers.

Not ideal?

 

[fgwrich]

Not ideal?

Better than scrap at least. I wonder if Porterbrook may become involved - better to use one of those 360/2s as a testbed for the Battery flex program (if it still exists) than potentially ruining a useable serviceable 350/2.

 

[Wyrleybart]

Better than scrap at least. I wonder if Porterbrook may become involved - better to use one of those 360/2s as a testbed for the Battery flex program (if it still exists) than potentially ruining a useable serviceable 350/2.

I guess Porterbrook would have had the chance to buy them from the original owner when they were retired, but I am not sure about the "ruining" bit. Engineers do know what they are doing generally. They just follow CAD drawings etc.

I agree thought that it might have made sense to modify the 360/2s and test them, before a series programme of modifying the 350/2s

 

[Speed43125]

I'm sure it was in the original ROG thread, but can someone confirm for me that it's 360201-203 that are extant and getting further use as test mules, correct?

 

[Class15]

I'm sure it was in the original ROG thread, but can someone confirm for me that it's 360201-203 that are extant and getting further use as test mules, correct?

Correct!

 

[D365]

I guess Porterbrook would have had the chance to buy them from the original owner when they were retired, but I am not sure about the "ruining" bit. Engineers do know what they are doing generally. They just follow CAD drawings etc.

Engineers are the people that make the drawings

 

[fgwrich]

I guess Porterbrook would have had the chance to buy them from the original owner when they were retired, but I am not sure about the "ruining" bit. Engineers do know what they are doing generally. They just follow CAD drawings etc.

I agree thought that it might have made sense to modify the 360/2s and test them, before a series programme of modifying the 350/2s

Ruin may be a strong word in this instance, but after the debacle of Porterbrook's other "Flexx" project so far (769 Flexx I'm staring at you!) I don't hold much hope in PBs "Flexx" projects at the moment.

As for purchasing them earlier, they could have - and I'm surprised they didn't, but could have also shown interest in them during their ROG ownership but ROG may have priced them out (I know their Mk3s were quite pricey before they sold them to Newport). The Price is Right as a certain TV Gameshow used to say.

 

[warwickshire]

Ruin may be a strong word in this instance, but after the debacle of Porterbrook's other "Flexx" project so far (769 Flexx I'm staring at you!) I don't hold much hope in PBs "Flexx" projects at the moment.

As for purchasing them earlier, they could have - and I'm surprised they didn't, but could have also shown interest in them during their ROG ownership but ROG may have priced them out (I know their Mk3s were quite pricey before they sold them to Newport). The Price is Right as a certain TV Gameshow used to say.

Possibilitie they could have and maybe purchased the 3 needed. Maybe they didn't need the 5. Only 5 hence other 2 scrap but selected the 3 they needed earlier on. However tomorrow Thursday 06th October is a light engine move each way Derby to Bicester so most likely it's done to move them around to keep components going for forthcoming moves. However at adhoc intervals between Late Autumn and now light engine moves to Bicester have occurred before. Ie for this purpose to move the 360s.

 

[Wyrleybart]

Engineers are the people that make the drawings

Are draughtsmen extinct then ?

 

[D365]

Are draughtsmen extinct then ?

In my business they’re called design engineers. But what I meant is that somebody has to produce the designs in the first place.

 

[DelW]

Are draughtsmen extinct then ?

They either retired or became CAD operators years ago. By the time I retired in 2019 there wasn't a single full sized drawing board in our engineering design office, indeed there hadn't been for quite a while.

I used to cause mild astonishment among my younger colleagues by still occasionally producing pencil drawings but only at A3 size. (I was an engineer, not a draughtsman). AutoCAD drawings were so much easier to edit though .