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Class 139 - Information please!

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Peter C

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Hello all.
I am currently looking into the Class 139 Parry People Movers, and would like to find out some information about them. I have done a lot of Google searching and I have read a lot of the websites about these units, including the official Pre-Metro page.
I was wondering if anyone could please supply me with the following information:

-The different cab controls of the units, and the layout of them

-Sounds of the units working, either from inside the unit or outside (preferably very good recordings, e.g. ones without too much talking, birds, other noise in the background)

-The safety systems fitted to the units, as in AWS and the like

-What they are like to drive

-What they are like to ride in

If anyone has any recordings of the units, I would love it if they could send them to me in a private message on here.

Thanks,

-Peter
 
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ed1971

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Very juddery. Granted, that may be purely down to track condition. I rode a demo Parry at Bristol harbour many moons ago and the Stourbridge one earlier this year. In both cases they felt very rough.

They look like a micro Pacer!
 

Peter C

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Very juddery. Granted, that may be purely down to track condition. I rode a demo Parry at Bristol harbour many moons ago and the Stourbridge one earlier this year. In both cases they felt very rough.
Thanks. Interesting.

-Peter
 

theblackwatch

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I had a ride on the one that was demonstrated at the Wensleydale Railway some years ago (from Leeming Bar to just outside Northallerton and back). Suffice to say, I was glad to get off! I've also ridden on the Stourbridge ones and thought they were ideal for that distance.
 

Crossover

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The safety systems fitted to the units, as in AWS and the like

I'm not sure it has anything other than a vigilence device (which goes off about every 10-15 seconds) - the branch has no AWS or TPWS that I am aware of
 

Peter C

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I had a ride on the one that was demonstrated at the Wensleydale Railway some years ago (from Leeming Bar to just outside Northallerton and back). Suffice to say, I was glad to get off! I've also ridden on the Stourbridge ones and thought they were ideal for that distance.
Very interesting, thanks.
The 139s do sound perfect for the route from what I've read.

-Peter
 

Peter C

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I'm not sure it has anything other than a vigilence device (which goes off about every 10-15 seconds) - the branch has no AWS or TPWS that I am aware of
OK. Thanks. I was wondering if it had any safety features purely because I hadn't heard of any. The vigilance device - is it a standard DSD/DVD*?

-Peter

*Driver Safety Device or Driver Vigilance Device, same thing.
 

Crossover

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OK. Thanks. I was wondering if it had any safety features purely because I hadn't heard of any. The vigilance device - is it a standard DSD/DVD*?

-Peter

*Driver Safety Device or Driver Vigilance Device, same thing.

That I don't know I'm afraid
 

Llama

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Driver/guard change roles regularly so I believe.

The diagrams on the 'town car', the invariable class 153 which was used before the 139s came about, were awful.
 

CC 72100

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OK. Thanks. I was wondering if it had any safety features purely because I hadn't heard of any. The vigilance device - is it a standard DSD/DVD*?

-Peter

*Driver Safety Device or Driver Vigilance Device, same thing.

Not the same thing. Driver safety device- just needs weight on the pedal, could be a sack of spuds for all it knows, Driver Vigilance device - the thing which checks that whatever is applying pressure on the DSD pedal is a human being and not a sack of spuds by getting the pressure to be removed and reapplied every minute or so.
 

Peter C

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Not the same thing. Driver safety device- just needs weight on the pedal, could be a sack of spuds for all it knows, Driver Vigilance device - the thing which checks that whatever is applying pressure on the DSD pedal is a human being and not a sack of spuds by getting the pressure to be removed and reapplied every minute or so.
Oh OK. Sorry - I assumed it was a standard railway thing of having two names for one thing!

-Peter
 

Peter C

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Driver/guard change roles regularly so I believe.

The diagrams on the 'town car', the invariable class 153 which was used before the 139s came about, were awful.
What were said diagrams like?

-Peter
 

xotGD

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A trip on a 139 is more like a fairground ride than a normal train journey.
 

Sprinter107

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The branch was fitted with TPWS when worked by a 153. It also had AWS magnets for the fixed distant signals at either end. The track was never too bad when worked by a 153, but just before the 163 was taken off, the branch was visited by a tamper, so for the last few weeks, the 153 rode like a ball on a billiard table, it was a very smooth ride.
The Parry Mover was rough from day 1.
 

Peter C

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The branch was fitted with TPWS when worked by a 153. It also had AWS magnets for the fixed distant signals at either end. The track was never too bad when worked by a 153, but just before the 163 was taken off, the branch was visited by a tamper, so for the last few weeks, the 153 rode like a ball on a billiard table, it was a very smooth ride.
The Parry Mover was rough from day 1.
Oh OK. Interesting, thanks. I assumed that the 139s were just always very smooth rides.

-Peter
 

HOOVER29

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It’s a bit bouncy/noisy but for the distance it’s fine. When I used the service last year the thing wouldn’t restart at Stourbridge town so we all had to get off while the floor was lifted to change a bottle over. Was all sorted in a jiffy. Better use of assets than having a 153 rolling up & down all day with about 8 passengers on it.
 

Peter C

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It’s a bit bouncy/noisy but for the distance it’s fine. When I used the service last year the thing wouldn’t restart at Stourbridge town so we all had to get off while the floor was lifted to change a bottle over. Was all sorted in a jiffy. Better use of assets than having a 153 rolling up & down all day with about 8 passengers on it.
OK. That incident at Stourbridge Town is interesting. These 139s, whilst bouncy, definitely seem to be better than having a 153 which is half empty!

-Peter
 

Sprinter107

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It’s a bit bouncy/noisy but for the distance it’s fine. When I used the service last year the thing wouldn’t restart at Stourbridge town so we all had to get off while the floor was lifted to change a bottle over. Was all sorted in a jiffy. Better use of assets than having a 153 rolling up & down all day with about 8 passengers on it.
There were many more than 8 passengers. The 16.11 from the town regularly carried well over a hundred passengers. It was late at night the passenger numbers dropped.
 

ed1971

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I have been taking a look at the Parry People Movers website. There are a number of interesting products being developed including a 18mm bogied railcar. It is in a way a single car super Pacer.
To look at an artist impression of it, go to http://www.parrypeoplemovers.com/ then click on 'products' tab at the top then click on 'under development bogie-mounted vehicles'. It should ride a lot better than the Class 39.
 
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