I don't live north of the border but I come up a few times a year with work. My regular Rannoch move would be a good venue for a meet: 156 northbound on the 18:21, across the platform for the sleeper south, Edinburgh punters stay on, Glasgow punters (me in this case) bail at Westerton. Do it as close to midsummer as possible, a few nice little drinkies on the 156, heads out Rannoch > Crianlarich or even Ardlui before it gets too dark, then another couple of beers. Lovely jubbly! Split tickets at Helensburgh and Bob's yer uncle! Whole thing costing 2x £7.80 advances Helensburgh > Rannoch and return, plus £6 CDR Glasgow > Helensburgh.
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Class 156 experiences?
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I don't live north of the border but I come up a few times a year with work. My regular Rannoch move would be a good venue for a meet: 156 northbound on the 18:21, across the platform for the sleeper south, Edinburgh punters stay on, Glasgow punters (me in this case) bail at Westerton. Do it as close to midsummer as possible, a few nice little drinkies on the 156, heads out Rannoch > Crianlarich or even Ardlui before it gets too dark, then another couple of beers. Lovely jubbly! Split tickets at Helensburgh and Bob's yer uncle! Whole thing costing 2x £7.80 advances Helensburgh > Rannoch and return, plus £6 CDR Glasgow > Helensburgh.
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sprinterguy
Veteran Member
You lucky fella!
That doesn't surprise me at all: It seems like that sort of ploy was BRs' favoured way to work the PR machine.
When travelling up to Fort William I do prefer to take the road option so that I get to see Glencoe (and maybe stop in at the Clachaig for a pint or two!) and be amongst the mountains. The train goes round the back of all that breathtaking natural wonderment.
Where do I sign up?Oban - Mallaig Summer Heritage thrash with some 37's, 26s, 27s and 20s' anyone ?
I want to have a crack at what I missed! Surely if the Whitby branch can be cleared for operation of preserved locos and stock from the NYMR as far as Battersby Junction, then it wouldn't be too hard to clear the Mallaig extension from Fort William for similar operation. Scotrail could arrange a PLANDAMPF and turn over the extension completely to loco hauled trains for a week; operating the timetabled service and a few additional extras with Type 2/3s on rakes of four mark 1/2s. Sounds like heaven!
90019
Established Member
From the reports that were coming in on this forum at the time, it seemed as though the 156s were one of the few constituents of the Scotrail fleet still operating and having a bash at it in the adverse conditions, while the majority of the much newer 170s were sulking in their depots wailing for a hot water bottle and a warm blanket!
I should have waited for the 158 operated service that was behind my one, though we did end up delaying it by a few minutes because we kept getting stuck at stations. We were sitting at Linlithgow for 25 minutes whilst they tried to get the doors shut. I think from Polmont the guard just used the local door.
90019
Established Member
The novelty of the 156 wore off pretty quickly after leaving Waverley.
You lucky fella!
When travelling up to Fort William I do prefer to take the road option so that I get to see Glencoe (and maybe stop in at the Clachaig for a pint or two!) and be amongst the mountains. The train goes round the back of all that breathtaking natural wonderment.
Glen coe is very spectacular- Rannoch moor and loch Tulloch are also in a more modest way! The route should have had a glass topped canadian style observation car.
The coast road from Oban is also very scenic and boasted 26's and other type 2s on the Ballachuilish line in the 60s.
Where do I sign up?
and turn over the extension completely to loco hauled trains for a week; operating the timetabled service and a few additional extras with Type 2/3s on rakes of four mark 1/2s. Sounds like heaven !
It would pay its way a week like that. An oban mallaig heritage service would be a great tourist route too.
In regards to that and running limited stop expresses from the two main terminii on the WHL Blotrail have been backwards since the days of ScR.
...all good things come to an end. 37/0s were an absolute riot on the WHL- into second field by the bridge at Arrochar and then what a thrash up that bank to Glen Douglas. Have the dubious honour of bailing at Glen Douglas myself, with the gaurd when the later Ft Bill sleeper became a bus due to snow and the "up" oban was the last train crossing there instead of Arrochar!
Sounds like you've been as the whiskey again. You should know it makes you say mad things!
90019
Established Member
I don't mind the 156s, but they do need a proper refurb inside, including new seats, as the current ones aren't very comfortable.
I'd rather an Inverness 158 over a 156, but a 170 over either of them any day.
At last a sensible comment!
Given that Scotrail pax pay approximately the same cost per mile on base fares irrespective of the rolling stock they travel in, those subjected to often lengthy journeys on SR 156s are really getting a raw deal when comparison is made with 334, 380, 170 and even 158s.
In their present state the SR 156s are no longer fit for purpose and act as a real deterrent to new pax to continued travel by train.
I'd like to hear your evidence for this. If they weren't "fit for purpose", they wouldn't be running. Yet, they are, and the services the run still carry large amounts of passengers. I should know - I'm a regular commuter on them.
Yes, they're not the most comfortable but then again I can only think of one or two classes that are more comfortable. I can also speak for their reliability, at least from my own experiences. Where other units have failed (maybe a 334 thanks to snow or a 170 because of a gust of wind) the 156s have pretty much always shown up.
I'm sorry, but just because they're not your precious 37s doesn't mean they're not fit for purpose. They obviously are, and indeed operate some pretty important commuter routes in Glasgow.
It's probably possible to defend 156s (which I happen to think are perfect for the WHL and the best of the 15x 1st generation of 2nd generation DMUs, in terms of style, visibility and comfort) without resorting to slating the mighty class 37.
WillPS
Established Member
Every other operator has renewed the seating the last 15 years. I don't understand why ScotRail, who uses them over the longest journeys, have not.
Well firstly I have never mentioned class 37s in any post of mine since joining this forum, so try again on that score!
Why are the S/R 156s not fit for purpose?
Take the seats shall we - despite many many changes of cover, the bits that matter ie the sprung seat squab (cushion that you seat on) and the associated backrest are in most cases the original fittings. The squabs are variously lumpy, have metal framing with no padding left around it or no wadding over the springs. The backrest internal filling's have shrunk to the degree that most if not all seats have a gap at the top between the backrest and seat frame. The armrests are often missing or so droopy as to be useless.
To move on to ventilation. Because they have no forced air ventilation or air con, hopper type windows are fitted. Many of these won't stay shut when passing another train or entering/exiting a tunnel. When open these hoppers create a significant draught, not for the person that opened them, but for the unfortunate sitting on the opposite side one or more rows back.
The heating system is either on or off, and in winter owing to relying on an old fashioned coolant heated from, and piped from the engine, cannot keep the train warm, let alone hot.
Turning to the rest of the interior, many vestibule doors are either missing or jammed open. Rubber door seals are worn and have gaps allowing draughts to arise. As there is no heating in the vestibule the cold air then enters the seating area so those passengers near the vestibules lose the benefit of what warmth there was.
Finally the toilets - still emptying on the track in 2011!
Just because they are reliable (no dispute there), and carry large amounts of commuters (who have no alternative) does not make them fit for purpose.
My evidence comes from regular use on the Stranraer-Ayr and Carlisle- Glasgow GSW services.
Schnellzug
Established Member
I don't know, I expect many would be able to suggest routes on which particular stock wasn't fit for purpose but was used nevertheless. It doesn't necessarily mean it's not safe, just, well, not best suited for the task.
As anyone who's been on a 150 from Plymouth to Penzance or Cardiff to Fishgaurd will testify.
142
Member
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There awful, give me a pacer any day 
There awful, give me a pacer any day
I did think they could be cold in the winter.
Depends on your expectation: great for the paisley canal line, kilmarnock-glasgow, maybe crewe-derby and various 40 min commutes.
Otherwise they have driven many to the bus and car in scotland on the longer routes because they are slower than loco hauled and less comfortable than any of the old stock. All the routes they operate over 100 miles in Scotland can be done faster by car and usually bus.
the only time i've ever found a 156 to be cold is first thing on a winters morning.
in terms of noise it really depends where you sit. if you sit in the middle of the carriages, or the inner ends of the carriages expect it to be noisy, but if you sit at the outer ends of the train they're really quite quiet.
I really don't think you can beat a 156 in terms of ride quality. They just feel so composed on the rails, even at *ahem high speeds.
CarterUSM
Established Member
I certainly like working them, simple, reliable and warm(in the cabs)!
sprinterguy
Veteran Member
Hear hear! I'd rather have a 170 for a long distance regional journey, but the 156s are a perfect, good all round regional DMU, absolutely perfectly suited to journeys with an end to end time of an hour or two. It's the 156s that were the inspiration for my username on this forum.
duffman82
Member
Got to say, I have to love class 156's, great at those 1-2hr journeys!
Any news which 156's of Northerns will be cascaded to EMT? I hope 156460 ain't because it won't stalk me anymore :/
Any news which 156's of Northerns will be cascaded to EMT? I hope 156460 ain't because it won't stalk me anymore :/
sprinterguy
Veteran Member
156497 and 498 have already moved across to EMT reportedly. Apparently the four units will all be former Northern Spirit examples. Which is a shame as I think that, numerically, it'd be better to get shot of 156420/1.
I need to do a bit more 156 bashing. So far this year I've only made 6 156 moves, all ScotRail and 2 of which were Glasgow QS > Rannoch on the 18:21 Mallaig! A respectable average of 61 miles per move though. I'm planning to do Glasgow QS > Anniesland next Thursday, which is hardly earth shattering mileage accumulation and will bring the average distance crashing down.
Blindtraveler
Established Member
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- 28 Feb 2011
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are yes was going to warn you - that ONe can throw up any DMU!
Blindtraveler
Established Member
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- 28 Feb 2011
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up for one of your work/bashing trips? Look forward to reading it! If you want 156s, most DMU runs from GLA have them.
It's a leisure trip while the wife takes the kids to Ireland during half term. After work on Wednesday up to London from Morley/Leeds, then on the sleeper to Aberdeen, HST south to Edonburgh, over to Queen Street, Anniesland, Milngavie (also required), Central, Carlisle (Pendolino ) and home to Shipley.
My favourite ever ticket is being used here, that is the £20 VWC + connections advance ticket from seemingly anywhere in the Central Belt (in this case Edinburgh) to Shipley (or seemingly anywhere in West Yorkshire) via Glasgow and Appleby. Winner!
) and home to Shipley.My favourite ever ticket is being used here, that is the £20 VWC + connections advance ticket from seemingly anywhere in the Central Belt (in this case Edinburgh) to Shipley (or seemingly anywhere in West Yorkshire) via Glasgow and Appleby. Winner!
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