Caledonian Sleeper

[Scotrail84]

So lets get this straight. The Northbound Highlander arrived into Edinburgh on time, yet the three onward legs arrived 100 mins late (Inverness), terminated 196 min late at Montrose (Aberdeen), and is currently 93 mins late (Fort William). What a cracking performance.

Dont forget 1S26 and 1M16

 

[Norther Monkey]

Is there any reason the Dellner couplers on the locos can't be left raised? It's not like they're often used for anything else between turns as far as I know (although obviously today's Aberdeen loco needed to couple up to something else!).

 

[John Bishop]

Dont forget 1S26 and 1M16

205L and 108L respectively.

 

[High Dyke]

I was thinking of making a booking for Monday night to Perth, but this latest issue doesn't exude confidence in the service. Think I'll travel up by the Highland Chieftain on Tuesday instead.

 

[Leo1961]

Is there any reason the Dellner couplers on the locos can't be left raised? It's not like they're often used for anything else between turns as far as I know (although obviously today's Aberdeen loco needed to couple up to something else!).

I would like to suggest a combination of H&S and Railway Rules / Practice.

 

[JohnMcL7]

So lets get this straight. The Northbound Highlander arrived into Edinburgh on time, yet the three onward legs arrived 100 mins late (Inverness), terminated 196 min late at Montrose (Aberdeen), and is currently 93 mins late (Fort William). What a cracking performance.

What was the cause of delays on the Inverness and Fort William portions? I see as predicted it was a 67 with the 73 coming into Inverness today, with the 73 failing on the Aberdeen section are they going to have enough 73's tonight?

 

[TimboM]

I would like to suggest a combination of H&S and Railway Rules / Practice.

I seem to recall it's something to do with the weight of the Dellner assembly on the locos. Noting that they're designed to drop down when not in use, they're to an extent supported by the stock when in the upright position and coupled to the Mk5s. However, when light loco, the 'hinge' is taking the full weight of the assembly (which is pretty hefty).
Might've already been mentioned, but max speed with the Dellner raised is 5 mph.

 

[GrimShady]

I am afraid some people will accept rubbish if it is cheap enough. Who actually decides the tender conditions? I suspect it is a close-knit community. Who are they answerable to?

That's the problem with today's rolling stock, the traveling public will pretty much accept any low quality horse s***

 

[JonathanH]

What was the cause of delays on the Inverness and Fort William portions? I see as predicted it was a 67 with the 73 coming into Inverness today, with the 73 failing on the Aberdeen section are they going to have enough 73's tonight?

Don't see why not - you'd imagine that the Aberdeen 73 has been battered back into working order such that it will be piloted by the 66 to Edinburgh and then work to Aberdeen again tomorrow morning.

If it isn't back in shape to go alone, it could go to Inverness with the 67 for coupler translation and then the 73 on the Inverness today could go to Aberdeen.

Whichever way, it would appear that there are enough 73s.

 

[Far north 37]

Don't see why not - you'd imagine that the Aberdeen 73 has been battered back into working order such that it will be piloted by the 66 to Edinburgh and then work to Aberdeen again tomorrow morning.

If it isn't back in shape to go alone, it could go to Inverness with the 67 for coupler translation and then the 73 on the Inverness today could go to Aberdeen.

Whichever way, it would appear that there are enough 73s.

To be honest there on there bare bones of class 73’s hence the class 67 hire in and 66 on pilot duties the loco swap your suggesting would involve too many logistics to be feasible surely.

 

[JonathanH]

To be honest there on there bare bones of class 73’s hence the class 67 hire in and 66 on pilot duties the loco swap your suggesting would involve too many logistics to be feasible surely.

I was referring to a switch in the morning at Edinburgh rather than one involving a switch via Elgin which would obviously not happen.

The 67 needs a 73 between it and the coaches but the 73 doesn't need to be able to do much else. So two fully working 73s is enough for Fort William and Aberdeen.

 

[Far north 37]

I was referring to a switch in the morning at Edinburgh rather than one involving a switch via Elgin which would obviously not happen.

The 67 needs a 73 between it and the coaches but the 73 doesn't need to be able to do much else. So two fully working 73s is enough for Fort William and Aberdeen.

In all fairness i wouldn't say they have enough still there already one short 3 out of a required 4 available if theres any issues with a further loco what happens then with the dellner couplings it leaves them restricted with what options available.

 

[JonathanH]

In all fairness i wouldn't say they have enough still there already one short 3 out of a required 4 available if theres any issues with a further loco what happens then with the dellner couplings it leaves them restricted with what options available.

Yes, but they have 67004 to cover for the fourth and I'd guess it can deal with a fairly dead 73 tucked in behind.

 

[Far north 37]

Yes, but they have 67004 to cover for the fourth and I'd guess it can deal with a fairly dead 73 tucked in behind.

Running a fairly dead loco not really an ideal option i would imagine.

 

[6Z09]

If there were enough 73s the 66 and 67 would not be getting used!
92s and 73s were to be the future.

 

[PG]

That's the problem with today's rolling stock, the traveling public will pretty much accept any low quality horse s***

It's not the travelling public who get to make decisions on the procurement of new rolling stock though is it!?

 

[TimboM]

Folk seem to have conveniently forgotten the two 73/9s at Craigentinny that are available once they've had their square wheels rounded again (at least one of which has already been sorted I believe).

73967 with the fault at Aberdeen will move south behind 66704 as a translator and be swapped out by one of the 73/9s at Craigentinny with newly rounded wheels (so just 1x 73/9 on 1A25 in the morning).
67004 + 73971 will stay in multi on Inverness.
73969 will stay on Fort William.

There's the second 73/9 at Craigentinny that was stopped for tyre turning last night, so hopefully back in action pretty soon.

And 014, 028 and 043 are all back in action tonight.

 

[GrimShady]

It's not the travelling public who get to make decisions on the procurement of new rolling stock though is it!?

No it's not but as I said they're prepared to accept it just as many on here are prepared to accept the c*** coming from Hitachi for example!

 

[marks87]

I doubt it would ever happen, not least because of gauging issues, but could a 92 also theoretically act as a barrier/translator with a 67 up front, with ETS passing through?

 

[GrimShady]

I doubt it would ever happen, not least because of gauging issues, but could a 92 also theoretically act as a barrier/translator with a 67 up front, with ETS passing through?

Isn't the 67 ETS incompatible with the CS Mk5?

 

[TimboM]

Isn't the 67 ETS incompatible with the CS Mk5?

In theory it shouldn't be incompatible. 73/9s supply ETS at the classic voltage of ~900V and have not been modified between working the old stock and the new stock. On the basis the 67s could power the old stock, in theory they could power the new stock. The 92s' ETS supply was reconfigured from ~900V to 1500V to work the Mk5s as this is required to the full rakes of 16 coaches.

Whilst I agree a 92 acting as a translator for a 67 would be very unlikely to happen, a 92 has already acted as a Mk5 translator for an 08, a 47 and an 87, so stranger things have happened.

 

[John Bishop]

Looks like things are slightly better last night.

1Y11 is 46L, 1S25 is 22L and 1A25 leaving 18L; looks like all picked up during the uncouple/ couple at Edinburgh this morning.

 

[TimboM]

Looks like things are slightly better last night.

1Y11 is 46L, 1S25 is 22L and 1A25 leaving 18L; looks like all picked up during the uncouple/ couple at Edinburgh this morning.

1S25 was 20 mins late into Edinburgh due to a 20 min delay between Long Ashes and Southwaite. That usually means a reboot was required of the stock or loco (or both).

 

[Essexman]

Once again CS website won't let me cancel a Flexipass booking so I have to phone Customer Services to do this.

 

[al78]

That's the problem with today's rolling stock, the traveling public will pretty much accept any low quality horse s***

If it is a choice between accepting low quality horse s*** and not travelling, they have to accept the s***.

 

[Bletchleyite]

If it is a choice between accepting low quality horse s*** and not travelling, they have to accept the s***.

There are of course other modes of transport. It's only really London commuting where driving is not a feasible option, for instance, and for longer journeys you've got air too, often at a very competitive price.

 

[al78]

There are of course other modes of transport. It's only really London commuting where driving is not a feasible option, for instance, and for longer journeys you've got air too, often at a very competitive price.

We are talking about the sleeper. If you want to reduce car use for enviromental reasons, then it is desirable to use alternative modes of transport to driving, which are going to be trains. One big advantage of the sleeper over alternatives is the ability for someone in SE England to do a weekend backpacking trip in the Scottish Highlands, starting and finishing at different locations, something that is a lot harder to do (or impractical) using planes.

 

[31160]

Yes, but they have 67004 to cover for the fourth and I'd guess it can deal with a fairly dead 73 tucked in behind.

So is the 73 providing any power or is it just a translator

 

[thaitransit]

These trains were built by CAF trains I believe. They are going to build new long distance trains for NSW Trainlink. I am wondering how they will stand up to the 1000s of miles of extremely rough track in NSW Australia. The track has been enough to crack frames on XPT/HST units that are now 40 years old.

Also I am left wondering how good the aircon system will be on these CAF trains and weather it can handle up to 50 Degrees in the shade temperature.

 

[SuspectUsual]

There are of course other modes of transport. It's only really London commuting where driving is not a feasible option, for instance, and for longer journeys you've got air too, often at a very competitive price.

Blimey. I live 25 miles from Manchester - commuting by train is (timetabled) about 35 minutes, driving is a minimum of 90 minutes unless you leave at silly o’clock, and the train fare is broadly equal to fuel plus parking. And however bad Northern get, I find them less stressful than peak hour city centre driving