Noise and Vibration DMUs.

[stanley T]

Oh, for the peace and quiet of loco/power car hauled coaches...

What, in your experience, is the best and worst DMU for noise levels and vibration?

Worst IMHO is class 150, best is 180 (even quieter when they break down...)

 

[keith1879]

Oh, for the peace and quiet of loco/power car hauled coaches...

What, in your experience, is the best and worst DMU for noise levels and vibration?

Worst IMHO is class 150, best is 180 (even quieter when they break down...)

156 are dreadful I think - and I remain convinced that the 185 is very quiet even when in a car under power - I do believe it is noisier in the central section between the vestibules of each coach - but still not noisy. Given that there is something like a 1 in 4 chance of no engine noise at all however I definitely vote for the 185.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Voyager/Meridian best, only audible on initial acceleration.

 

[Mordac]

185s are definitely the best, completely agree with keith1879. Voyagers at speed are fine, but at low speed are worse, although this is mostly from vibration rather than noise IMO.

175s are pretty darn good too, never been on a 180 to know whether it's similar or not.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

153s are deafening when they try to get moving, strangely doesn't affect 155s as much despite them being essentially 2 153s. That said, the pair of dogboxes I had yesterday were louder than a 155 so it's probably the extra weight of the 2nd cab and accompanying gubbins that makes the difference. 185s I agree are the least noisy.

 

[edwin_m]

There was a mod done to the brakes when 155s were converted into 153s, which makes them take longer to release (something to do with not losing the entire brakes if certain pipes spring a leak I think). So a 153 starting from rest is trying to pull itself into motion against its own brakes.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Interesting to see support for the 185s as a quiet DMU. They're undoubtedly good at what they do given the compromises inherent in their design specification but I don't think they're necessarily the quietest on board. Or more to the point not the smoothest. Coming back from Edinburgh on one once and the continuous drone combined with a deep (if gentle) vibration while climbing Shap led to me being very happy to get off at Oxenholme to wait for the following Pendolino. No Voyager on the same run has ever given me the same experience. I wonder whether this is a situation where end-door stock provides a better degree of insulation from a diesel engine powering away under the floor?

As for the worst the old Cravens class 105s were horrendous. When powering just about everything that could was rattling. I was not sorry to see the back of them.

 

[Ash Bridge]

As for the worst the old Cravens class 105s were horrendous. When powering just about everything that could was rattling. I was not sorry to see the back of them.

Absolutely agree, they are surely the all time worst, and that's without even mentioning the fumes, didn't the exhaust/silencer system pass through the van compartment?

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Absolutely agree, they are surely the all time worst, and that's without even mentioning the fumes, didn't the exhaust/silencer system pass through the van compartment?

I don't know, I was too busy hanging on for dear life to risk going to have a look!

 

[shaun]

From alot of experience, best are the 175/180 units. Plus marks for being the most comfortable too, far superior to Voyagers and would happily sit on one all the way from Aberdeen - Penzance!

Worst has to be a pacer or a 150.

 

[Cowley]

As for the worst the old Cravens class 105s were horrendous. When powering just about everything that could was rattling. I was not sorry to see the back of them.

An honorary mention must go to the 115,116,117,118 family, when on tickover every single one of the twenty odd droplights per carriage would be rattling away in the doors .
Don't really remember 105s but I've heard that they were particularly bad.

 

[Ash Bridge]

An honorary mention must go to the 115,116,117,118 family, when on tickover every single one of the twenty odd droplights per carriage would be rattling away in the doors .
Don't really remember 105s but I've heard that they were particularly bad.

I seem to remember the 105s were quite good at self combusting also.

 

[Mikey C]

A couple of years ago in the same weekend I managed to take a 180, 185 and 220, which was handy for comparative purposes! All 3 were decently quiet, noisier than loco hauled stock, but massively quieter than the Sprinters. The 150s seem particularly bad, and significantly noisier than the Cummins engined Pacers.

There is a slight drone noise, many years ago coming back from Cardiff on a FGW 180 I could feel the slight vibration under the floor, but in relation to the "human" noises inside the carriage, not that bad.

 

[fowler9]

150's are like having a dentist drill stuck in your brain. The rest of them, the 175's, the 185's, the 158's etc. etc. are I think just deemed acceptable by younger people who are used to having the engine sat under their arse and don't know any different. Even the EMU's apart from maybe the 350's.

 

[Cowley]

There is a slight drone noise, many years ago coming back from Cardiff on a FGW 180 I could feel the slight vibration under the floor, but in relation to the "human" noises inside the carriage, not that bad.

This brings up an interesting point, I'd rather listen to a noisy 150 engine than some boring ar*e at the other end of the carriage talking to his boring ar*e mate on his stupid ar*e phone. Bring on the noisy engine in that situation please.

 

[Master29]

The old Swindon 120`s used to make that rasping sound which always scared me as a kid. I`ve noticed if you`re in a carriage with an engine turned off in a voyager they can be quite smooth but I guess that may not count.

 

[superkev]

I think engine vibration gets worse with age particularity if maintenance/ replacement of engine mountings etc is not done properly.
The last northern 158 although nothing like as bad felt much like a cravens dmu.
K

 

[Johnnie2Sheds]

... Swindon 120`s used to make that rasping sound which always scared me ...

Imagine my surprise and delight when one turned up on an ADEX in the 1970s (Leicester/Derby - Cardiff and return) M50714 is forever with me!

 

[Mordac]

I think engine vibration gets worse with age particularity if maintenance/ replacement of engine mountings etc is not done properly.
The last northern 158 although nothing like as bad felt much like a cravens dmu.
K

The unit's age or the passenger's?

That might explain why the XC Voyagers always feel much rougher than their Virgin counterparts. The latter probably get much better TLC.

 

[Phil.]

Absolutely agree, they are surely the all time worst, and that's without even mentioning the fumes, didn't the exhaust/silencer system pass through the van compartment?

No, it was all external. The big - really big - design fault were the heaters which were diesel burners operating by drawing in and heating the air by means of a heat exchanger. What the designers hadn't catered for was when an idling set sat at a platform and the below-solebar level heating intake drew the exhaust fumes in filling the saloon with fumes. Occasionally a heater would suffer a "blowback" and fill the saloon with white smoke. When the Metro-Camm 101s were refurbished this was cured by moving the intake to above solebar level but the Cravens sets were never treated thus.
As others have mentioned, when the engines were at full power the noise in the power car could be truly horrendous with normal conversation level impossible due to the windows and doors rattling and vibrating. In winter, with the cab door next to him the poor old driver could/would be subjected to wind draughts like a knife and, in the 50XXX series with a completely open van and a padded bench for a seat the guard would also be perished.
Nasty, nasty little things without one positive feature.

 

[bramling]

Oh, for the peace and quiet of loco/power car hauled coaches...

What, in your experience, is the best and worst DMU for noise levels and vibration?

Worst IMHO is class 150, best is 180 (even quieter when they break down...)

It depends on where you sit. The closer to the engine, the louder the noise, and the greater likelihood of vibrations. Taking a class 165 as an example, if you sit directly behind the driver's cab it's pretty quiet.

All the Sprinter classes are pretty loud, although personally I don't find the noise intrusive -- by contrast my personal view is they don't vibrate much. I find the vibration on Voyagers, Adelantes and class 185s more intrusive, although not enough to be a major issue for me.

Notwithstanding all the above, an unpowered MkIII such as found in an HST is vastly superior.

 

[edwin_m]

A 150 or 156 can be really loud somewhere like leaving Sheffield northbound in the summer, when the noise from the engines bounces off the retaining walls and in through the open hopper windows. Also all the comments so far have been about noise inside - 22x seem particularly noisy outside, even when standing still, to the extent that platform announcements are virtually inaudible when there is one nearby. This may be to do with providing the power for the aircon, although it doesn't seem so bad on 158s.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

This brings up an interesting point, I'd rather listen to a noisy 150 engine than some boring ar*e at the other end of the carriage talking to his boring ar*e mate on his stupid ar*e phone. Bring on the noisy engine in that situation please.

The case for a "like" button just got stronger!

 

[Mordac]

A 150 or 156 can be really loud somewhere like leaving Sheffield northbound in the summer, when the noise from the engines bounces off the retaining walls and in through the open hopper windows. Also all the comments so far have been about noise inside - 22x seem particularly noisy outside, even when standing still, to the extent that platform announcements are virtually inaudible when there is one nearby. This may be to do with providing the power for the aircon, although it doesn't seem so bad on 158s.

185s are also very loud on the outside pulling away, noisier than a 37 loco I'd say. Which makes how quiet they are inside the more amazing.

 

[507021]

In my view, the noisiest are the Class 142/3/4s and 150s, and the quietest are the Class 175s and 180s.

 

[6Gman]

And before we get too misty-eyed loco-hauled stock could be very noisy with the windows open, hunting over cwr.

Euston - Crewe nonstop in MkIIc's on a summer evening was guaranteed headache!

 

[edwin_m]

Indeed, though in my recollection the noise was more from rail corrugation (a deafening roar) rather than hunting which is more of a ride thing (lateral oscillation).

 

[Cowley]

Indeed, though in my recollection the noise was more from rail corrugation (a deafening roar) rather than hunting which is more of a ride thing (lateral oscillation).

That really was quite a racket at times. Does that not really happen now then?

 

[randyrippley]

Up here around Lancaster in the years before the Pacers arrived there seemed to be a habit of running 1st gen DMUs with blowing cylinder heads. On a trip to Leeds it wasn't much fun with the engine banging loudly all the way, stops at every station to top up the radiators, and lineside cattle stampeding.
It wasn't just a one-off - in those day I travelled between Lancaster and Morecambe on a daily basis, and this kind of fault was there frequently

 

[GRALISTAIR]

As for the worst the old Cravens class 105s were horrendous. When powering just about everything that could was rattling. I was not sorry to see the back of them.

I had the misfortune of riding some of those in the 1970s. When BR started using loco and hauled stock I was a very happy man. I could now grice them for 'orlidge.