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Trivia: How close have 153s and 156s ever been to London?

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fgwrich

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While the 150s were ousted from London Overground duties by 2010, the closest (barring the 950) since then would have been during 150001/002s time based out of Reading, increased further when 002 worked special services from West Drayton down the former Brentford branch in 2014.

 
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61653 HTAFC

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Back in the mid to late nineties a RR 158 ran a regular night time service from Swansea to Paddington, arrived just after midnight. One time it was replaced with a pacer! I think thats the only time a regional railways / 15x has run into London (apart from the 159's of course)
I worked into Paddington with a cl.150 on that Swansea to London service,sometime in the late 90s I think.
There were also 158 services to and from Waterloo operated by Wales & West. Destinations as diverse as Pembroke Dock, Carmarthen and notoriously Manchester Piccadilly via Salisbury, Bristol, the Severn Tunnel, the Newport avoiding curve and the Marches line. Used it all the way to Manchester once, the guard was a bit surprised to find someone doing the whole run, even he wasn't!
To keep us on topic, I'm not sure if those services were ever strengthened (or subbed) with 153s, but I wouldn't rule it out.
 

Peter Mugridge

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Back in the mid to late nineties a RR 158 ran a regular night time service from Swansea to Paddington, arrived just after midnight. One time it was replaced with a pacer! I think thats the only time a regional railways / 15x has run into London (apart from the 159's of course)

Wales and West had a daily or twice daily diagram into Waterloo for a while.

Class 155s used to work daily via Didcot back around 1991. I recall an evening Oxford to Cheltenham service which, I believe, interworked with Cotswold Line services.

Yes, the 155s at one time monopolised the Cotswold services that started from Oxford so it makes perfect sense that some were booked through Didcot.
 

Tetchytyke

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I'm pretty sure I read that 156s made it to Kings Cross in the period after the Sandy crash, whilst the 91s were all suspended from service. All sorts of stuff made it, including the WY 321s.
 
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61653 HTAFC

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I'm pretty sure I read that 156s made it to Kings Cross in the period after the Sandy crash, whilst the 91s were all suspended from service. All sorts of stuff made it, including the WY 321s.
My understanding of that situation was that only EMUs were used to Kings Cross, with the 321/9s and several pairs of 317s used to form Leeds services. As noted below, other units filled in further north.

The episode has since taken on legendary status on the platform ends of course, so there's stories of Pacers working ECML expresses to KX as a result. Weird how nobody managed to photograph them though... ;)
 
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Tetchytyke

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The episode has since taken on legendary status on the platform ends of course, so there's stories of Pacers working ECML expresses as a result. Weird how nobody managed to photograph them though... ;)

True enough, and it might be that 156s were used elsewhere (e.g. Newcastle to Edinburgh) and things get muddled. It does stick in my mind as being reported in the back of Rail, but it could also be my mind playing tricks. I know it was mainly 321s and 317s which, as 100mph units, would make more sense!
 

DarloRich

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The episode has since taken on legendary status on the platform ends of course, so there's stories of Pacers working ECML expresses as a result. Weird how nobody managed to photograph them though.


I certainly had pacers on the northern ECML a that time as that is all there was. Express was not a word to describe them. It took something like 3 hours to get from Newcastle to Darlington
 

Nicks

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I caught the fairly short lived Wales and West Service from Waterloo a couple of times for a long way round journey to Wales/Shropshire, I think it was always 158s but I know they had some other sprinter trains 150s? - was there any chance one of these got that far?
 

gka472l

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dk1

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153s where regular visitors to Ilford for tyre turning. The foot steps at one end where removed due to being out of gauge at certain stations. This precluded them ever being used other than ECS.
 

fat_boy_pete

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In Anglia days cl.150 units used to go into Liverpool Street regularly, on one of the last up main line workings, iirc.

I think a cl.153 got in there on the very odd occasion but they weren't supposed to be in there.

And in the late 90's it was timetabled back from LST at 06.00 as a through service to Sheringham!
 

Cambus731

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I rode on a Class 156 on the Braintree branch a few years ago when there was engineering works.
 

DJ_K666

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153s operated the Brighton - Cardiffs when they were 155s. Does that count?

I do remember 156s before the 158s were introduced. Still no match for a 33 and 5 mk1s comfort-wise though
 

SeanG

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It was only from Rochdale. Virgin ran the BPN - EUS service with HST’s back then.
Did the 158s split/join anywhere with one from Rochdale and one from somewhere else, or am I imagining things?

I know they also ran from Euston - Manchester Airport with 322s but that is rather off topic here.
 

Class 170101

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156s from memory were cleared to and went to Ilford Depot?

153s not so. Not sure how close they got.

153s where regular visitors to Ilford for tyre turning. The foot steps at one end where removed due to being out of gauge at certain stations. This precluded them ever being used other than ECS.

As @dk1 says 153s got to Ilford Depot. However 156s did get to Liverpool Street. One Bank Holiday one was diagrammed to run to / from Liverpool Street and it made it as part of the Liverpool Street to Peterborough / Lowestoft services so I am told.

I rode on a Class 156 on the Braintree branch a few years ago when there was engineering works.

Both 156s and 170s did it on a Sunday some years back now due to the OLE power being switched off as the High Output Ballast Cleaner was working near Witham.
 

Neptune

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Did the 158s split/join anywhere with one from Rochdale and one from somewhere else, or am I imagining things?

I know they also ran from Euston - Manchester Airport with 322s but that is rather off topic here.
No it was just Rochdale. 158757,758 & 759 were the dedicated units and had 16 seats partitioned off at one end for first class passengers. Nothing special, just NSE style FC moquette fitted. Other units did also work the service.

The Manchester Airport airport service saw 322484 & 485 repainted in FNW livery for the service. I believe other 322’s worked the service also.
 

itsonlyme

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Memory may be failing here but I thought the Blackpool service joined with the Rochdale service at Warrington Bank Quay, this was not a boarding and or alighting stop for passengers.
 

LowLevel

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It was only from Rochdale. Virgin ran the BPN - EUS service with HST’s back then.

It was both. Blackpool and Rochdale coupling at Warrington Bank Quay. Blackpool portion didn't stop at Preston and neither officially called at Warrington.

One of privatisation's early years curiosities.
 

RailWonderer

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I rode on a Class 156 on the Braintree branch a few years ago when there was engineering works.
Can confirm. Someone I know told me they had a two coach train that was completely filthy that was an LST - Braintree run 156, and was in complete surprise. It was apparently bad enough I had to be told about it.
 

David Goddard

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Back to 153s:
Both were used on Marks Tey to Sudbury branch. Not quite as close as Bletchley I guess but worth noting.
Bletchley 46.54 from Euston
Marks Tey 46.49 from Liverpool Street, therefore marginally closer, but if we think about the layout of the two stations I think it's a draw!
Can't find any clues to suggest they have worked to Stansted
Assuming we are talking about in service operations only.
 

jimm

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156s worked into Oxford on Cotswold line services for a while in BR days

Rare in the extreme - while 155s were regulars on the line for a while until the Class 153 conversion programme began, pretty much all the 156 visits to the line were on Cotswold Line Promotion Group specials using sets from the Central Trains pool in the late 1990s and early 2000s (Central's Worcester depot drivers had route knowledge at the time, so they could drive Turbos under contract to Thames Trains as far as Oxford)

For example http://hondawanderer.com/156419_Moreton-in-Marsh_2000.htm
 

Iskra

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Remember seeing a Silverlink liveried 150 at the blocks at Euston one afternoon in the early 2000s. It was on the platform my DC service was running from, not sure why.

I think that was fairly normal. I remember having one from Euston to Watford Junction in the early 00's.
 

daodao

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153s operated the Brighton - Cardiffs when they were 155s. Does that count?

I do remember 156s before the 158s were introduced. Still no match for a 33 and 5 mk1s comfort-wise though
I recall travelling from Cardiff to Chichester on a sprinter (probably class 158, but may have been a 156) in about 1992.
 

Wolvercoter

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Rare in the extreme - while 155s were regulars on the line for a while until the Class 153 conversion programme began, pretty much all the 156 visits to the line were on Cotswold Line Promotion Group specials using sets from the Central Trains pool in the late 1990s and early 2000s (Central's Worcester depot drivers had route knowledge at the time, so they could drive Turbos under contract to Thames Trains as far as Oxford)

For example http://hondawanderer.com/156419_Moreton-in-Marsh_2000.htm
I recorded plenty of 156s on the Cotswold Line between October 1991 and May 1993, mostly low numbered sets but also 156441, 156452 and 156468. They worked alongside Centro 150s after the 155s departed.

Example at Oxford: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolvercotewanderer/49139129211
 
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