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Is anyone able to explain this train on a suburban road?

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DB

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It appears to be a Northern 769 driving vehicle in ex-works condition.

Probably on delivery to Northern after conversion.
 

6Gman

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Where was the photo taken? Would help explain why it was there.
 

AM9

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Interesting, thanks! I wonder what the "Flex..." logo is on the side?
'Flex' is the name that Porterbrook, the Train's owners, have given to their programme of converting EMUs to DEMUs by adding diesel engines and DC generators.
 

swt_passenger

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FLEX is the owners (Porterbrook’s) name for the conversion of 319s into 769s. It’s a term widely used in many existing 769 threads...
 

DB

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Interesting, thanks! I wonder what the "Flex..." logo is on the side?

Flex is the marketing name for the 769s.

Where was the photo taken? The conversion from Class 319 is being done at Brush in Loughborough and they will probably be delivered to Allerton depot in Liverpool.
 

hobbm013

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Transport for Wales are recieving 769 units - made from 319s. They have received 8.75 of them so far but due to delays one of the end carriages is yet to be delivered and won’t be for a while.

The other 3/4s of the unit have been delivered but couldn’t be moved from the Brickyard sidings to Canton Depot without the driving unit. As a result this 319 car has been supplied to allow the unit to move across to the depot whilst the 769 end unit is completed.
 

jopsuk

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when it's just one vehicle (or a couple), especially out of an MU (where the inner end coupling is not one that a loco or match wagon would have) , road delivery is inevitably cheaper and easier
 

Cowley

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One of the kids sent me that picture the other day with the caption ‘When you’ve been bidding on eBay drunk’...
 

Nicholas Lewis

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Road haulage cheaper than hiring a loco and/or paying track access charges?
I despair of the rail industry that it doesn't fix this its absolute madness and negative press for the railway. Why don't RDG take the bull by the horns to get it sorted with industry groups. r
 

Jozhua

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It looked smaller on eBay to be fair...didn't half cost me in shipping though!
 

Spartacus

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I despair of the rail industry that it doesn't fix this its absolute madness and negative press for the railway. Why don't RDG take the bull by the horns to get it sorted with industry groups. r

What’s mad about it?
Is it mad that large numbers of road vehicles are transported at once on the back of a train when there are perfectly good roads? Is it negative press for those manufacturers to have their vehicles on a train from A to B instead of being driven? No, because you play to the relevant strengths.
The railway’s best at moving large amounts, preferably on predictable flows, not one vehicle on it’s own. The track access charges might be low, but they’re still higher than the road access ones, driver wages are likely higher than the lorry driver’s, and you’ll likely need more than one due to route and traction knowledge issues, never a problem on the road. How about certification, is the stock even cleared for the route? Again, not a problem on the roads, despite many low bridges. As for fuel, you might get a little better than 1mpg for a diesel hauled train, 5-7mpg probably for the road haulier (this type is a bit specialised), while red diesel’s only a little under half the price of normal, so fuel costs for rail will still be between 2 and 3 times that of road.

if there were a lot of vehicles being moved, such as a number of units on delivery, they’d likely move by rail, but it’s really not worth it for this.
 

21C101

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Seems odd, given they are now DEMUs that they have got a 7xx not an2xx number?
 

StripeyNick

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The latest 769 delivered to Cardiff carries Northern livery as they repaint them at Canton.

They were originally transferred to Cardiff by rail but apparently a gauging issue has been discovered en-route meaning the last 3 or 4 have had to come down via road. I presume the issue is somewhere that prevents a diversion.
 

jopsuk

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Furthering one of my points above- the inner end coupler is just a bolt together bar coupler isn't it?
 

Domh245

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Seems odd, given they are now DEMUs that they have got a 7xx not an2xx number?

Strictly speaking they're bi-modes (albeit for TfW the pantographs are removed), giving them 750-799 to play with in terms of numbers.
 

Nicholas Lewis

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What’s mad about it?
Is it mad that large numbers of road vehicles are transported at once on the back of a train when there are perfectly good roads? Is it negative press for those manufacturers to have their vehicles on a train from A to B instead of being driven? No, because you play to the relevant strengths.
The railway’s best at moving large amounts, preferably on predictable flows, not one vehicle on it’s own. The track access charges might be low, but they’re still higher than the road access ones, driver wages are likely higher than the lorry driver’s, and you’ll likely need more than one due to route and traction knowledge issues, never a problem on the road. How about certification, is the stock even cleared for the route? Again, not a problem on the roads, despite many low bridges. As for fuel, you might get a little better than 1mpg for a diesel hauled train, 5-7mpg probably for the road haulier (this type is a bit specialised), while red diesel’s only a little under half the price of normal, so fuel costs for rail will still be between 2 and 3 times that of road.

if there were a lot of vehicles being moved, such as a number of units on delivery, they’d likely move by rail, but it’s really not worth it for this.
There not standard loads they need clearance from the police and often have restricted times for movement and routing issues so need plenty of planning and specialist knowledge like a rail movement.

All the other issues are ones the industry needs to deal with but i don't buy like traction knowledge there are plenty of private hauliers that would have moved this by rail ie ROG. Track access charges should be waived for movements like this in fact do track access charges have a place anymore it was driven by EU deregulation and with direct award/concessions being bank rolled by the taxpayer why have an unnecessary money go around.

Finally if your saying road haulage is more efficient then we are lost.
 

swt_passenger

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Seems odd, given they are now DEMUs that they have got a 7xx not an2xx number?
2xx is a single mode diesel electric, no external power.
750-799 is electric OR “Self powered” - which is not really the same as 2xx.
 
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