oneflewover said:
hohoho! someone had to that one.
Farewell to the InterCity 125?
- Thread starter Roadkill
- Start date
hohoho! someone had to that one.
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
I love the 125s, when I was little I called them "flying bananas" 
oneflewover said:
Standing at King's Cross yesterday, I was struck by how many 125s GNER still operates. There was only one 225 there, and three 125s, including one doing the London-Inverness route. One of them went out whilst I was waiting for my train. As I said at the beginning of the thread, I'd miss that scream they make as they accelerate...
What was interesting was that one of them had received some sort of facelift: the front panel was very different, with much of the grille blanked off. Whether that's purely cosmetic, or more had been done under the skin, I've no idea.
Hull Trains have gone for DMUs of a similar type to the Vermin Voyagers, although they're much better inside because the seats are slightly larger and have more space between them, and not so much space is taken up with that stupid, gimmicky shop the Virgin ones have.
starfish2000
Well-Known Member
Err all this the HST is going is a load of government Spin to make you think there actually doing anything.
I work in the Rail Industry and I've done an OJEU procurement. They take fucking ages. Even for the simple stuff.
I think you'll find the HST will be with us in 2012 if not 2015. Darling keeps talking up double decker carrages etc. But I suspect thats more PR?
I work in the Rail Industry and I've done an OJEU procurement. They take fucking ages. Even for the simple stuff.
I think you'll find the HST will be with us in 2012 if not 2015. Darling keeps talking up double decker carrages etc. But I suspect thats more PR?
Roadkill said:
I remember as a kid when I was (briefly) into trains and used to love the way they made a kind of harmonic "choir singing" noise when they had arrived. Not quite sure where that sound came from - it wasn't the deep grunty sound you get from big combustion engines. Cooling systems at full tilt? I dunno. I loved the sound though.
paolo999 said:
It's the turbochargers.
Tbh that sounds all too plausible. The talk of double-decker trains is obvious spin - or a desire to look pro-active on the part of a transport minister who knows nothing about railways. What does OJEU stand for, by the way?
Oh well, I'd be happy for the 125s to be around for a few years yet.
Tom A
Goat among sheep
They have them in the US of A, but their passenger rail system is mostly crap from what I have heard, people usually fly or use Greyhound (their version of National Express).Roadkill said:
Anyway...
My first major memory of trains was listening to that scream as an Inter-city 125 as a child who went over a railway bridge to get to primary school, back in the days when they acutally had "Inter-City 125" on them. I was dissapointed when that scheme was replaced with the beige and brown "INTERCITY" scheme, but now in the days of privisation and Voyagers I am now reminescent of that too. No matter what people say, the 125s are so much more comfortable than those shitty Voyagers (see here for more ranting about Virgin), and they at least that had a decent number of carridges so overcrowding did meet dangerous levels, I have whitnessed people sitting in the compartment between carridges in Voyagers, if they was to be a smash there would have been a bloodbath. Also it's sometimes extremely difficult to get a view out of the window on the Voyager seats, something that was never the case with the IC125s. Scrap the Voyagers and bring the 125s back I say!
starfish2000
Well-Known Member
Roadkill said:
Online Journal European Union (Any public sector procurement worth over £250K) has to have notice given on a website called TED or Tenders Electronic Daily. Then theres the whole rigmarole of scorecarding and having a proper audit trail to show transparency. Trust me it's really boring.
Tom A said:
They have double-decker trains in many places, but they aren't practical here because the British loading guage is so tight. Widening and raising bridges, tunnels, station platforms and other trackside structures to accomodate much larger trains would be prohibitively expensive.
A much better solution to the problem of increasing capacity would be just to run longer trains - which is precisely the opposite of what Virgin have done with the Voyagers!
And rather nice the new generation are, too... used them in Switzerland and Denmark.
The Southern Railway did build some double-deckers in, I think, the1930s.
They were a bit cramped and convoluted. Fitting two decks into 13'6" between rail and roof is not easy.
* Gets anorak *
The Southern Railway did build some double-deckers in, I think, the1930s.
They were a bit cramped and convoluted. Fitting two decks into 13'6" between rail and roof is not easy.
* Gets anorak *
Tom A
Goat among sheep
I have never understood the logic of the people who run Virgin Trains. Note the Pendolinos have much greater capacity, just proves how London-centric they are in their policy regarding the quality of train service. Also explains how getting a Virgin Value advance ticket is relatively easy on the "West Coast" part of the company but often nigh on impossible on the "CrossCountry" section (ie the one with the bloody Voyagers on). The should have not bothered getting the Voyagers and simply given the HSTs a major overhaul like Midland MainLine and Great Western have done.Roadkill said:
The idea with the Voyagers was that they would run more, but shorter, trains. This is all well and good in theory, but there are two problems with it:
1. We need to be increasing capacity on the railways. Increasing the number of trains is one way to do this, but why then throw away the capacity gain by making the trains shorter?
2. One of the key problems with the British railway network is that it is overcrowded. Many lines, especially in the south-east, are already working at full capacity (which is why several of the Beeching closures now appear so short-sighted). Increasing the number of trains can only add to the difficulty. Better IMO to run only slightly more, and longer, trains.
1. We need to be increasing capacity on the railways. Increasing the number of trains is one way to do this, but why then throw away the capacity gain by making the trains shorter?
2. One of the key problems with the British railway network is that it is overcrowded. Many lines, especially in the south-east, are already working at full capacity (which is why several of the Beeching closures now appear so short-sighted). Increasing the number of trains can only add to the difficulty. Better IMO to run only slightly more, and longer, trains.
editor
hiraethified
Nearly ten years on and there's still no sign of the replacement train, but here's a video clip showing the new train testing:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33533467
(*wince at the sexist advertising for the launch of the 125)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33533467
(*wince at the sexist advertising for the launch of the 125)
How can there be "no sign" when the first of the new trains is now undergoing testing, and they are scheduled to enter service within the next few years?
editor
hiraethified
'No sign' as in there being no date set if you're a passenger hoping to find one pulling into your platform.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Are these the same ones that South Eastern use on HS1?
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
The video states Christmas 2017 for the GWR.
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
No, although it's a member of the same model family: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitachi_A-train
Capable of 140mph, but will be limited to 125 until the signalling is upgraded (this won't necessarily get finished at the same time as the electrification)
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
editor
hiraethified
It also says that if they find any faults, the testing clock has to be set back to the beginning each time, so that date can only be an aspiration at present.
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
Nope, just to Swansea. But half the new GWR fleet will be "bi-mode" meaning they'll also carry a diesel engine and generator to power the train on non-electrified tracks.
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
The testing regime is not the bottleneck, the electrification of the line is.
editor
hiraethified
It will be if the train doesn't pass its running tests.
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
It can fail them multiple times and still make the date. 5000 miles is not that much and there's 17 months to go. I really wouldn't worry.
SikhWarrioR
And the Worms ate into his brain
Turbocharger whistle..............Who could forget Class 40s and class 20s and their turbocharger whistle and the Restriction "0" 201/202/203 hastings units could whistle too
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
I imagine a few complete trains will end up being preserved (and run on the main lines). Would be great to see the interiors and livery restored to their original designs too
neonwilderness
What would Badgers do?
The prototype HST has recently started running again on a preserved line, so expect the same will happen with some of the current ones too.I imagine a few complete trains will end up being preserved (and run on the main lines). Would be great to see the interiors and livery restored to their original designs too
http://www.projectmiller.org.uk/
editor
hiraethified
It's already several years late and there's possible problems with the unions over staffing.
Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
At least it's running on the GCR so can get a bit of speed on! (think they have a 40mph limit, faster than most preserved lines) Shame the other car was scrapped, I guess they could always get one of the production cars and paint it to match so a set can be run in original colours. I remember back in the 80s seeing this getting shunted around Temple Meads a couple of times, I'm not sure why they survived out of operational service as long as they did.
