ryan125hst
Established Member
I'm not sure whether to put this in the Traction and Rolling Stock section or here. Moderators, feel free to move this if you disagree with my decision.
Following the demise of Rail Blue Charters and Cargo-D, I have noticed that there are now no loco-hauled Mark 3 coaches in operation for railtours. I don't know what everyone else thinks, but I think this is a shame- they are modern coaches compared to most used for the charter market, and I thought that Cargo-D's coaches looked smart, as did those used for the Stobart Pullman.
While I understand that some of this spare coaches have now been "Chilternised", with plug doors installed, a few toilets removed and a full interior refurbishment carried out to make them suitable to use between London and Birmingham (an investment I welcome), I was wondering whether there are spare coaches that are suitable for mainline use?
According to Abrail, there are 21 TSO's, 13 FO's, 13 RFM's and 14 DVT's stored at Long Marston. What condition are they in? Could they be refurbished and used on charter trains?
TSO- Tourist Standard Open
FO- First Open
RFM- Restaurant First Modular
DVT- Driving Van Trailer
With that number of coaches, a company could form:
DB own the coaches. Are they planning to convert them into Chiltern stock? It would seem sensible to me for a company (new or existing), to use them in the charter market, both for railtours and to hire to TOC's if they need spare capacity (for a football match for example). It seems a waste for good carriages to be stored.
Also, what's happened to the former Cargo-D Mark 2's? Railtour info suggests they had quite a lot of them. http://www.railtourinfo.co.uk/coach.html#set1a I know a few are stored at Barrow Hill as I saw them at the East Coast Giants even last month. What happened to the rest of them. Again, they looked smart and they would be of better use on railtours and hired to TOC's.
Thank you
Ryan
Following the demise of Rail Blue Charters and Cargo-D, I have noticed that there are now no loco-hauled Mark 3 coaches in operation for railtours. I don't know what everyone else thinks, but I think this is a shame- they are modern coaches compared to most used for the charter market, and I thought that Cargo-D's coaches looked smart, as did those used for the Stobart Pullman.
While I understand that some of this spare coaches have now been "Chilternised", with plug doors installed, a few toilets removed and a full interior refurbishment carried out to make them suitable to use between London and Birmingham (an investment I welcome), I was wondering whether there are spare coaches that are suitable for mainline use?
According to Abrail, there are 21 TSO's, 13 FO's, 13 RFM's and 14 DVT's stored at Long Marston. What condition are they in? Could they be refurbished and used on charter trains?
TSO- Tourist Standard Open
FO- First Open
RFM- Restaurant First Modular
DVT- Driving Van Trailer
With that number of coaches, a company could form:
- a dining set: DVT-FO-FO-RFM-FO-FO-FO-RFM-FO-FO
- a mixed set: DVT-FO-FO-RFM-FO-FO-RFM-TSO-TSO-TSO
- an Intercity set: DVT-FO-FO-RFM-TSO-TSO-RFM (with declassified seats)-TSO-TSO-TSO
- a standard only set: DVT-TSO-TSO-RFM (with declassified seats)- TSO-TSO-TSO-RFM (with declassified seats)-TSO-TSO
DB own the coaches. Are they planning to convert them into Chiltern stock? It would seem sensible to me for a company (new or existing), to use them in the charter market, both for railtours and to hire to TOC's if they need spare capacity (for a football match for example). It seems a waste for good carriages to be stored.
Also, what's happened to the former Cargo-D Mark 2's? Railtour info suggests they had quite a lot of them. http://www.railtourinfo.co.uk/coach.html#set1a I know a few are stored at Barrow Hill as I saw them at the East Coast Giants even last month. What happened to the rest of them. Again, they looked smart and they would be of better use on railtours and hired to TOC's.
Thank you
Ryan
