4 car 158

[387star]

Was on a 4 car FGW 158 this morning heading from Brighton-Great Malvern. Made a nice surprise!

Patronage was high and shows that four coaches is ideal!

I presume the usual 3 coach hybrid was swapped for the two coach units.

Wheelslip was very evident today and I heard lots of trains being delayed due to poor rail conditions
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Another pointer-

why do National Express East Angliastock Suffer so severely from Graffiti attacks?

I only know this from photos but the 360s, 321s and mk3/91s seem to be frequent hits. I do not no many other operators who consistently have trains running around externally vandalised- not even Northern or C2C!

 

[Aictos]

Was on a 4 car FGW 158 this morning heading from Brighton-Great Malvern. Made a nice surprise!

Patronage was high and shows that four coaches is ideal!

I presume the usual 3 coach hybrid was swapped for the two coach units.

Wheelslip was very evident today and I heard lots of trains being delayed due to poor rail conditions
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Another pointer-

why do National Express East Angliastock Suffer so severely from Graffiti attacks?

I only know this from photos but the 360s, 321s and mk3/91s seem to be frequent hits. I do not no many other operators who consistently have trains running around externally vandalised- not even Northern or C2C!

NXEA don't run 91s, they do have 90s which are very similar in shape although the 90s do not have a blunt end cab at one end like the 91s.

 

[387star]

Meant 90s, sorry.

Another point- I never knew how tiny the Valley Lines 150 fleet once was and how much it has increased in size since ATW gained 150s from ScotRail, 'One' and Wessex Trains/FGW?

I believe the Valley Lines refurbishment used Chapman seats whereas ATW used Primarius. What is the difference between the two?

The Valley Lines and ATW refurbishments look very alike because ATW use the same green on the seat grabs as Valley Lines did?

I note the ex Wessex units still have pink seat grabs and stanchions

 

[bengley]

The NXEA units are graffitied a lot because they're mainly operating in essex!

 

[dk1]

The NXEA units are graffitied a lot because they're mainly operating in essex!

Orient Way is a major problem for Intercity sets as they use siding 1 which is away from the staff areas & has an escape route where the gate is left open due to freight run-rounds. Coaches B & C are often 'hit'.

Colchester & Clacton yards are also grafitti hotspots.

Harwich International will no longer be a problem from December as no stock the set will no longer stable here.

Crown Point has had occasional problems but these are more infrequent.

 

[Fred26]

The NXEA units are graffitied a lot because they're mainly operating in essex!

That's helpful.

 

[Tottenham Flyer]

Orient Way is a major problem for Intercity sets as they use siding 1 which is away from the staff areas & has an escape route where the gate is left open due to freight run-rounds. Coaches B & C are often 'hit'.

Colchester & Clacton yards are also grafitti hotspots.

Harwich International will no longer be a problem from December as no stock the set will no longer stable here.

Crown Point has had occasional problems but these are more infrequent.

I think you'll find the biggest Grafitti hotspots on the NXEA network are Bishops Stortford and Chingford. Colchester more than Clacton, and Southend Vic has its fair share of hits too, and Cambridge has the odd one every now and again.

 

[Fred26]

Southend Vic is a lot better now that there's a fence around the whole yard. Years ago, before that was there, (class 312's) would be vandalised regularly.

 

[dk1]

Southend Vic is a lot better now that there's a fence around the whole yard. Years ago, before that was there, (class 312's) would be vandalised regularly.

That has been noticed. The tags on the 321/360 fleet above drivers windscreens look awful & is the first impression passengers get of NXEA. Thankfully any grafitti that appears on the LHCS fleet is cleaned off asap.

 

[moonrakerz]

a 4 car FGW 158 ............ from Brighton-Great Malvern........... Patronage was high and shows that four coaches is ideal!

Hmm - us poor devils who live on that route have been saying that for years !

Wessex Trains finally went from 2 to 3 car units - then FGW got the franchise and promptly went back to 2 cars ! Now, umpteen years on we have 3 cars again - they claim that is progress.

 

[387star]

I have been told that at least all two coach 158s will be banished once LM 150s arrive
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Morning service from Romsey to Brighton was four coaches today (a 158 and 150) is this normal?

I also noticed a pair of 150s pulling out of Fratton this evening.

As an aside a poster at Portsmouth Harbour advertising for FGW depicted a picture of a blue class 170!

 

[87015]

Probably something to do with the 3 car 158 fleet being rather unavailable yet again...

 

[heart-of-wessex]

Was at a foot crossing near Trowbridge on the 5th and saw that set pass on the Great Malvern, I believe it was 158954. Sounds like it's 3rd car was broke, some of the 3 car ones has had problems resulting in a 2 car formation whilst the 3rd stays home and gets fixed.

It's a good idea really to have a flexible unit, should one break at least you can still use 2 cars rather than take the whole thing out of service (I am unsure if this accounts for fixed 3 car sets like 158798 though, haven't seen that as a 2 car set yet)

 

[sprinterguy]

It's a good idea really to have a flexible unit, should one break at least you can still use 2 cars rather than take the whole thing out of service (I am unsure if this accounts for fixed 3 car sets like 158798 though, haven't seen that as a 2 car set yet)

It is indeed the case with the fixed 3 car sets: The centre carriage can be removed from the unit if required, and the two driving cars operate as a two carriage set. Used to happen occasionally when 158798-814 were employed with Transpennine.