Rolling stock cascades

[tgillbert]

Hi,

Very new to rail industry and this may be a stupid question! Please can someone explain what a rolling stock cascade is? Keep reading about the term cascade but not a lot on line that gives a definition.

Thanks,

Tom

 

[GB]

Basically when a TOC gets new rolling stock their current stock moves on (cascades) to another TOC....or withdrawn

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Hi,

Very new to rail industry and this may be a stupid question! Please can someone explain what a rolling stock cascade is? Keep reading about the term cascade but not a lot on line that gives a definition.

Thanks,

Tom

That’s ok, not stupid at all!

Rolling stock cascade is when a large group of stock is transferred “cascaded” to another company.

For example, a large number of Class 319 EMUs were cascaded from Govia Thameslink Railway to Arriva Rail North.

I hope this helps and welcome

 

[tgillbert]

Thanks very much, makes it clear now!

 

[tgillbert]

I'm also wondering what the orange line across the lower part of trains is for? Can anyone help and what is it called? Am aware of the reasons behind the orange line at top of train but no bottom

 

[tgillbert]

Thanks TT-ONR-NRN!

 

[Domh245]

I'm also wondering what the orange line across the lower part of trains is for? Can anyone help and what is it called? Am aware of the reasons behind the orange line at top of train but no bottom

Can you give an example? I can't think of any cases where there is one that isn't livery related?

 

[randyrippley]

Historically the term had a more specific meaning: it was a description of the way in which rail companies had a habit of only introducing new stock for premier express services, and then using the supplanted older stock for second-line services, and eventually sending them to the bottom of the hierarchy for local services as even newer stock was introduced.
British Rail had an established cascade policy: for instance the introduction of electric stock to the ECML allowed diesel HSTs to be cascaded to Midlands and Cross Country, allowing the displaced loco-hauled stock to be used on secondary routes..........
However this all changed with sectorisation: a change in policy meant new stock was purchased for secondary services, so rendering much of what would otherwise have been cascaded as useless. Each sector was able to acquire its own new stock and was no longer reliant on cascaded hand-me-downs.
That cascade concept of aging stock being handed down to lower priority services no longer really applies: until recently stock tends to stay on the general kind of service for which it was introduced. However there are exceptions, notably the current downgrading of the HST units to short sets for local work. Interestingly that downgrade was part of the original BR 1970's cascade plan: the intention had been that as electrification made them redundant, the HSTs would have been reduced to 4+1 sets for secondary lines such as Waterloo-Exeter, Portsmouth-Cardiff, TransPennine

 

[xotGD]

Northern will be doing an internal cascade once their new (and second hand) stock arrives. Most routes should get something nominally better than what operates at present, although that is of course subjective.

The idea that Class 195s will replace Pacers is either just lazy shorthand or completely misguided. 150s and 156s will replace Pacers. In that regard, the northeast does better than Yorkshire. In the northeast 156s will be replaced by 158s. Elsewhere, 158s will be replaced with 195s.

 

[tgillbert]

Hi Dom,

Here's SWT

 

[tgillbert]

And London Overground

 

[Domh245]

In both of those case, it is just part of the livery, it isn't a compulsory marking.

 

[tgillbert]

Thanks Dom, appreciate your help.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Thanks TT-ONR-NRN!

You’re welcome!

 

[Agent_Squash]

There are orange lines at the top of a train's livery quite a lot of the time - that (I believe) is the height which above 25kV electrification can arc to and is deemed unsafe to enter when the electric is live.

 

[Wivenswold]

Back in Network South East days "Cascades" were far more common and usually ended with someone else's old tat running up and down the LTS.

 

[edwin_m]

Historically the term had a more specific meaning: it was a description of the way in which rail companies had a habit of only introducing new stock for premier express services, and then using the supplanted older stock for second-line services, and eventually sending them to the bottom of the hierarchy for local services as even newer stock was introduced.

It didn't always reach right down to locals - even before Sprinterisation there were many examples of stock being built new for this type of service. The most obvious was the huge number of DMUs arriving from the mid-50s onwards to re-equip just about every steam-hauled local train as well as "secondary main line" routes such as Transpennine and Edinburgh-Glasgow. Some of these were however replaced by cascaded loco-hauled stock as the public demanded something better, so most of the intercity DMUs had relatively short lives. Even earlier the GWR built B-sets, auto-coaches and diesel railcars that were intended for branch and local services.

The busiest commuter routes have generally had new purpose-built stock because of the need for much higher density of passengers than was possible with old main line coaches (excepting of course the tendency of the Southern to re-body existing underframes).