373 with freight wagons attached

[Voyager 2093]

My friend recently a Class 373 with some freight wagons at thatched to the rear at Temple Mills Depot with a Class 08 pulling it. Any ideas as to why this has happened.

 

[DarloRich]

My friend recently a Class 373 with some freight wagons at thatched to the rear at Temple Mills Depot with a Class 08 pulling it. Any ideas as to why this has happened.

they will be translator/barrier vehicles as the locomotive cant couple to the unit as they have different coupling system.

 

[Voyager 2093]

Many thanks mate.

 

[O L Leigh]

There is a spare half set at Temple Mills and another at Le Landy which are surplus to traffic requirements and provide spares to the rest of the fleet. Every now and then it gets dragged into the shed and then back out again so that they can nick a few bits off it.

The freight wagons are barrier vehicles to permit locos with conventional drawgear to haul the Eurostar sets. They are kept at Temple Mills also and usually share the road with the half set, hence them being presumably coupled up. The Cl08 doesn't need the barrier wagons as it already has compatible couplers.

O L Leigh

 

[jopsuk]

with this concpet of keeping units out of service and slowly removing parts as needed- would it not, long term, be more efficient to strip them in one go and create a "parts library" from them?

 

[455driver]

Where are you going to keep all the parts once removed?
Why remove parts that you might not use?
How long would it take (and how much would it cost in wages etc) to strip the train?

All costs that can be minimised by leaving the bits on the train plus the fact you can see where the bit you want is rather than it being lost on shelving.

 

[talltim]

Seems a strange idea to build half a train that you don't use, why not just make the spares (and then you can make more of the spares you need more frequently and less of those you don't)

 

[455driver]

They built a complete train and split it in to 2 half sets, one half is at Temple Mills and the other half is at Le Landy as OL Leigh has already stated in post 4.

 

[jopsuk]

Where are you going to keep all the parts once removed?
Why remove parts that you might not use?
How long would it take (and how much would it cost in wages etc) to strip the train?

All costs that can be minimised by leaving the bits on the train plus the fact you can see where the bit you want is rather than it being lost on shelving.

If you've got a well organised storeroom (using say 5S principals) nothing should ever be "lost" on shelving. It's surely highly unlikely a unit that's been significantly stripped of parts will ever be returned to service (as it would need new parts to replace those removed?). So better to have the parts in organised dry store than outside.

I doubt the unit was built to be stripped; rather it is the case that more Class 373s than required were built; the extras can't be used for the proposed extension of services to the Netherlands, Germany etc due to the difficulties of adding more signalling equipment (thus the new-build Class 374s).

 

[hairyhandedfool]

....It's surely highly unlikely a unit that's been significantly stripped of parts will ever be returned to service (as it would need new parts to replace those removed?). So better to have the parts in organised dry store than outside.....

Didn't they strip down the 210s? and now a 210 vehicle is being, or has been, rebuilt to get a 455 running again?

....I doubt the unit was built to be stripped; rather it is the case that more Class 373s than required were built; the extras can't be used for the proposed extension of services to the Netherlands, Germany etc due to the difficulties of adding more signalling equipment (thus the new-build Class 374s).

I believe the 373 in question was a 'Regional Eurostar' built to 1+7 formation for use in pairs across the UK to destinations in Europe, but finances got very tight and the plug was pulled on the idea (along with Nightstars). Some are now use exclusively in France, some (possibly the same sets) were in use with GNER once, but IIRC two sets were basically unused from day one and are now the spares units.

What if, heaven forbid, a unit suffers an accident and a series of vehicles is required to replace those damaged? They could possibly order a new 374 to replace the Eurostar, or could they possibly use vehicles from the spare sets to get the damaged one up and running?

 

[Monty]

I thought the whole point of the half sets was to swap them with another incase of failure or maintenance?

 

[hairyhandedfool]

The design for a 'split' train was part of the regulations for using the Channel Tunnel, the train must be able to split and 'escape' to the surface in case of fire or other emergency in one half of the train. It has the added benefit of being able to have 'mixed pairs' if maintenance/failure calls for it, but as I understand it, the sets are maintained in pairs, so when one set needs work, so does the other.

 

[jopsuk]

the splitting feature having never been used even when there have been emergencies

 

[DownSouth]

I believe the 373 in question was a 'Regional Eurostar' built to 1+7 formation for use in pairs across the UK to destinations in Europe, but finances got very tight and the plug was pulled on the idea (along with Nightstars). Some are now use exclusively in France, some (possibly the same sets) were in use with GNER once, but IIRC two sets were basically unused from day one and are now the spares units.

No, the two half-sets being cannibalised are the full-length "Three Capitals" version.

62 half-sets were built, 27 pairs of them (54 half-sets) are used on Eurostar services, 3 (6 half-sets) run TGV services and the remaining two half-sets are cannibalised for spare parts.

Of the shorter "North of London" version, 14 half-sets were built. GNER leased five full consists from the pool of seven, currently SNCF leases 13 half-sets with the remaining half-set held by Eurostar - also used for spare parts?

There is also one extra power car which has been substituted into service when other power cars have been undergoing major rebuild work.

What if, heaven forbid, a unit suffers an accident and a series of vehicles is required to replace those damaged? They could possibly order a new 374 to replace the Eurostar, or could they possibly use vehicles from the spare sets to get the damaged one up and running?

Should there be major damage to either a half-set or two half-sets, Eurostar's options would include...
- recalling a Three Capitals set from TGV service.
- recalling a North of London set from TGV service and using this plus a spare half-set to cobble together two full-length half-sets which would be renumbered in the Three Capitals series.
- running their fleet on a slightly reduced maintenance rotation until either repairs are completed or the first of the ICE-based Velaro e320 order enters service.

 

[NotATrainspott]

Would it be possible for a NoL half set to work with a Three Capitals half set? I don't ever see it being needed, and it would completely bugger up the Eurostar booking system, but it would be madness if it weren't possible.

 

[DownSouth]

Would it be possible for a NoL half set to work with a Three Capitals half set? I don't ever see it being needed, and it would completely bugger up the Eurostar booking system, but it would be madness if it weren't possible.

I expect that would depend on whether the internal computer systems were designed with that in mind back in the early 1990s.

If the Eurostar booking system was the bottleneck, one of the 3 Three Capitals sets currently on TGV service could be traded to Eurostar in return for the hybrid set.

 

[Crossforth]

Which are the two half sets that are being cannibalised then?

 

[sprinterguy]

Which are the two half sets that are being cannibalised then?

I believe that it is a pair of the Belgian half-sets: 3101/02.