Converting HST's to freight use

[Edders23]

Seen a discussion on this elsewhere but got me thinking

Convert the Mk3's with strengthened floors and roller shutters and you could possibly operate them between distribution hubs carrying palletised high value freight such as perishables or just in time components

They could operate between distribution hubs such as Daventry and Glasgow or perhaps making multiple calls such as Cardiff-Birmingham EMA and leeds

or possibly overnight fish traffic between Scotland and london where journey times are critical

should be possible for a set to do a round trip in 24 hours allowing for loading and unloading and might be easier to find paths for and palletised freight often attracts quite a premium on price

 

[Journeyman]

Yet another attempt to desperately try and find a use for old and knackered stock.

Get over it. Scrap them.

 

[Edders23]

Yet another attempt to desperately try and find a use for old and knackered stock.

Get over it. Scrap them.

it's a speculative idea not a desperate attempt to avoid the scrapman

 

[MarkyT]

Perhaps better to sandwich a set of old EMU trailer cars such as the soon to be redundant class 455s between the power cars. They would probably be easier to convert, replacing the sliding doors with roller shutters in the large openings, and plating over the windows. The 455s are limited to 75mph however, although without the traction equipment perhaps speed might be raised to 90 or 100mph, which would probably be fast enough for fast any premium freight use.

 

[Mag_seven]

Yet another attempt to desperately try and find a use for old and knackered stock.

Get over it. Scrap them.

Better tell that to GBRF who have been actively considering the idea:

GB RAILFREIGHT has revealed that it is considering new high-speed, high-value parcels services using soon-to-be-redundant InterCity 125 sets.

https://www.railwaymagazine.co.uk/1...ts-spare-hsts-for-high-speed-parcels-traffic/

 

[swt_passenger]

Perhaps better to sandwich a set of old EMU trailer cars such as the soon to be redundant class 455s between the power cars. They would probably be easier to convert, replacing the sliding doors with roller shutters in the large openings, and plating over the windows. The 455s are limited to 75mph however, although without the traction equipment perhaps speed might be raised to 90 or 100mph, which would probably be fast enough for fast any premium freight use.

I don’t actually see what advantages roller shutters give over the existing 1/3 2/3 doors, size wise?

 

[krus_aragon]

Yet another attempt to desperately try and find a use for old and knackered stock.

Get over it. Scrap them.

it's a speculative idea not a desperate attempt to avoid the scrapman

True, but it's been speculated a few times already.

See here and here for two examples of previous discussion.

 

[MarkyT]

I don’t actually see what advantages roller shutters give over the existing 1/3 2/3 doors, size wise?

So retain the sliders if they work satisfactorily. For simplicity's and thus reliability's sake I wonder if they might be converted to manual sliding doors with their actuators removed but retaining a central locking function.

 

[43096]

Better tell that to GBRF who have been actively considering the idea:



https://www.railwaymagazine.co.uk/1...ts-spare-hsts-for-high-speed-parcels-traffic/

And have been talking and talking and talking....

They still haven’t committed to anything and are rapidly running out of time to do so. So far it is all just PR hot air.

 

[t_star2001uk]

Was there not a plan once to convert Mk3 sleepers into extra day coaches. I seem to remember that the problem was cutting into a monocoque bodyshell to fit day coach windows would make the shell lose its strength....

 

[43096]

Was there not a plan once to convert Mk3 sleepers into extra day coaches. I seem to remember that the problem was cutting into a monocoque bodyshell to fit day coach windows would make the shell lose its strength....

The problem was cost, not the feasibility of doing it. GNER were planning to do it to lengthen their HSTs, but that unsurprisingly didn’t happen as Virgin XC off-leased their HSTs, making trailers available.

 

[Indigo Soup]

Was there not a plan once to convert Mk3 sleepers into extra day coaches. I seem to remember that the problem was cutting into a monocoque bodyshell to fit day coach windows would make the shell lose its strength....

I think there were also plans in the late 1980s/early 1990s to convert surplus sleepers to 125mph mail vans, on the theory that it was more cost effective to move the mail at 125mph and sort at the destination than to move at 90mph and sort en route.

 

[PeterC]

First take your TARDIS and go and stop them removing the parcels, newspaper and mail handling facilities at the locations that you want to deliver to.

In the grand scheme of things repurposing the hardware is trivial. Joining up the rest of the logistics chain is the mega problem.