London Midland 172 staff briefs

[JonathanH]

172338 was shunting around at Worcester Shrub Hill around 5pm.

 

[JEPB]

NO repeat NO LM 172's in Passenger service yet. No 170's in use on Snow Hill lines.

170's not normally used I'll agree, but I have had one twice on the last train from Snow Hill to Worcester/Malvern over the last few years. The last service is likely to be a Worcester driver that would sign a 170. I am not sure about Birmingham drivers. I would have thought the current shortage of 150's makes this more likely.

Similarly, you sometimes get a 150 on a New Street/Hereford service, especially on Sundays, and sometimes in peak hours. I don't know why when there's often 170's parked up on Sundays going nowhere!

 

[Class172]

I know they go on each other's lines to keep lime knowedge etc. I think only Worcester crews sign it though.

 

[JEPB]

For example, tomorrows 09:21 Worcester-Stratford is diverted to New Street tomorrow due to scheduled engineering work. I am expecting it to be a 150, if so it will be the first one I have been on up Lickey in years, and it has a running start as it does not call at Bromsgrove!

Amusingly, the bus replacement from Malvern-Snow Hill leaves at 08:20 and takes 3 (yes that's THREE) hours! It arrives at Snow Hill at 11:20, a full 74 minutes after the diverted train! Why bother! I am sure this bus is really just to satisfy franchise obligations!

 

[trainspotter]

172338 was shunting around at Worcester Shrub Hill around 5pm.

338 left Tyseley around 13.20ish for Worcester, while we where waiting for 332 to do its high speed run to Leamington Spa.

Both 338 & 332 where shunting around the yard between 15.35 and 17.17 when we left for Rowley Regis

 

[anthony263]

Been told today the class 172 press run special on 2nd august is due through Snow Hill at 10:33 to Leamington and 11:57 back to Stourbridge Jct.

From Stourbridge Jct at 10:02.should take about an hour to Leamington.

These are rough timings though and could be changed

 

[trainspotter]

Been told today the class 172 press run special on 2nd august is due through Snow Hill at 10:33 to Leamington and 11:57 back to Stourbridge Jct.

From Stourbridge Jct at 10:02.should take about an hour to Leamington.

These are rough timings though and could be changed

Was told the same today by 2 differant sources!

 

[Crossover]

Going back to what someone mentioned earlier, both 172's and 150's have BSI couplings. Whether their electrical connections are the same for multiple working though, I don't know.

I also believe the main reason for them running to Leamington is for testing/training at full design speed

 

[trainspotter]

From what we were told today from the crew that got back at lunch time at Tyseley, the high speed run to Leamington is the final pass off for the driver!

 

[JoeGJ1984]

Similarly, you sometimes get a 150 on a New Street/Hereford service, especially on Sundays, and sometimes in peak hours. I don't know why when there's often 170's parked up on Sundays going nowhere!

As an aside, is the Shrewsbury to Birmingham New Street route ever run by 150s any more? Usually London Midland use 170s while ATW use 158s on this section. I did use this route semi-regularly from 2006 until 2009 and found that Central Trains/London Midland usually used 170s on this route but I got the odd 150 (I think) in Centro livery. Later on I seemed to get only 170s on the Central Trains/London Midland services with 158s on the ATW services. Are 150s ever used from Shrewsbury to Birmingham New Street any more?

Incidentally on the West Midlands Day Ranger meet, we were on a 170 from Birmingham New Street to Droitwich Spa which went on to Hereford and as we went down the Lickey Incline we passed a 150 going the other way (I presume that would have come from Hereford).

 

[SSL1990]

Been told today the class 172 press run special on 2nd august is due through Snow Hill at 10:33 to Leamington and 11:57 back to Stourbridge Jct.

From Stourbridge Jct at 10:02.should take about an hour to Leamington.

These are rough timings though and could be changed

I take it the public are not allowed to use this special service?

 

[atsf_fT]

we was told today by a LM big wig station chap (he even wrote it down for us, tuesdays class 172 press run , is from tyseley to leamington . via snowhill. he didnt write down dept time from TY so you going to have to guess , but its 10.02 stourbridge - leamington arr 11.06
11.21 leamington dept - stourbridge arr 12.28.

so at least a 172 is going to run that way


today
172332 went balling through dorridge today towards leamington from tyseley on the 100mph test .

172337-338 went off to worcester via stourbridge to do there bit .they were doing the worcester to gloucester runs. some wicked photos of todays stuff tmrw.

 

[Class172]

As an aside, is the Shrewsbury to Birmingham New Street route ever run by 150s any more?

Not that I know of.

 

[sutty]

As an aside, is the Shrewsbury to Birmingham New Street route ever run by 150s any more?

Rarely. I tend to get the service to B'ham just before 7am at Wolves which is normally formed by a 170. A few months back a 150 turned up instead, which was fun to watch people struggling to cope with a different layout.

I was waiting for a train at Tyseley yesterday afternoon and there were a *lot* of people coming and going writing down numbers and photting across the path to TMD.

Are the LM 150's being resprayed? I think it was 150 016 pulled up at Moor St with gleaming black bogies and a very fresh looking paint job... or had it just been cleaned?

 

[trainspotter]

we was told today by a LM big wig station chap (he even wrote it down for us, tuesdays class 172 press run , is from tyseley to leamington . via snowhill. he didnt write down dept time from TY so you going to have to guess , but its 10.02 stourbridge - leamington arr 11.06
11.21 leamington dept - stourbridge arr 12.28.

so at least a 172 is going to run that way


today
172332 went balling through dorridge today towards leamington from tyseley on the 100mph test .

172337-338 went off to worcester via stourbridge to do there bit .they were doing the worcester to gloucester runs. some wicked photos of todays stuff tmrw.

Oh yes we did have a good day Bro! until I found that I'd taken "jpegs and not RAW" photos!!!!!

Still another weeks holiday from work soon and we can do it all again!!!!!!!!!

 

[150001]

Yes, I saw 332 go hurtling through on that high speed run from Dorridge station's bridge over the platforms. It was going like an arriva xc, but it was very quiet.

 

[85A]

First two units will be in service week commencing 4th September.

 

[150001]

That had better be a joke. Because it is getting ridiculous how long these trains are taking to get into service. The 350/2s didn't have this long a wait, neither did the Chiltern 172s! I thought it would be the 2nd week of August when they entered service.

 

[Old Hill Bank]

First two units will be in service week commencing 4th September.

A press launch on the 2nd August, nothing in passenger service until five weeks later.

How can that make any sense!!!!

 

[fgwrich]

A press launch on the 2nd August, nothing in passenger service until five weeks later.

How can that make any sense!!!!

Because this is a Bombardier product after all! :roll:

 

[150001]

Well, the Class 379 were introduced pretty quick!

 

[MCR247]

Well, the Class 379 were introduced pretty quick!

They had to outsource some people to manage the production line or something IIRC

 

[atsf_fT]

down at tyseley today at 11.15am you would be forgiven in thinking there was a mass cylon attack of 172s . 338 arrived from worcester at about 11.15am 339-(340 brand new ) went out to stratford 332 -341 were in the yard and there was another i could not get the number over the back by the marroon west coast class 37. thats 6 class 172s at the depot with only 1 class 150- and about 4 LM- 170s and a class 153. there taken over !

and class 37s 059 -038 arrived .

im betting tmrws press run is either 172333 which ive seen run the most or 172338 thats also done a lot of miles and is reliable. id say 338 though

place your bets on the number of unit

 

[Class172]

I'd say it'll be 172338 for tomorrow as it seems to have done the most mileage.

 

[newtownmgr]

172337 & 341 now Worcester training sets. LM have promised DafT(DfT) at least one 172 in traffic by 1st week of Sept. Need to have at least half the Worcester drivers trained before sets can enter use,otherwise would cause a nightmare for diagrammers/controllers having to swap sets all day. Approx 6 Worcs drivers trained at present(including 4 instructors) no Worcs guards trained yet except instructors. All Guards require 2 days training. Leamington & Snow Hill drivers 6 days & Worcester drivers 4 days(Already power/brake trained Cl 170's).

 

[Philip Elliott]

I'm pretty sure I saw 172345 heading through Landor St. this evening.

 

[85A]

Because this is a Bombardier product after all! :roll:

Its all to do with Traincrew training and mileage accumilation as the units are delivered at Tyseley

 

[fgwrich]

Its all to do with Traincrew training and mileage accumilation as the units are delivered at Tyseley

No doubt it is / could be...Tis just the running joke still though!

 

[Class172]

Well Tyseley drivers, as newtownmngr said, require 6 days of training where as Worcester only 4 - that would slow down introduction of the units.

 

[Minilad]

172333 just sped through Warwick at 1126 showing Stourbridge on the front with plenty of people on board