Why Class 37s?

[driverd]

Colas never ’had’ an MPV, it belongs to Network Rail and it is still operational. Colas merely provide a driver.

I was advised by a source within the IM part of Colas that the MPV was not likely to be used again (I was advised it was likely to be replaced by 153s) as of a few months back, maybe you could clarify?

Colas need more 43s because simply, they do not have enough for the work, ever since they’ve been taken them on lease to replace the 67s and (as much as possible) the 37s. GWR Castle power cars are probably a better bet than whatever dregs of the LNER fleet remain in cold storage because (presumably) they were the better examples of the GWR fleet anyway, have had money spent on them recently and are operational and ready to go.

Is that to replace the 37s altogether, or just to reduce the use of them/augment the fleet?

 

[Townsend Hook]

I was advised by a source within the IM part of Colas that the MPV was not likely to be used again (I was advised it was likely to be replaced by 153s) as of a few months back, maybe you could clarify?

The MPV still has plenty of booked work on the train plan, it has been out working this month, albeit now operated by LORAM rather than Colas. I’ve lost count of the amount of times over the past seven or so years that I’ve been working in IM that rumours of the MPV’s imminent withdrawal have been circulating.

Is that to replace the 37s altogether, or just to reduce the use of them/augment the fleet?

Certainly that’s the intention for the PLPR trains, that everything off the Southern Region/Merseyrail will have class 43s, which in practice means at least seven, more realistically eight or nine power cars to cover three trains, with the fourth running with class 73/9s. Currently there’s three available out of five total on lease to Colas to cover that work, with Colas having to hire one power car to Network Rail for the NMT (Network Rail are down to one power car available), and 43277 away being overhauled at the South Devon Railway, so the need for more power cars is rather pressing. Given how long 43277 is taking to be put into service, I think that demonstrates that pulling any more power cars out of storage isn’t necessarily the best idea when there will be a decent number of operational power cars available before the end of the year.

I’m not sure what the eventual intention is for the ultrasonic trains, I don’t really have anything to do with those, but certainly they’ll be the last bastion of 37s on IM trains.

 

[D365]

And yet Colas are spending time and effort having their Class 37s fitted with ETCS..!

 

[43096]

The MPV still has plenty of booked work on the train plan, it has been out working this month, albeit now operated by LORAM rather than Colas. I’ve lost count of the amount of times over the past seven or so years that I’ve been working in IM that rumours of the MPV’s imminent withdrawal have been circulating.


Certainly that’s the intention for the PLPR trains, that everything off the Southern Region/Merseyrail will have class 43s, which in practice means at least seven, more realistically eight or nine power cars to cover three trains, with the fourth running with class 73/9s. Currently there’s three available out of five total on lease to Colas to cover that work, with Colas having to hire one power car to Network Rail for the NMT (Network Rail are down to one power car available), and 43277 away being overhauled at the South Devon Railway, so the need for more power cars is rather pressing. Given how long 43277 is taking to be put into service, I think that demonstrates that pulling any more power cars out of storage isn’t necessarily the best idea when there will be a decent number of operational power cars available before the end of the year.

I’m not sure what the eventual intention is for the ultrasonic trains, I don’t really have anything to do with those, but certainly they’ll be the last bastion of 37s on IM trains.

The problem with the GWR power cars is that there are significant technical differences to what Colas have currently, notably cooler groups and electronics. Aside from the five Colas have, taking 43290/299 once they are freed from NMT duties is an obvious. If I was Colas I would be keeping a close eye on what DfT do with the XC sets as their lease ends in October. There are five Porterbrook owned power cars in the XC fleet: if they were available that would give up to 12 power cars from the same ROSCO, all with the same technical specification.

 

[dinahjkelly@ao]

Incorrect - they were all (or mostly) in DRS livery. This was at Parton in June 2015.

Incorrect - they were all (or mostly) in DRS livery. This was at Parton in June 2015.

Apologies for using this route to contact you but I wanted permission to use information you posted about Eccleston Linear branch Line in St Helens and that thread is locked.

 

[DelW]

Apologies for using this route to contact you but I wanted permission to use information you posted about Eccleston Linear branch Line in St Helens and that thread is locked.

Hallo and welcome - FYI, there is a facility on these forums to start a private "conversation" - look for the little envelope symbol on the right hand end of the black bar at the top of the page, click on that, then on "start a new conversation" in the box that appears. I hope that might help.