Mark 2 coach at Leamington

[Vectorspace]

There is a mark 2 coach in old Virgin Trains livery parked at Leamington, it's been there for a few weeks. Anyone know why it's there?

 

[theblackwatch]

It was removed from a charter on December 13 after it developed problems.

 

[FQ]

I was wandering when that coach will be taken away. It would be quite hard to get a crane into the car park and pull it over the fence, but I don't think that it is allowed to be taken by rail.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

If this is the one that had dragging brakes, surely that's simple enough to fix in situ once they can arrange for the availability of a fitter and any parts and then remove it by rail in due course?

 

[FQ]

Nope, I think it was a shifted tyre.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Ah, that's a bit more awkward. Would it be possible to put it on a skate and move it overnight?

 

[fgwrich]

I gather that coach has several shifted tyres (Usual quality Riviera Mk2 then) making moving it a little more difficult and likely having to be removed by Road. I think as you say Peter it'll have to be skated from the sidings to the nearest accessible point to winch it onto the back of a Lorry and be roaded away. Rather surprised to hear that it's still there, but as DBS were supposed to be footing the bill then maybe not - They did leave a 67 at Stonehaven for nearly 2 months after that developed a fault a few years ago.

 

[satisnek]

A coach with several shifted tyres removed from a charter hock:

That's enough to put me off charters for some time (after all, they don't chunter along at 25mph like heritage trains)!

Seriously, did this kind of thing happen under BR when they ran Merrymaker services with knackered old Mk1 stock?

 

[LowLevel]

Don't be daft - shifted tyres on a coach may be nasty but it's no more alarm than Sprinters and Pacers chucking themselves off the road having tripped over their own carden shaft or a 22x having a disintegrating axle and doing the same at speeds at or nearly at 3 figures!

 

[table38]

There's a great video of the shunt move to remove the errant coach here:

[youtube]lYu2cYS9rEM[/youtube]

 

[Vectorspace]

That was an interesting vid, thanks for posting it. Any idea how long it took from arriving at Leam to departing? And how many trains that were supposed to call at Leam couldn't because this train was occupying the platform?

 

[table38]

Just under two hours I believe (happy to be corrected if someone has the times!).

Obviously the actual shunt manoeuvre didn't take that long, but the problem needed to be identified/inspected and a plan put in place, signallers informed etc.

 

[giblets]

Just passed today and still there!

 

[D1009]

Just under two hours I believe (happy to be corrected if someone has the times!).

Obviously the actual shunt manoeuvre didn't take that long, but the problem needed to be identified/inspected and a plan put in place, signallers informed etc.

I was on the train and it was nearly three hours! As far as the charter train itself was concerned, thanks to the schedules charter trains are generally given, an hour was recovered between Leamington and Canterbury. Agreement was reached to depart an hour late on the return from Canterbury to give a reasonable time there, and we ended up 15 early at Banbury! It did cause a lot of disruption to scheduled services through Leamington in the morning however.

 

[Ploughman]

What causes a Slipped Tyre?

I take it the tour was not fully booked or did everybody just squeeze up a bit?

 

[MK Tom]

Brake fault apparently caused the slipped tyres - one of the comments on the video says sparks were coming from the carriage at an earlier station.

Would those services that had to omit Leamington because of this have called at Warwick instead?

 

[D1009]

I take it the tour was not fully booked or did everybody just squeeze up a bit?

The coach involved was in the premier dining section. Although the train arrived at Leamington before 0800, I believe the service of breakfast had been completed by the time they had identified the fault and decided on a course of action. As far as I know there was sufficient space in the rest of the train for the people affected. Passengers had to leave the rear part of the train during the shunt move, though the catering crew remained on board.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Would those services that had to omit Leamington because of this have called at Warwick instead?

Passengers intending to travel south from Leamington were being sent to either Coventry, Warwick or Warwick Parkway for southbound services, and those heading to Leamington from the north had to go via Banbury.

 

[FQ]

Passengers intending to travel south from Leamington were being sent to either Coventry, Warwick or Warwick Parkway for southbound services, and those heading to Leamington from the north had to go via Banbury.

Would have been a bargain to get a Warwick to Leamington return just to go to Banbury!

 

[fgwrich]

..Is still there apparently. In a way I'm rather surprised that it's remained there for so long, but given that it's owners are Riviera Trains then perhaps not so surprised. At this rate they could just open it up in situ and make a use of it there!

 

[RobShipway]

..Is still there apparently. In a way I'm rather surprised that it's remained there for so long, but given that it's owners are Riviera Trains then perhaps not so surprised. At this rate they could just open it up in situ and make a use of it there!

Three months later and the carriage is still at Leamington Spa.

 

[47802]

maybe they should just cut it up onsite

 

[FQ]

Rumours are going around that something will drag it to the fence at Morrisons Car Park and put it on a truck there. Not sure how accurate it is though.

 

[FordFocus]

Plenty of access available around there. Disused Travis Perkins yard and further towards Warwick is a temporary access point out of a demolished industrial plot.

 

[fgwrich]

Three months later and the carriage is still at Leamington Spa.

Not three months but it's starting to rack up to an impressive 9 months by now. Clearly Riviera can't be bothered anymore! At this rate they might as well turn it into a station feature like additional waiting space or a café!

 

[RobShipway]

Not three months but it's starting to rack up to an impressive 9 months by now. Clearly Riviera can't be bothered anymore! At this rate they might as well turn it into a station feature like additional waiting space or a café!

Push it further towards the buffers and make it into a cafe, I think is a great idea.

 

[FQ]

Its gone. 31601 took it away about an hour ago. At 16:30 the 31, the mark 2 and a few other coaches were sat in the siding just outside the station.

 

[Bungle965]

Its gone. 31601 took it away about an hour ago. At 16:30 the 31, the mark 2 and a few other coaches were sat in the siding just outside the station.

Wow surprised it was in a fit state to be able to move anywhere without a crane and a lorry.
Sam

 

[Darandio]

Wow surprised it was in a fit state to be able to move anywhere without a crane and a lorry.
Sam

It's not beyond the realms of possibility that some on site work had been done prior to the move?

 

[FQ]

Agreed. It surprised dad and I.

 

[Bungle965]

It's not beyond the realms of possibility that some on site work had been done prior to the move?

True, but thought that it might be easier to move it by road.
Sam