Hotel/House DMU

[rf_ioliver]

OK, I have no idea how to title this post, but, I what initially got me thinking was is there a train (I was thinking a class 150) that can run *anywhere* on the UK network?

Which then led to the idea that could you take, say a class 150, and modify it so that it becomes a home/hotel (ignoring the cost of actually running the thing, track access etc). I was thinking in terms of both carriages having a small seating/lounge area behind the drivers' areas (obviously with a front view), then kitchen, bedroom, bathroom spread between the two carriages. I guess sealing one set of doors in each carriage and enough sound proofing you could make some kind of hotel train?

You get the idea...a) is there a train that has unlimited access to the network, eg: one day on the LTS lines, another exploring rural Kent, then up the WCML/ECML for a Scottish tour then a long wander back over the S&C, across Wales, Cornwall etc.
b) what modifications/configuration would you do? (Also, I guess assuming (a) is possible, which units? A 101? a 150? A pacer for the sadistic?)
c) just for fun...the running costs just to demonstrate the sheer impracticality from a financial perspective

Ian

 

[D365]

The Class 950 Network Rail unit is probably a good demonstration/starting point for this idea.

 

[The_Train]

A bit like the railway equivalent of a barge?
158's seem to have covered a good chunk of the network but would probably be classed as a more luxury way of living compared to a 150
I think a living area behind one of the driving cabs would be perfect, with a view out of the front of course and then a kitchen next to it. 2 bedrooms in the 2nd carriage but not sure if there would be enough space for a reasonably sized bedroom and a corridor so you might have to settle for walking through the first bedroom to get to the 2nd. That just leaves a bathroom and I think to save space, I would place a toilet in the non-driving side of one of the cabs and a walk in shower in the other cab

 

[pdeaves]

If converting existing rather than special one-off build, I would say end door carriages (like 158) rather than 1/3, 2/3 configuration (like 150) would be better to give maximum use of inside space.

 

[gazthomas]

I think we've been here before, certainly in terms of what the most universal train/unit is. I've found this one specifically to do with the Sprinter family, but not a wider debate:

TRIVIA: Anywhere a Sprinter Family Train Hasn't Been?

Sprinter family: 150, 153, 155, 156, 158, 159. EDIT: I suppose the 950 counts, but more interested in passenger operations or empty stock moves. Is there any area these units haven't worked in the UK? I don't want to limit this to individual stations as I'm sure they would be loads. I was...

www.railforums.co.uk

That said, I've thought of the idea of having my own DMU, much like a narrow boat or large caravan that I can use to travel by rail. I suspect it would be beyond my means by some margin!

 

[Alfonso]

There are a couple of royal train carriages in storage somewhere if you want something ready-made

 

[Segedunum]

I suppose in terms of costs you'd probably want at least two members of crew (driver and guard) who are passed for wherever you fancy going, or a set of crews each passed for different regions.

Then Network Rail will want some sort of track access fee.

Then the trains themselves will probably come at quite a pretty penny, plus fuel, and whatever obsolete gas powers the AC on the 158s

I think if you really wanted to have your own private tour, you may as well stay in hotels and ask a TOC nicely how much it would be to hire something over a weekend (I don't think commuters would appreciate someone having a jolly around the Highlands that's then caused a shortform to a peak service!)

 

[randyrippley]

Simple.
One of the rebuilt class 73, with a two-car TC set, one car being a driving trailer, the other a sleeper modified with Southern MU jumpers

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Doesn't this tie in with all the redundant HST / Mk 3 sleeper threads?

HST power car - HST Kitchen car for food and seating accommodation - Mk 3 sleeper to sleep in (convert a room into bathroom) - HST power car.

Maybe marshall a 153 between the sleeper and the power car if you want to go somewhere not cleared for HSTs. And just shunt it out for your trip to Aberystwyth. Although this would play merry hell with the mini-HST being able to run at decent linespeeds on busy mainlines.

 

[gazthomas]

How about a 442 using 45015 as traction?

 

[pdeaves]

How about a 442 using 45015 as traction?

Any specific significance on that specific loco?

 

[gazthomas]

Any specific significance on that specific loco?

On this and other forums, Facebook, etc. 45015 based at the Battlefield Line has gained a legendary status due to it's absolutely appalling condition, were nature is reclaiming it along with the fact that (I think) it is now squatting at the railway without its blessing.

 

[pdeaves]

On this and other forums, Facebook, etc. 45015 based at the Battlefield Line has gained a legendary status due to it's absolutely appalling condition, were nature is reclaiming it along with the fact that (I think) it is now squatting at the railway without its blessing.

Ah, OK, I see, thanks.

 

[gazthomas]

Ah, OK, I see, thanks.

The 442's (5-WES) have also been the butt of a few jokes, with them featuring on the same forums as a solution to every possible multiple unit shortage. Ironic that a fair amount of the fleet is now being used by South Western Railways

 

[Tim_UK]

A bit like the railway equivalent of a barge?

I mean. Like as far as serious forms of industrial transport, through history

• Walking - now only really for leisure
• Horses and carts - now only really used for leisure
• Canals - some commercial use left, but lots of leisure
• Railways - lots of commercial, but steam railways and such that are leisure usage ****
• Motorways - still almost all commercial, maybe when the M6 has closed down, we might preserve the M1 for old times sake ???

So it's not a stupid idea, but maybe 50 to 100 years too early.

On the other hand, if you could convert the whole rail network so that it could support go anywhere mini pod trains. Think like Heathrow terminal 5 pods, but you could get on in Bristol and get off at Marsden. Then maybe sleeper pods could be part of the mix. Or maybe they have a legacy mode so you can move your 153 between out of the way heritage lines off the core routes.

Brings a new meaning to the term Travel Lodge.

 

[Peter Kelford]

More realistically, there could be a demand for more regular rail cruises as the 'Flight Shame' movement takes off (and the bankruptcy of Flybe), whereby the traveller spends a week in the UK, but rather than flying from London to Edinburgh then taking a coach to Inverness and flying back to Exeter takes a train...

 

[30907]

Economically, you'd either need a reasonably long train for economy, or you'd use hotels overnight and door-to-door baggage transport by road.

 

[rf_ioliver]

Economically, you'd either need a reasonably long train for economy, or you'd use hotels overnight and door-to-door baggage transport by road.

here's an idea...you could take a locomotive and couple to it coaches with, say, sleeping compartments. I could imaging, say, some of these running from London to Scotland or Cornwall every night..... good idea!

Seriously though (for a speculative thread), I was more thinking of a private hotel idea where the routing could be decided on a "day-to-day" basis