TPE Mark 5A coaching stock progress

[mikemcniven]

There has been some movements today using ROG 37488 moving set 5 down to Crewe South Yard and bringing set 1 back to the International Depot.

I got 5Q42 Manchester International Depot to Crewe South Yard at Heaton Chapel, it was hauled by the 37 at the DT end with nothing at the other end

 

[LOL The Irony]

There has been some movements today using ROG 37488 moving set 5 down to Crewe South Yard and bringing set 1 back to the International Depot.

I got 5Q42 Manchester International Depot to Crewe South Yard at Heaton Chapel, it was hauled by the 37 at the DT end with nothing at the other end

Nice catch!

 

[EE Andy b1]

There has been some movements today using ROG 37488 moving set 5 down to Crewe South Yard and bringing set 1 back to the International Depot.

I got 5Q42 Manchester International Depot to Crewe South Yard at Heaton Chapel, it was hauled by the 37 at the DT end with nothing at the other end

Thanks Mike nice video. Always nice to hear and see a Class 37. Presume this was the cancelled movement from last week.

So that's 2 Mk5a sets being stored in Crewe South Yard and set 1 returning to Longsight International hopefully for some modifications!!

 

[duffield]

When I was there, there was one of those handled lamps, that normally hook onto the back of the freight wagons, inside the cab.

AKA 'FRED' - Flashing Read-End Device.

 

[mikemcniven]

Thanks Mike nice video. Always nice to hear and see a Class 37. Presume this was the cancelled movement from last week.

So that's 2 Mk5a sets being stored in Crewe South Yard and set 1 returning to Longsight International hopefully for some modifications!!

It is the cancelled move from last week yeah, and hopefully yeah. Off topic but NOVA 2* comes tomorrow! (Going to Crewe C.S. not Longsight)

*From what I have heard, **I CANNOT CONFIRM THIS**

 

[sjpowermac]

Lovely photo mate.

Many thanks mate, absolutely delighted that you like it.

 

[sjpowermac]

There has been some movements today using ROG 37488 moving set 5 down to Crewe South Yard and bringing set 1 back to the International Depot.

I got 5Q42 Manchester International Depot to Crewe South Yard at Heaton Chapel, it was hauled by the 37 at the DT end with nothing at the other end

That’s a cracking video, thanks for sharing.

 

[sjpowermac]

68022 Resolution and 68020 Reliance on the ‘maintenance’ line adjacent to platform 2 at York 04.12.2018

 

[DunfordBridge]

And 68 021 Tireless at platform 2 in Scarborough station this morning. Not quite as dramatic as the previous post. The loco has been there since the night before.

 

[AndrewE]

Is there a tail lamp on the rear? I can see a little splash of something white at the back, but it's not obviously a big battery lamp...

 

[_toommm_]

Is there a tail lamp on the rear? I can see a little splash of something white at the back, but it's not obviously a big battery lamp...

Mentioned on the previous page from post #1758

 

[AndrewE]

Mentioned on the previous page from post #1758

Maybe you mean #1761. 1760 shows a lamp in a pilferable position on the buffer-beam ...this is a different loco in a different place. So I suppose we must assume there's one in the cab .

 

[D6700]

If the picture you are questioning is in post 1778, there is a large tail lamp inside the cab - just above the windscreen wiper. It becomes much clearer if you click on the image, which makes the picture much bigger.

 

[AndrewE]

If the picture you are questioning is in post 1778, there is a large tail lamp inside the cab - just above the windscreen wiper. It becomes much clearer if you click on the image, which makes the picture much bigger.

No, It's obvious in #1778. Try looking at the 2nd picture in 1779, the immediately preceding post that I was replying to.

 

[D6700]

No, It's obvious in #1778. Try looking at the 2nd picture in 1779, the immediately preceding post that I was replying to.

There would be no point in putting a lamp on that end - it's against the buffers.

The other end is invisible, especially with the SPT blocking any view of the side of that end.

 

[AndrewE]

Maybe I've misinterpreted which end the buffers are at, only having been there half a dozen times in 40-odd years. Is a telephone still a SPT when there is no signal post to attach it to?

 

[D6700]

I was going to write "telephone box", but thought that would only cause more confusion! Strictly speaking, it is a "Lineside Telephone".

Those two pictures are both taken from the same end of the loco, with the buffer stops of platform 1 visible on the right hand side of both pictures, if that helps with orientation.

 

[DunfordBridge]

For the purpose of clarification, both photos were taken of the locomotive in platform 2, a bay platform where I was adjacent to the buffers. Could not see the tail light in the cab at the opposite end because the bay platforms were chained off.

 

[SP Man]

If all goes to plan, Mk5a heading over the border into Gods toilet Yorkshire next week.

 

[CAF397]

That’s good news, implies the brake issue is being dealt with.

 

[SP Man]

Not implied anything!

 

[SP Man]

Just been informed things have not gone to plan!!!

 

[EE Andy b1]

Just been informed things have not gone to plan!!!

There's a surprise!

No testing or mileage accumulation been ongoing for a while now.
Hoped that when set 1 was returned to Longsight from Crewe LNWR that running would re-start. Still waiting.
Why run one of these sets over the Pennines when there has been no reliability up to now.
Let's hope they don't send one yet and stitch up more of the travelling public with a failure.

Get the problems solved, get the Mk5a sets tested as planned on the West Coast, get some reliability and then get staff trained then introduce the sets to the Trans-Pennine route.

 

[ic31420]

Get the problems solved, get the Mk5a sets tested as planned on the West Coast, get some reliability and then get staff trained then introduce the sets to the Trans-Pennine route.

I bet they hadn't thought iv that!

It takes time, they've got to analyse the problem and understand what the cause is.
Design a solution that is compliant with all the regs and physically fits. Get it drawn, manufactured (all which may include waiting drawing office or workshop time), tested on the bench, shipped, possibly type approved. It all takes time.

And we dont know exactly what the problem is or where it lies. There may be contractual issues if the problem lies with a specified or third party part. Often procurement and new specs are affected by the client wanting to change something or have their twopenneth worth into the design causing issues. Most of the time it's clueless Clive justifying his existence.

 

[EE Andy b1]

I bet they hadn't thought iv that!

Do you think!

It was mentioned a Mk5a set might have been crossing the Pennines next week. My point was don't send it onto a congested railway until fit for purpose.
I think most know there is a process to go through first to actually get the sets back running but things are.not going to well.

 

[AndrewE]

I bet they hadn't thought iv that!

It takes time, they've got to analyse the problem and understand what the cause is.
Design a solution that is compliant with all the regs and physically fits. Get it drawn, manufactured (all which may include waiting drawing office or workshop time), tested on the bench, shipped, possibly type approved. It all takes time.

And we dont know exactly what the problem is or where it lies. There may be contractual issues if the problem lies with a specified or third party part. Often procurement and new specs are affected by the client wanting to change something or have their twopenneth worth into the design causing issues. Most of the time it's clueless Clive justifying his existence.

Seeing that these new trains don't seem to be going anywhere, and that whoever has got the problem won't openly admit what it is (or whether once it's cracked it will be likely to just be a 1-hour fix on each set) and that their business is being badly damaged by the capacity issues, I wonder if they are considering a plan B?
Like using their new engines (or someone else's old ones) on some Mk3 stock that is sitting around waiting for something to do, for example...
Using their engines would also speed up the eventual introduction of the new stock as there would already be a cohort of drivers familiar with driving the locos on hauled stock on the route. At the moment they only have 1 of those 3 (DMU drivers who know the route), apart from some drivers having done a few light engine trips between York and Scarborough.

 

[EE Andy b1]

I wonder if they are considering a plan B?
Like using their new engines (or someone else's old ones) on some Mk3 stock that is sitting around waiting for something to do, for example...
Using their engines would also speed up the eventual introduction of the new stock as there would already be a cohort of drivers familiar with driving the locos on hauled stock on the route. At the moment they only have 1 of those 3 (DMU drivers who know the route), apart from some drivers having done a few light engine trips between York and Scarborough.

.

Exactly. Something TPE were going to do use the Mk3s, help capacity and training drivers and guards on LHCS until they decided it was too much trouble to bother.

 

[Sleeperwaking]

Do you think!

It was mentioned a Mk5a set might have been crossing the Pennines next week. My point was don't send it onto a congested railway until fit for purpose.
I think most know there is a process to go through first to actually get the sets back running but things are.not going to well.

It depends what the problem actually is and what the planned test was. If the low-speed braking issue is more about train performance than reliability or safety, and the path was in a low traffic period (e.g. overnight), then there's not so much risk of impact to the timetable. There's a number of things TPE will need to check with an actual Mark 5A set against the actual service route / platform before it can be put in service (e.g. checking stopping position / signal sighting with the train stationary in a platform). If this is the first planned test over the Pennines, then they won't have been able to do any of that yet. As long as the issues don't affect passenger safety or are likely to cause delays, then it would make sense to get these platform interface tests out the way while there's a pause in the "train acceptance" tests.

 

[EE Andy b1]

As long as the issues don't affect passenger safety or are likely to cause delays, then it would make sense to get these platform interface tests out the way while there's a pause in the "train acceptance" tests.

I disagree.
Get the sets fixed first, tested, then do there signal sighting/station stop positioning on the full route they'll be working, Manchester Airport - Middlesborough & Liverpool Lime Street - Newcastle Central and any diversionary routes required. They should have a good idea without the actual trains running. These Mk5a sets are not going to be in full service before May 2019 anyway now so let's do it in the right order and get no more unwanted bad publicity, which i think must be pretty much rock bottom now.

 

[Matt_pool]

I saw 68026 go through West Allerton this afternoon (not hauling anything) on 0F28. I've seen another 68 pass through West Allerton a couple of months ago (not hauling anything) and other 68's have been spotted actually in Lime Street station.

The drivers must be getting restless but obviously route training etc of some sort is already taking place, minus the Mk5 carriages!