Class 326 and Class 768 for Rail Operations Group 'Orion'

[Skimpot flyer]

319373 and 768001 have been working an extra daily service into and out of Royal Mail PRDC this week:

Realtime Trains - 364L 0534 Shieldmuir Mail Terminal to Willesden Prdc

Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

It was extremely late entering the depot on Tuesday (23/11/21), hauled in by a Class 37, despite one of the units being a bi-mode. Anybody know why? Same diesel haulage was used yesterday and again today https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:K51517/2021-11-24/detailed but the service most definitely did not use Platform 5, as the westernmost roads in PRDC have been covered-over for some years! It came in on 2

 

[seagull]

Thought I'd add to this thread, I assume this 0531 "364B" Shieldmuir Mail Terminal to Willesden PRDC must be a regular Class 37 hauled working? Does anyone know the proper headcode, for my records?
Photo shows "364B" with 37884 heading south through Crewe on 30th December.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Thought I'd add to this thread, I assume this 0531 "364B" Shieldmuir Mail Terminal to Willesden PRDC must be a regular Class 37 hauled working? Does anyone know the proper headcode, for my records?
Photo shows "364B" with 37884 heading south through Crewe on 30th December.

View attachment 107982

It's 3Q41 southbound and 3Q20 for the northbound return later in the day.

 

[DBS92042]

Thought I'd add to this thread, I assume this 0531 "364B" Shieldmuir Mail Terminal to Willesden PRDC must be a regular Class 37 hauled working? Does anyone know the proper headcode, for my records?
Photo shows "364B" with 37884 heading south through Crewe on 30th December.

View attachment 107982

Its been mostly a 57 dragging 768001 & 319373 around recently but presumably one wasn't available this week so 37884 has been used

 

[seagull]

Thank you, those 37s just keep going, amazing machines.

 

[xotGD]

Thank you, those 37s just keep going, amazing machines.

A 37 on a parcels train. I never thought that we'd see that again.

 

[driverd]

Hi all, just been reading about the LNWR class 319s, where a member had said the 769 project had now been brought to an end. I see only 2x 768s have been converted and the rest appear to be dragged only.

Has this project been shut down? Or is it just the usual reliability that other users of the 769s are experiencing?

 

[Ribbleman]

Hi all, just been reading about the LNWR class 319s, where a member had said the 769 project had now been brought to an end. I see only 2x 768s have been converted and the rest appear to be dragged only.

Has this project been shut down? Or is it just the usual reliability that other users of the 769s are experiencing?

After the closure of Brush at Loughborough was announced it was stated that any future conversions from 319s would be carried out at Doncaster. Things may have changed since then.

 

[warwickshire]

37884 Cepheus is back today it worked the.
1.1104 508x Crewe South Yard to Soho L.M.D. Following on with the
2. 513x 1615 Soho L.M.D to Long Marston workings.
Both occasions it moved 768001 with it.
First of all to Soho now in a new location down at Long Marston so 768001 in Orion Livery parcels unit is now at Long Marston.
However does anyone know why 768001 is at Long Marston?
Has the project ended like a op said just above in this thread recently?

 

[43102EMR]

37884 Cepheus is back today it worked the.
1.1104 508x Crewe South Yard to Soho L.M.D. Following on with the
2. 513x 1615 Soho L.M.D to Long Marston workings.
Both occasions it moved 768001 with it.
First of all to Soho now in a new location down at Long Marston so 768001 in Orion Livery parcels unit is now at Long Marston.
However does anyone know why 768001 is at Long Marston?
Has the project ended like a op said just above in this thread recently?

I think it’s more a case of there’s no available work at the moment for the units which ROG ordered, as is the case with their 360s.

 

[pdeaves]

However does anyone know why 768001 is at Long Marston?

There might be 'other reasons' as well, but one reason is to display it at Rail Live (massive trade exhibition) next week.

 

[fgwrich]

After the closure of Brush at Loughborough was announced it was stated that any future conversions from 319s would be carried out at Doncaster. Things may have changed since then.

Doncaster for the 319 > 769 conversions and Eastleigh for the Parcels conversion. But, ROGs ex Thameslink and ex Northern 319s seem to be gathering dust at the back of the works with no recent progress to be seen on any of their units.

 

[warwickshire]

547C 0945 Long Marston to Crewe South yard today saw 37800 take 768001 back to Crewe from Long Marston from the rail live project.
Hopefully the Orion parcels units might return back into service soon for Rail Operations Group. Hopefully Anyone else kindly know please what might happen or not regarding the units please. Will other 768s becoming available soon?

 

[Wyrleybart]

547C 0945 Long Marston to Crewe South yard today saw 37800 take 768001 back to Crewe from Long Marston from the rail live project.
Hopefully the Orion parcels units might return back into service soon for Rail Operations Group. Hopefully Anyone else kindly know please what might happen or not regarding the units please. Will other 768s becoming available soon?

Odd they hadto use a diesel loco to haul it rather than use it's own diesels

 

[Mollman]

Odd they hadto use a diesel loco to haul it rather than use it's own diesels

Might be down to driver used not being trained on them

 

[fgwrich]

Might be down to driver used not being trained on them

To be honest, I’m not really sure ROGs 768s have ever worked in anger in Diesel mode? They do seem to spend most of their time being hauled around.

 

[XCTurbostar]

To be honest, I’m not really sure ROGs 768s have ever worked in anger in Diesel mode? They do seem to spend most of their time being hauled around.

From speaking with a few ROG staff at Rail Live; the 326s and 768s have been a bit of a disaster. The 768 has a large list of faults with limited staff trained on them but they are attempting to appeal to the market and improve reliability.

 

[Herefordian]

Is anyone aware of what, if anything, is happening with Orion, please?

As with the 321 Swift, it seems to have gone quiet.

 

[fgwrich]

Is anyone aware of what, if anything, is happening with Orion, please?

As with the 321 Swift, it seems to have gone quiet.

ROG's 319s at Eastleigh all seem to have been shunted out of the main shed now. Likely work seems to have stopped on them, with one appearing to be partially rubbed down. Perhaps Swift has Orion concerned?

 

[sad1e]

Looking on units I need to log I've found the class 768s , any ideas what moments or services these run?

From the sightings log 001 seems to be in Crewe South yard while 002 seems to be in castle donnington. Is this accurate and do these units often get use ?

 

[fgwrich]

Looking on units I need to log I've found the class 768s , any ideas what moments or services these run?

From the sightings log 001 seems to be in Crewe South yard while 002 seems to be in castle donnington. Is this accurate and do these units often get use ?

No. I don’t think these have ever turned a wheel in anger as actual Parcels units and spent more time in storage either at Castle Donnington or Crewe.

 

[DBS92042]

No. I don’t think these have ever turned a wheel in anger as actual Parcels units and spent more time in storage either at Castle Donnington or Crewe.

768001 saw very brief use in service with the now scrapped 319373. 768002 on the other hand was converted and then never saw any use and went into storage