Class 373 Eurostar withdrawals

[OwlMan]

The latest google maps satelite shows some 373s at Kingsbury
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5715426,-1.6780543,179m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en-GB

 

[Please Explain]

I suspected as much, cheers all for confirming.

Sad site indeed.. ??????

C'est la vie...

 

[CosherB]

Sad site indeed.. ��

C'est la vie...

Why so sad? These trains are 'knackered', to use the vernacular .....

 

[goblinuser]

Why so sad? These trains are 'knackered', to use the vernacular .....

I find it hard to believe really.
Here in the UK we've kept so much old stock running, think HST, class 20, 37, 56, 73, 86, mk3, mk2, even 1930s tube stock. It's a shock to see new stuff from the 90s get scrapped.

 

[Harbornite]

I find it hard to believe really.
Here in the UK we've kept so much old stock running, think HST, class 20, 37, 56, 73, 86, mk3, mk2, even 1930s tube stock. It's a shock to see new stuff from the 90s get scrapped.

Partly due to the fact that some of those classes are quite versatile, have a fairly high RA and all have not been operated so intensively, and at such high speeds.

 

[CosherB]

I find it hard to believe really.

It isn't really. Running trains at 186mph day in, day out, takes it's toll.

Plenty of debate on this thread why scrapping them is the only route left for them.

 

[rebmcr]

I find it hard to believe really.
Here in the UK we've kept so much old stock running, think HST, class 20, 37, 56, 73, 86, mk3, mk2, even 1930s tube stock. It's a shock to see new stuff from the 90s get scrapped.

Class 89, Class 92, Class 373 — they all use now-obsolete electronic components.

Earlier examples are just windings and ironmongery, much easier to 'keep going'.

 

[59CosG95]

It isn't really. Running trains at 186mph day in, day out, takes it's toll.

Plenty of debate on this thread why scrapping them is the only route left for them.

Agreed. They've had an absolute pounding over their lifespan, because, as CosherB rightly says, 186mph all year wears everything down that much quicker. Add in corrosion from the sea moisture in the air in the tunnel and it really isn't surprising that Eurostar opted for more 374s!

 

[Southern Dvr]

The question will be whether or not the 374s last as long as the 373s!

 

[AlexNL]

I'm somewhat surprised that Eurostar are keeping 8 TMSTs. While iconic trains, keeping such a relatively small fleet running must be quite expensive.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Are the 374s cleared for the Ski runs and the Disney runs?

 

[Southern Dvr]

I'm also surprised that none of the carriages have been bought [yet] for private use. I can imagine they could make for a novelty restaurant or pub extension somewhere assuming the electrics can be converted.

 

[ChilternTurbo]

The question will be whether or not the 374s last as long as the 373s!

Interesting question… Given the operational wear and tear involved with their predecessors, we may well see 374s heading for scrap in around 2040!

 

[59CosG95]

Interesting question… Given the operational wear and tear involved with their predecessors, we may well see 374s heading for scrap in around 2040!

It's a likely end-of-life prediction actually; Japan always seem to scrap Shinkansen sets after 20 years or so.

 

[AlexNL]

SNCF have sent some of the oldest TGVs to the scrapyard, DB are planning to do the same with the ICE1's once the new ICE4 trains have entered squadron service.

 

[D365]

SNCF have sent some of the oldest TGVs to the scrapyard, DB are planning to do the same with the ICE1's once the new ICE4 trains have entered squadron service.

As far as I'm aware there's been no complaint about the ICEs going for scrap - the first generations are of a similar vintage to the Class 373s.

 

[urpert]

I'm also surprised that none of the carriages have been bought [yet] for private use. I can imagine they could make for a novelty restaurant or pub extension somewhere assuming the electrics can be converted.

I’d be very surprised if they were ever offered for sale.

I remember reading an article about UPS a while back which stated that their vans were always scrapped to avoid them ending up on the second hand market and potentially damaging the UPS brand.

 

[goblinuser]

I'm also surprised that none of the carriages have been bought [yet] for private use. I can imagine they could make for a novelty restaurant or pub extension somewhere assuming the electrics can be converted.

There hasn't been much coverage not many people know about it.

 

[DelW]

It's a shock to see new stuff from the 90s get scrapped.

New? How many L- or M- registration cars do you see on the roads? And they haven't been used at high speed for 18 hours a day.

 

[D365]

For one thing, the Networkers and the IC225s are most definitely not "new".

 

[Roast Veg]

And surprisingly enough they're both up for at least partial replacement in the near future.

 

[D365]

And surprisingly enough they're both up for at least partial replacement in the near future.

Not that surprising in my view, obsolete electronics and very intensively worked.

 

[Roast Veg]

I don't disagree, it's not a coincidence that all stock form that era has it's days numbered.

 

[Peter Sarf]

My instinct is that I find it a worrying trend really - expecting things to last a shorter and shorter time.

But then if trains can be built cheaper then it helps justify replacing them with new technology as it comes available. I can also console myself with the point that if the "older" trains get old quicker because of more intensive use then they have served their purpose anyway.

I shall now go back to clinging to Westerns and 37s .

 

[gimmea50anyday]

Bear in mind the likes of 91s built in 1988 using 1970s APT technology using DC motors at the limit of their capability and notoriously light on their feet. Look at the size of the motor compared to the AC motor used in the 88 and how wheelslip control has changed. Technology improves and progresses and sadly so must the rolling stock. I miss working HSTs but I'm relishing the opportunity to work mk5s.

On a different note disco lights. Early LED fittings used multiple arrays of LEDs to create the lighting effects but the drawbacks were only the 3 primary colours were used and weren't very bright. 10 years later and not only has the price come down but now larger and brighter multi coloured RGBAW or RGBUV LEDs are used leading to far more stunning effects and greater flexibility over control is now available in simpler fittings. I was an earlier of LED lighting in my disco rig but they look old now in comparison to some of the traditional dichroic bulb lighting they replaced. Today's LEDs now surpass what the dichroic and gas discharge lamps did with less maintenance and lower running costs. It's the same scenario with today's IEP/AT300s replacing the HST and MK4s.

 

[ChilternTurbo]

My instinct is that I find it a worrying trend really - expecting things to last a shorter and shorter time.

I really think that trains are becoming like cars with a huge amount of built in obsolescence. You can see why it's easier to send (in railway terms) relatively new equipment for scrap and buy something new with the latest technology.

 

[TimboM]

I really think that trains are becoming like cars with a huge amount of built in obsolescence. You can see why it's easier to send (in railway terms) relatively new equipment for scrap and buy something new with the latest technology.

On the other hand you have the likes of GBRf and Brush/Wabtec investing heavily in resurrecting locos from this very era (Class 92s / 60s in particular) as they've deemed it a more cost effective option than buying new locos with these capabilities.

Bit of a different story for a full Eurostar rake hammered day-in/day-out at high speeds, though.

 

[gsnedders]

What makes me curious is whether we'll see a reduction in this once we get beyond the early digital equipment. Will we see trains with early AC motors going to scrap as early as the stuff from the late 80s/early 90s?

 

[bramling]

New? How many L- or M- registration cars do you see on the roads? And they haven't been used at high speed for 18 hours a day.

The difference is a car costs a few thousand pounds, whereas a rail vehicle is in the seven figure range.

 

[bramling]

What makes me curious is whether we'll see a reduction in this once we get beyond the early digital equipment. Will we see trains with early AC motors going to scrap as early as the stuff from the late 80s/early 90s?

I doubt it - the 1990s was a time of fast technological development, whereas things haven't moved on nearly so fast in the time since. Electrics being built today are not radically different from the likes of the early Electrostars and Desiros.

I must admit I find the current rolling stock situation rather depressing. We have pleasant-to-use EMUs like Networkers and 323s being potentially sidelined, whilst meanwhile comparatively old and intensively worked DMUs are just being expected to go on and on. No way should we have things like 150s potentially outliving 321s, let alone Networkers. It's all a bit of a mess unfortunately, but par for the course when we have politicians getting a little too involved with the running of the railway.