Grand Central Discussion

[yorkie]

HST was out today just ran very very late this morning thats all and has been confirmed as travelling via spalding this evening !!:grin:

I checked the GG site and LDB but no sign of it running, otherwise I would probably have done it. Nevermind

 

[Synergyman]

ECS off the 17:35 passed through Seaburn @ 22:42 last night. Must have arrived at Sunderland on time. 065/123 combination sounding good. The Joint Line and Durham Coast! - some trip (assuming it ran throughout).

The 47s were at Sunderland at noon yesterday and ran out to Ryhope Grange, gassing lots of Metro passengers and bashers in the process.

Anyone know how the ECS for today's 13:42 will get to Sunderland, given track renewals between Pelaw and Fellgate? Is it via Darlington or via Stillington and Norton West - Norton East. The latter would be interesting?

 

[Ben]

More than likely be Darlington.

 

[Synergyman]

Looks like it was neither. The 47s were on the 13:42 and passed Hall Dene a few minutes late. Would be interested to hear what happened south of York.

 

[1VWC]

'Thunderbirds are go' as of later this week. Wonder if the staff will have to dress up like KitKat did with Virgin?

 

[andylloyd]

I didnt see any GC HST set out today on my way back to Newcastle this afternoon?
Is this going to be a regular occurence or is it just a one off again?

 

[1D53]

No HST at all today.

1A60, 1N26, 1N28, 1A62 didn't run
1Z25, 1Z26, 1Z62, 1Z63 did.

 

[diligentdave]

No HST at all today.

1A60, 1N26, 1N28, 1A62 didn't run
1Z25, 1Z26, 1Z62, 1Z63 did.

1A60 did run,as far as York with 47839 leading

 

[1D53]

1A60 did run,as far as York with 47839 leading

You know what they say - Don't trust TRUST!

 

[BOSCH]

1A60 ran today with 43123 leading,43084 at rear and both had storming runs to KX and back to york.Saw the 57's as we approached York on 1N26,"TinTin"n leading,

 

[Synergyman]

Just done York - Sunderland on the 16:50 ex KGX. 084/123 pairing. On time at York, about 5 late into Sunderland. Apparently the cable thieves have been active down the coast again, given as the reason for the delay.

57 301/308 in Holgate sidings at York
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Anyone know what was out and about today?

 

[Sir_Clagalot]

You could've said hello when I walked past...

 

[Metroland]

Rail Magazine reports the other train operators are very unhappy GC are getting ORCATS payments when trains aren't even running.

 

[yorkie]

Rail Magazine reports the other train operators are very unhappy GC are getting ORCATS payments when trains aren't even running.

Tony Miles has been adamant on wnxx that GC only get ORCATS revenue for the services that run, and that he has been told that by the TOCs themselves.

I know GC employees aren't a fan of him, but he does have a lot of contacts at TOCs and gets on well with most TOCs, so if that's what he says the TOCs are telling him then that's what I believe is likely.

NXEC are also being very un-cooperative in making GC issue 2 standard open singles (according to reports I've heard) instead of Saver returns, to customers who buy GC tickets but end up on NXEC, this increases the cost to GC from approx £80 to approx £185 for someone doing this both ways. So NXEC can hardly complain...

 

[Synergyman]

You could've said hello when I walked past...

I would have been pleased to meet you, Sir Clag! Will watch out for you next time. Been following your posts on this thread since it started. I was in the re-designated 1st class coach in use as coach B, having joined the train off an XC from Birmingham.

I see the Thunderbirds were go today. 57 301 and 308 were on the 17:30 shuttle from Sunderland to York with 308 leading. Fortunately for me it left Sunderland at 17:37 so I was able to watch it leave after getting off the Sprinter from Middlesbrough. They seem less likely to set the fire alarms off at Sunderland than the HSTs or the 47s - hardly any clag at all

 

[voyagerdude220]

How often did the Fire Alarms get set off by the HSTs?

Did the usual evacuation procedure have to be followed/ Fire Brigade to the station, as a precaution, despite the fact it was very likely to be the HST?

Couldn't some kind of modification be made to the Heat/Smoke sensors in question, without comprimising the safety of the station?

 

[djw1981]

Well IIRC the sensors were set so that a 14x/15x departing from the middle of the platform would not activate the sensors, this meant they were put directly above where the GC power cars sit.......... I note from the latest RAIL that GC want to terminate (instead???) at Stadium of Light due to the better car park. This would remove 'standing time' under the sensors and mean that the train went under the sensors at speed, possibly avoiding activations.

 

[Sir_Clagalot]

I cant remember the last time we set the alarms off!!

 

[BOSCH]

Tony Miles,I know GC employees aren't a fan of him

Understatement of the year that yorkie !!!!

 

[diligentdave]

Most times the leading power car is shut down and restarted after leaving Sunderland due to the smoke alarm south end of platform 2 having its extractor unit tarmaced over on street level by Sunderland council (or whoever does their road repairs). Thats why the alarms go off.
Standard pocedure is to evacuate all passengers not on a departing train. No fire brigade is called due to the nature of the fumes.

 

[Royston Vasey]

Well IIRC the sensors were set so that a 14x/15x departing from the middle of the platform would not activate the sensors, this meant they were put directly above where the GC power cars sit.......... I note from the latest RAIL that GC want to terminate (instead???) at Stadium of Light due to the better car park. This would remove 'standing time' under the sensors and mean that the train went under the sensors at speed, possibly avoiding activations.

This seems strange, there are a number of problems with SoL station...

- The platform is way too short for an HST and would have to be heavily extended - I can't recall whether there would be enough space for this, but I know there are bridges not far from both ends of the station (?)
- Even if there was space, how much would this cost, as I'd expect GC would have to foot the bill rather than Nexus (aka Tyne & Wear PTE) and could they afford it given their circumstances
- Would Nexus let them do this, disrupting Metro services, given the investment they're putting into Sunderland "Central"?
- SoL isn't technically on the National Rail network is it? What work would be involved to allow NR trains to stop there?

Would be a great photo opportunity from Newcastle Road though!!

 

[jopsuk]

- The platform is way too short for an HST and would have to be heavily extended - I can't recall whether there would be enough space for this, but I know there are bridges not far from both ends of the station (?)

The GC sets are only five carriages though, aren't they? Certainly not full 7/8/9 car sets.

 

[Royston Vasey]

The GC sets are only five carriages though, aren't they? Certainly not full 7/8/9 car sets.

They're usually 6+2 rather than 5+2 and the platforms are only big enough for 2 metrocars.

Platform length is something like 70m (judging by a quick look at Google Maps satellite photo!) If railway-technology.com and Wikipedia are correct then:

2 x Metrocars = 56m
3 x Mk 3 coaches = 69m

 

[djw1981]

They're usually 6+2 rather than 5+2 and the platforms are only big enough for 2 metrocars.

Platform length is something like 70m (judging by a quick look at Google Maps satellite photo!) If railway-technology.com and Wikipedia are correct then:

2 x Metrocars = 56m
3 x Mk 3 coaches = 69m

So fit them with SDO......

 

[andylloyd]

for the first time in several weeks, witnessed the GC set cross the King Edward bridge into Newcastle.

Was this the first or second set?

Cheers

Andy

 

[Sir_Clagalot]

what time? If it was during the day then it will have been the other set on test. If a few minutes ago then the service set heading home

 

[andylloyd]

what time? If it was during the day then it will have been the other set on test. If a few minutes ago then the service set heading home

was about 2100 sirClag 8)

Regards

Andy

 

[adambro]

Will there be services via the Joint Line this weekend? If so does anyone have any timings? Cheers.

 

[Max]

Spotted the first train off Sunderland and the last train off the Cross today, both running without any hitches it seems. The morning service also had a fair few punters onboard, with quite a lot getting on at York.

Additionally, saw a GC powercar sitting at Heaton at around 9:30 this morning, although I cannot for the life of me remember the number.

 

[yorkie]

Will there be services via the Joint Line this weekend? If so does anyone have any timings? Cheers.

Yes, 1735 off KGX (full timings posted earlier in this topic!) I am hopefully doing it next weekend.