Brockenhurst-Lymington 158s

[Supersaint]

Evening,wondering where do the class 158 go/start on the Brock-Lymo line at night,poss Bournemouth or back to Salisbury ?

 

[Turbostar]

I would imagine they're serviced etc. at Bournemouth where necessary, any major work needed I think they would send the unit off to Salisbury, & send another from Salisbury to replace it. I would be very surprised if they send the unit after it's final trip of the evening all the way to Salisbury, & send another unit the next day in the early hours ready for the start of service for the day, when Bournemouth depot is not far away.

 

[Supersaint]

I suppose it only stables there at night at Bournemouth but wasn’t sure if they had fuel there as it’s was mainly a EMU depot ?

 

[thefab444]

A unit will come down to Brockenhurst on Monday morning from Salisbury, and then works the branch all week based at Bournemouth. It returns to Salisbury on Friday evening.

There's no fueling at Bournemouth so if the fuel runs low a unit swap has to occur, but they should be able to do the full week.

 

[Oracle]

Does that mean that the unit, when it comes down from Salisbury, plus the 450s at weekends are the only booked stock to use the one-way connection from the Down line into P4? This was used by the Eastleigh-Lymington train in the past, and very rarely when there is engineering work beyond Brock.

 

[MrC]

There's no fueling at Bournemouth

It's possible you might be wrong here

 

[swt_passenger]

Does that mean that the unit, when it comes down from Salisbury, plus the 450s at weekends are the only booked stock to use the one-way connection from the Down line into P4? This was used by the Eastleigh-Lymington train in the past, and very rarely when there is engineering work beyond Brock.

The 450s are diagrammed off Bournemouth depot so probably use P1 for the first service.

The Monday 158 leaves Salisbury with an ECS 6.159 and detaches from them in Southampton Central so probably runs into P4 as you suggest.

The Friday 158 returns to Salisbury via Southampton Central where it attaches to the 2320 to Romsey via Eastleigh. Not sure if it is locked out or usable by pax, never been around that late. It then runs ECS to Salisbury.

So they even minimise crew diagramming on the transfer trips...

 

[tbtc]

A unit will come down to Brockenhurst on Monday morning from Salisbury, and then works the branch all week based at Bournemouth. It returns to Salisbury on Friday evening.

There's no fueling at Bournemouth so if the fuel runs low a unit swap has to occur, but they should be able to do the full week.

Can 158s really go a week without fuelling?

 

[Failed Unit]

Can 158s really go a week without fuelling?

The branch isn't that long so maybe, it is hard to calculate. I am not sure what the typical distance is for a 158 on a tank of fuel. Some EMT's 158's are daigrammed to do Norwich - Liverpool - Norwich - Nottingham in one day which is a reasonable distance.

 

[swt_passenger]

The total diagrammed mileage is 2012 over the 5 days, Salisbury to Salisbury.

The branch is 6 and a bit miles long so about 25 miles an hour for 17 or 18 hours a day soon adds up.

No idea what the range of a 158 is on a full tank though...

 

[Failed Unit]

The total diagrammed mileage is 2012 over the 5 days, Salisbury to Salisbury.

The branch is 6 and a bit miles long so about 25 miles an hour for 17 or 18 hours a day soon adds up.

No idea what the range of a 158 is on a full tank though...

I have a feeling it won't be 2012, HST's are about half that but they are running at a higher speed so that is me comparing apples with pears.

 

[Turbostar]

There's no fueling at Bournemouth

I disagree about the refuelling. I think you will find Bournemouth does have fuel facilities, as it dates back to the 33/1s on the push-pull services etc. That aside, Bournemouth still has 73235 based there as a Thunderbird, plus Bournemouth serves as a refuelling point for visiting diesel hauled charter trains. You also have CrossCountry services starting & ending at Bournemouth, so Bournemouth servces as a servicing & fuelling point for them as well. Finally, if you look up Google Maps, the fuelling point is clearly visible.

 

[thefab444]

I think you will find Bournemouth does have fuel facilities, as it dates back to the 33/1s on the push-pull services etc. That aside, Bournemouth still has 73235 based there as a Thunderbird, plus Bournemouth serves as a refuelling point for visiting diesel hauled charter trains.

Are they suitable for use by 158s? From memory, the diagrams don't have any mention of fuelling on them. The charter services probably have their tanks emptied and cleaning done, but I doubt the locos are refuelled.

73235 has not ventured out of Bournemouth depot in some time, and to be honest, I'm not entirely sure if it's still in use at all - someone in the know may be able to confirm.

You also have CrossCountry services starting & ending at Bournemouth, so Bournemouth servces as a servicing & fuelling point for them as well.

These services run ECS to/from Eastleigh T&RSMD for fueling and stabling.

 

[merlodlliw]

ATW 175s, run back to Chester from Manchester each night, then start at Chester again. about 30 miles or so.

Both last past midnight down to Chester & first up run direct non stop, the first
up goes to ringway.

 

[ukrob]

ATW 175s, run back to Chester from Manchester each night, then start at Chester again. about 30 miles or so.

Both last past midnight down to Chester & first up run direct non stop, the first
up goes to ringway.

What has that got to do with anything?

 

[Jordy]

Probably something to do with fuel capacity, but yes its rather irrelevant and difficult to understand!

 

[Oracle]

I have heard about 73235...it needs work and thus £££ spent I gather.

 

[GearJammer]

I have heard about 73235...it needs work and thus £££ spent I gather.

Well if it needs money spending on it then i would'nt be half surprised to see SWT get shot of it and just hire one in as and when they need it!

 

[O L Leigh]

What has that got to do with anything?

I believe the point being offered is that it is not unusual for trains to run empty some distance at the end of service every night just to have to come back again in the morning. However, this is all down to the unit diagrams.

Given how frequently threads go off-topic I'm not sure that this is anywhere near the worst example of the phenomena.

O L Leigh

 

[Juniper Driver]

I have heard that the 158's are unsuitable for this route due to it knackering the gearboxes...so who knows what the future holds....Not fully sure yet though as this was a messroom rumour.

 

[moonrakerz]

The total diagrammed mileage is 2012 over the 5 days, Salisbury to Salisbury.

The branch is 6 and a bit miles long so about 25 miles an hour for 17 or 18 hours a day soon adds up.

No idea what the range of a 158 is on a full tank though...

Some figures I have give a fuel capacity of 1300L/car and an "average" diesel consumption of 4mpg/per car.
That comes out to about 1100 miles on a tankfull.

 

[kennethw]

in the days of the slammers P1 was used for the first depature of the day, coming ex Bournemouth so assume likewise. 450's also work the line on Bank Holidays - usually Mondays - although this will include New Year's Day & Good Friday. And to complete the obvious no services at all 25 & 26 December

See elsewhere the good news that 1497 has been purchased for preservation & is due to go to the North Norfolk Railway

 

[A0]

I have heard that the 158's are unsuitable for this route due to it knackering the gearboxes...so who knows what the future holds....Not fully sure yet though as this was a messroom rumour.

It's believable given the stop / start nature over a very short distance. IIRC the HSTs on the Midland Mainline suffered from a far higher failure rate on gearboxes than their GW / ECML counterparts and this was put down to the stop/start nature of their use - e.g. Bedford>Wellingboro>Kettering>Harborough>Leicester.

Certainly it seems a bit of a waste of a 158/9. An EMU would be more suitable, but the challenge would appear to be finding something suitable which wouldn't result in logistical problems (i.e. driver knowledge, keeping a small number in one place). All the Desiros are better used on the mainline. A 508 or 456 would be ideal, but fall foul of the logistical problems.

Perhaps a 3rd rail PPM would be a solution...........