D.K.TAYLOR
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230003 and 230005 in operation today
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Creation of class 230 DEMUs from ex-LU D78s by Vivarail
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Neen Sollars
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Very interesting and enjoyable narrated cab ride on a 230 from Bedford to Bletchley. A few factual errors eg no aircon, but generally train, line and local history very good.
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Just hope the engine cooling fix has done its job, this hot weekend should be a good test for 230`s future reliability on the line.
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Just hope the engine cooling fix has done its job, this hot weekend should be a good test for 230`s future reliability on the line.
duffield
Established Member
Peak temperature around 28C, all services less than or equal to 3mins late at Bletchley/Bedford, no cancellations.
Should be a few degrees hotter tomorrow, we'll see how it goes.
Edit: Just realised that 'tomorrow', now today is Sunday - no service!
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Journeyman
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Thinking of going to have a look at the 230s on Friday. Will they be operating?
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
With the weather cooling down, I suspect we'll see an improvement. Hopefully the winter is long enough to design, manufacture and install improved cooling systems so next summer isn't as much of a mess as this summer was.
Neen Sollars
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Paths showing again for the coming week, will the red and white 230`s be seen at last?
Bob Price
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We'll find out at 9ish tomorrow
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/K12000/2019/09/02/advanced
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/K12000/2019/09/02/advanced
gazthomas
Established Member
I took 230003 from Bedford Stewartby and back on 230005 last Tuesday (27th August) to give them a try. I thought they were an improvement on a 153, nice and open and bright inside, but on what was a really, really warm day it was extremely uncomfortable. I only wish they had air conditioning! 230003 was a little sluggish, but 230005 was nippy
Or on any other day of this week, or the next, or the one after that, if that is when it is decided a train is ready for a trial run or two prior to delivery. As I have already pointed out, Vivarail request blocks of paths over an extended period, but rarely use them for more than a day or two at a time.
They are able to use the circuit at the Long Marston site for a lot of the basic testing on the 230s - there is even a short section of track where 40mph is permitted. The Cotswold Line runs with the Bletchley sets seemed to be very much the last runout before delivery and a chance to take them up to 60mph.
DarloRich
Veteran Member
Really poor service this week. Down to one train for most of the week and lots of cancellations. We did see 004 come back into service this morning
Vivarail have been testing overnight all week so modifications must have been made to one of the units although what they are no one knows!
Vivarail have been testing overnight all week so modifications must have been made to one of the units although what they are no one knows!
SteadyReadyGo
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London North Western are keen to hear feedback -
https://westmidlands.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bgDbwyiA22AbfTf
Had a ride on 230004 this morning it appeared that the engines in at least the front coach seemed to shut.down under braking and had to be restarted at almost every stop.
230003 was out on the other diagram while we passed 230005 which was waiting for the single line away from.Bletchley as we arrived.
230003 was out on the other diagram while we passed 230005 which was waiting for the single line away from.Bletchley as we arrived.
samuelmorris
Established Member
Just seen the first MTIN figure in Modern Railways for the 230s - 850. That's actually not as bad as the 345s when first introduced which were posting 700, 6 months after their first introduction but that that stage the fleet they were intending to replace was all still available in the background - no such luck for Marston Vale passengers.
Neen Sollars
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For all Marston Vale rail customers, please see Vivarail news page and scroll down to the Twitter feed section. It give details of an upcoming meet the manager event where the TOC and Vivarail representatives will be there to give an update on what they are doing to try to improve the MV service. It your chance to have your say.
andythebrave
Member
Seems another unit is out of use today. A rare chance for my family to get out for the evening looks like it is burned before stepping out of the house. This is pathetic.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
The missing diagram is bustituted I believe.
I'm on the one that's out, just departed Bedford. It really doesn't sound healthy, with the engines hunting rather like idling Class 185s do, and it seems rather sluggish. On the upside the bog is in use.
I'm on the one that's out, just departed Bedford. It really doesn't sound healthy, with the engines hunting rather like idling Class 185s do, and it seems rather sluggish. On the upside the bog is in use.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Driver seems to be nursing it, despite which both engines on this coach seem to be cutting out at every station with a nasty metallic bang. This unit is really not well.
Anyone got any 142s to hand? Three of those might tide us over for a bit until the CAT power packs can be sorted?
Anyone got any 142s to hand? Three of those might tide us over for a bit until the CAT power packs can be sorted?
I did think years back that these ford engines wouldn't stand up to it. Think I posted something to that effect too.
If it can't be sorted soon, there has to be a stop gap from somewhere. GA 153's come off lease in the next few months
Short term I still think sending 230001 to bletchley as a hot spare would help.
If it can't be sorted soon, there has to be a stop gap from somewhere. GA 153's come off lease in the next few months
Short term I still think sending 230001 to bletchley as a hot spare would help.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Noticed that the unit I was on (not sure which one) didn't have the door release mod - release was very slow, well after the bleeper sounded.
If 153s will be spare they may well be useful.
If 153s will be spare they may well be useful.
Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
There is some consolation in the fact that Vivarail have only a very small number of Class 230 units in active service. Just imagine what it would be like with 30 or 40 of these units in service.
samuelmorris
Established Member
TOCs typically don't accept 30-40 units in service when the MTIN is only in three figures - they usually defer the introduction until reliability can be brought up to at least 'poor'. With new stock introduction seeing such figures to begin with isn't uncommon - as I mentioned earlier, the 345 score was lower than that of the 230s at this point in their introduction, but based on what I'm hearing I'm not honestly sure it'll improve much until the power packs are replaced. It looks like they might be topping out at 800 miles per casualty, maybe 1000-1500 at best when even the worst Sprinter fleets achieve double that. I never expected the transit engines to fare well, but I didn't expect them to be this bad...
westcoaster
Established Member
One was parked at Bedford all day thursday, with ticker tape and a hand written note put on it.
a_c_skinner
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Seriously why? When one sees how Transits are driven on the road. Serious question.
samuelmorris
Established Member
Not because they're inherently bad but because they aren't designed with rail use in mind - there are precedents for translating road vehicle engines to rail use and to my recollection they weren't very successful either. Most of the transits you see being driven recklessly have smaller 4-cylinder engines, I can't really comment on those but from what I gather the 5-cylinder examples used in the 230s aren't that robust either, especially if not fitted with adequate cooling.
supervc-10
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Back when I was rowing my club would hire Transit tipper trucks to tow the boat trailer. There's a hill on the M40 which we would always have to turn the heater onto full for because otherwise it would start to overheat!
delticdave
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They're aren't that many 5-cylinder Transits about, you're more likely to find that engine in a hi-spec Ford Ranger.
One of my neighbours has been running one for 5 years as his company vehicle, & is very happy with it. He even persuaded the company to keep it on their fleet at the 3 year point, he couldn't find a suitable replacement!
One thought, is it a genuine Ford engine or a development of the Volvo 5 cylinder Volvo units?
LOL The Irony
On Moderation
From what I can tell, it's an in-house engine and has only been about this decade.
edwin_m
Veteran Member
Haven't all the underfloor engine types used in historic and current DMUs also been used on one road vehicle or another?
Not the IET engine as that is pretty new and NRMM use only so far, everything else has seen road use.
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