Hitachi Super Express

[tinselworm]

Anyone taken the Great Western Main Line recently? In the FGW train shed just outside of reading is a clearly visible Hitachi Super Express in FGW livery, Any photos of this crop up? I've only seen it going past on the HST

 

[jopsuk]

The Hitachi Super Express does not exist beyond technical drawings and artists' impressions.

Do you mean Old Oak Common in London? If so there's apparently been a 180 there.

 

[ainsworth74]

As jopsuk says the Hitachi Super Express does not yet exist, what you probably saw was one of these.

 

[tinselworm]

Nope, definately wasn't that, had a rounded front, has Been in the same siding sInce about June.
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It was a 395

 

[Bastiaan]

Do you mean Old Oak Common in London? If so there's apparently been a 180 there.

He says the depot just outside of Reading, which is I think here.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
What would a 395 have to do in Reading?

 

[jopsuk]

Aye, I'm sure if there was a 395 that had been parked at Reading since June someone would have mentioned it on here previously?

 

[sprinterguy]

Seems peculiar, are 395s even cleared to travel as far west as Reading? Even if we were talking about Old Oak/North Pole here, which may very well not be the case, it still seems strange that a 395 would be there instead of at their dedicated depot at Ashford, or even the new Eurostar depot at Ebbsfleet, seeing as North Pole depot is now defunct. Why would a 395 have a reason to be so far away from its’ dedicated depot, which has the capability to undertake most maintenance and repair on the units, for so long?

Admittedly a 395 would be a much more likely candidate to confuse with the non-existant Hitachi Super Express than a 180, but other than that this sounds like quite a sensational report. This sighting being the 180 at Old Oak would be much easier to get my head round!

 

[Bastiaan]

Probably there's another useless fleet cascade coming up soon! Classes 458 and 460 are going to Southeastern HighSpeed and therefore the 395s are going to SWT to be used on the Windsor routes

 

[Kingfisher200262]

Anyone taken the Great Western Main Line recently? In the FGW train shed just outside of reading is a clearly visible Hitachi Super Express in FGW livery, Any photos of this crop up? I've only seen it going past on the HST

Are you sure it's not a life sized cardboard cutout?

The way Hitachi has been lobbying recently, nothing would surprise me, including a factory made of Lego in the North East.

 

[asylumxl]

Are you sure it's not a life sized cardboard cutout?

The way Hitachi has been lobbying recently, nothing would surprise me,

Perhaps CSRE should consider giving that tactric a try

 

[Kingfisher200262]

Perhaps CSRE should consider giving that tactric a try

Trust me, if we could persuade a TOC to take a cardboard cutout, they might as well have the real thing... after all, the cost is not that much more

 

[asylumxl]

Trust me, if we could persuade a TOC to take a cardboard cutout, they might as well have the real thing... after all, the cost is not that much more

Woah! What kind of cardboard are you using for your cutouts?

 

[Darandio]

Woah! What kind of cardboard are you using for your cutouts?

I'll put it into perspective from a classic Independence Day quote.

President Thomas Whitmore: I don't understand, where does all this come from? How do you get funding for something like this?

Julius Levinson: You don't actually think they spend $20,000.00 on a hammer, $30,000.00 on a toilet seat do you?

Classic example, albeit in a fictional film. Numbers are quite often and easily fudged.

 

[Dennis]

Woah! What kind of cardboard are you using for your cutouts?

Perhaps Kingfisher200262's trains are very cheap!

Anyone remember Trabants, East Germany's most popular car - made out of paper machie?

 

[asylumxl]

Sarcasm is wasted on some no offence.

 

[atomicdanny]

Seems peculiar, are 395s even cleared to travel as far west as Reading? Even if we were talking about Old Oak/North Pole here, which may very well not be the case, it still seems strange that a 395 would be there instead of at their dedicated depot at Ashford, or even the new Eurostar depot at Ebbsfleet, seeing as North Pole depot is now defunct. Why would a 395 have a reason to be so far away from its’ dedicated depot, which has the capability to undertake most maintenance and repair on the units, for so long?

Admittedly a 395 would be a much more likely candidate to confuse with the non-existant Hitachi Super Express than a 180, but other than that this sounds like quite a sensational report. This sighting being the 180 at Old Oak would be much easier to get my head round!

Its interesting that the Class 395 should be mentioned since I saw one going down the flyover at Stratford which is normally the link for eurostars going to north pole depot

(I took the picture below from the stairs using the 10x optical zoom)

 

[daikilo]

Perhaps Kingfisher200262's trains are very cheap!

Anyone remember Trabants, East Germany's most popular car - made out of paper machie?

Lest anyone repeat this stupidity, the Trabant was made of various plastics.

 

[tinselworm]

I'm doing that route again a few times this month, I'll take the 400mm and see if I can snap it

 

[Kingfisher200262]

Sarcasm is wasted on some no offence.

None taken.... it's good to have a bit of fun on here sometimes!

Quite seriously though, I'm really interested to know what it actually is at Reading. Options are (I think): -

1. Class 180 - the obvious one but I hope most on here knows what one looks like;
2. Class 395 - not sure why unless a Hitachi publicity stunt. Bearing in mind that all the 395s are now handed over, "borrowing" one of South Eastern's units would have required some impressive persuading.
3. Super Express - impossible, doesn't exist.
4. Class 460? - a wildcard and I've no idea why it would be there.

 

[jopsuk]

the claim that it has been there since June is also a bit of a curve ball...

 

[gordonthemoron]

Lest anyone repeat this stupidity, the Trabant was made of various plastics.

body of the Trabant was Duroplast, a material that, in East German production, often made use of varying quantities of different fibers, such as cotton, or occasionally paper.

Walked past one on my way home from work yesterday. An east german friend of mine's family had one when she was a child, apparently they are terrifying when driven at top speed (100kph).

 

[ainsworth74]

Quite seriously though, I'm really interested to know what it actually is at Reading. Options are (I think):

Of course another option is that CSRE have managed to quietly get one of their designs into the country for testing, and Kingfisher is just spreading disinformation.

 

[tinselworm]

I said it had been there since June, I had a charity conference on June 7th and i saw it at about 8am on the way from bristol-> paddington, saw it on July 3rd at about 8am when i went there again. Didn't see it on August 8th, Saw it on the 28th and didn't see it September 22nd!

What would a FGW 180 be doing in Reading?

 

[sprinterguy]

What would a FGW 180 be doing in Reading?

Being kept in store quietly out of the way: It's actually at Old Oak Common, as opposed to Reading depot itself, and is widely believed to be off-lease 180104.

I wonder if it's possible that a full wooden mock-up of the Super Express train (A section of it anyway) was made up for display (Not so far off the cardboard cut out idea!), to plug the replacement of the HSTs on the GWML, but never saw any use at expected corporate events as the whole Super Express proposal got wiped off the drawing board by the spending review immediately after?

 

[starrymarkb]

That would figure, with trying to keep it under wraps too.*


*Pre-emptive things can lead to some funny results

 

[tinselworm]

Possibility that it's a test unit? The times I saw it, It was always parked with it's front 2 or so carriages poking out of the shed

 

[ukrob]

Possibility that it's a test unit? The times I saw it, It was always parked with it's front 2 or so carriages poking out of the shed

As has been said already, the IEP does not exist in any shape or form apart from on paper.

 

[EWS 58038]

What about the "Polaris" sets being build for Grand Central? Of course it's a wild card... but you never know these days.

 

[Royston Vasey]

What about the "Polaris" sets being build for Grand Central? Of course it's a wild card... but you never know these days.

Our user Kingfisher200262 is involved in the marketing of these trains (increasingly blatantly on this forum in my opinion), I'm sure he'd be crowing if they'd actually built one.

I find it extremely difficult to believe that this is anything other than a 180. A 180 in FGW colours has been at Old Oak for around the timeline quoted, and the odd Hull Trains unit there for maintenance from time to time as well.

First the OP claimed it was a Super Express which don't exist, then said 395, which would have no obvious operational or other reason to be at a FGW depot, let alone be "in FGW livery"! There is also some doubt about whether it is Reading DMU depot or Old Oak.

I'll wait til I see photographic proof myself!

 

[jopsuk]

Pfft, I'm not worried about Kingfisher200262 "blatently" "marketing" on here- none of us are desicion makers in the train buiying process, any "marketing" effort with us is wasted!