Ooh nice, the 68s have made it to Moor Street! Definitely doing a day out on Monday now!
The run to Moor Street was just a training run.
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Class 68 Progress, what's the latest?
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The run to Moor Street was just a training run.
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t_star2001uk
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We should be testing a 68 on one of our silver sets on saturday. This may include a run to Banbury and back.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Ahhh, well I might be up that way anyway on Monday. Weather may be good enough to do a trip to Oxfordshire, we'll soon see!
Good shots by the way!
SkinnyDave
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Are there any drivers on here that have driven one?
One passed me when I was waiting at Greenfaulds and I must admit the sound of engine was beautiful
One passed me when I was waiting at Greenfaulds and I must admit the sound of engine was beautiful
Good shots, but has the GWR steam locomotive gone from Moor Street? Or was the 68 just not well placed for a shot of both?
t_star2001uk
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sprinterguy
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To add a little more detail to what matt has said, it was moved to Tyseley in June 2013 for restoration.
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SkinnyDave
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What's your verdict?
I'm meeting a DRS driver in Scotland in May for a beer but he is still on 66s fior now
Ah, that explains it. Thanks both.
t_star2001uk
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Superb machine. Air con and a cup holder won me over on day 1.
SkinnyDave
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We are easily pleased as train drivers lol
Quite a bit quieter as well with a comfy seat.. Sorted
Sunbird24
Member
Good for you, congratulations! I hope to see some in action in a couple of months when I visit UK.
In the meantime still no sightings of the second batch in Valencia but I will be passing by later this morning. A Euro 4000 for VFLI is scheduled for despatch any day now, as are some more Euro 4000s for South Africa, although rumour has it that at 4310mm (UIC 505-1) they may be too high for the South African loading gauge of 3965mm. Perhaps the routes they are planned for have a higher limit! 5 have already been delivered or are on the way, the first being delivered and unveiled in Cape Town on 1st December and 4 more transported to Porto for onward shipment the same month.
Still only Euro 4000s visible this morning, with several loco transporters both inside and and 2 parked on the road outside, which will take 2 SA locomotives to Porto docks.
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gazthomas
Established Member
DRS Class 68 No. 68007 Valiant passes the hamlet of Crownthorpe, north of Wymondham with the 11.00 Dereham to Wymondham Abbey on Sunday 28th December 2014. This was the first time a class 68 had visited a preserved railway, which resulted in excellent passenger numbers on day
Dampflok
Member
Yes, 68013 worked this test train, hopefully without any problems, though only as far as Bicester. Shot of the outward run 5N68 approaching Princes Risborough here, in awkward light straight into the sun:
Return run 5E68 near Kingsey:
"Clickable" images as per usual.
Still no idea when 68s might start appearing on regular Mainline Silver services...
Cheers, Geoff
Peter Sarf
Established Member
I managed to get to Marylebone last night (Thu 29/01/2015). I just saw the 18:15 Loco-hauled leaving but have no idea what class of loco was on the front. The 18:10 arrival from Kidderminster arrived at about 18:20 and had 68012 propelling. I wanted to go out past Wembley LMD to see if any more 68s were there (thoretically 68010 and 68013). I chose the 18:29 and got off at South Ruislip. At approvimately 19:00 a class 68 burst out of the darkness heading North. Probably it was 68012 and I assume it was going back to Kidderminster on the 18:47 service from Marylebone.
It was too dark/fast at Wembley for me to id loco numbers but I am fairly definite there were no 68s there. Rather there must have been at least five 67s there. Today it has dawned on me that means there maybe no 67s in service with Chiltern and that perhaps as many as five 68s are in service. Conjecture I know.
As for sound - rather nice. Deep humming/throbbing a bit like a Deltic as 68012 coasted into Marylebone. Also at speed there was a kind of roar like a Deltic going past. So I would say the 68s sound most like a Deltic from my limited experience. OK rather quieter but they don't sound like any other locomotive.
It was too dark/fast at Wembley for me to id loco numbers but I am fairly definite there were no 68s there. Rather there must have been at least five 67s there. Today it has dawned on me that means there maybe no 67s in service with Chiltern and that perhaps as many as five 68s are in service. Conjecture I know.
As for sound - rather nice. Deep humming/throbbing a bit like a Deltic as 68012 coasted into Marylebone. Also at speed there was a kind of roar like a Deltic going past. So I would say the 68s sound most like a Deltic from my limited experience. OK rather quieter but they don't sound like any other locomotive.
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Only the 17:50 to Banbury and the 18:47 to Kidderminster were class 68 hauled. The others were still class 67s.
67018
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Yes, the 1750 Banbury (and the inward journey in the morning) has had 68010 on it this week
Old Hill Bank
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DJD200
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Getting there then, guess they will all be phased in over the comming weeks.
Any idea if they'll be hauling Saturday services to/from Marylebone in March?
Thanks
DJ
221129
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Does anyone know if any of the Chiltern 68s are likely to be about on Friday afternoon or anytime Saturday?
RobShipway
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Getting there then, guess they will all be phased in over the comming weeks.
Surely, the phasing in of the Class 68's is currently delayed with the landfall issue between Banbury and Leamington Spa at the moment?
swt_passenger
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The post you're replying to was made over 12 hours before the landslip - it was a reasonable supposition when written.
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1063MONITOR
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Doesn't seem to be, Robbies ... http://www.mainlinediesels.net/index.php?nav=1000001&file=vl_2693_51&action=image
Hi all, great site! reckon I've lurked long enough so..
sprinterguy
Established Member
That's still just the Banbury commuter rake though, which has been operating with a class 68 for a few weeks already now.
1063MONITOR
New Member
Neither of us mentioned trains, sprinterguy. We were on about the loco's. Whether light engine or hauling stuff, on any service trains or training runs, so far at least 5 or 6 "Class 68's" (2/10/11/12/15 and probably 13) have been to Banbury.
sprinterguy
Established Member
I believe it was mentioned: Robbies' response to Old Hill Bank's original post was with regard to the "phasing in" of the locos on Chiltern services.
Peter Sarf
Established Member
Thursday 05/02/2014.
Marylebone had only one 68 in the time I was there 17:45-18:20.
68015 on the 17:50 departure to Banbury.
67014 on the 18:15 departure to as far as Banbury - note this service is not shown in the temporary timetable but did run.
Apparently the 18:50 is no longer a 68 and I believe only one 68 is South of the blockage (i.e. South of Banbury). The other 68s went back North via the WCML earlier this week apparently.
The sound of a 68 :- I had time to stand on the platform and watch it leave. By the time 68015 had gone past me and was heading towards the road over bridge it sounded like a class 47 on steroids !. That familiar chuckling/chattering sound of a 12LDA28C but with more force.
Drivers report the superior acceleration of a 68 and I did notice how ponderous 67014s departure from Marylebone was compared to 68015. Both had six MK3s on and a DVT iirc. Bring back the Westerns with up to 12 on :cry:.
The 67 sounds a lot more like a 66 under load - even when it is sat waiting to depart (ETH load perhaps ?).
Digression alert
I also noticed the stabling sidings to the West of platform 6 at Marylebone have gone. They were only there for about twenty years iirc. I presume that Wembley LMD is the replacement. Of course the original Marylebone depot is now the block of flats to the North East of the station. While I walked back to the buffers I remembered how wide the train shed used to be about twenty years ago (before NSE ?). Mind you it was still only four platforms iirc because there was a cab-road/empty-parking along the length of where the tracks for platforms 2 & 3 are now. So the station was rationalised but retaining the four platforms by moving platforms 2, 3 & 4 nearer to platform 1 - iirc ?. Then when the extra two platforms were added, about ten years ago, by Chiltern, they had to be poked in on the North western corner of the rest of the station. Room for perhaps two more platforms now the sidings have gone ?. Either that or demolish the flats and offices that seem to have been built in the 1990s on the Western side of the station
. What a busy station Marylebone is nowadays compared to the days (early NSE ?) when it was proposed to convert the route into a guided bus way !.
Electrification anybody ?.
Marylebone had only one 68 in the time I was there 17:45-18:20.
68015 on the 17:50 departure to Banbury.
67014 on the 18:15 departure to as far as Banbury - note this service is not shown in the temporary timetable but did run.
Apparently the 18:50 is no longer a 68 and I believe only one 68 is South of the blockage (i.e. South of Banbury). The other 68s went back North via the WCML earlier this week apparently.
The sound of a 68 :- I had time to stand on the platform and watch it leave. By the time 68015 had gone past me and was heading towards the road over bridge it sounded like a class 47 on steroids !. That familiar chuckling/chattering sound of a 12LDA28C but with more force.
Drivers report the superior acceleration of a 68 and I did notice how ponderous 67014s departure from Marylebone was compared to 68015. Both had six MK3s on and a DVT iirc. Bring back the Westerns with up to 12 on :cry:.
The 67 sounds a lot more like a 66 under load - even when it is sat waiting to depart (ETH load perhaps ?).
Digression alert
I also noticed the stabling sidings to the West of platform 6 at Marylebone have gone. They were only there for about twenty years iirc. I presume that Wembley LMD is the replacement. Of course the original Marylebone depot is now the block of flats to the North East of the station. While I walked back to the buffers I remembered how wide the train shed used to be about twenty years ago (before NSE ?). Mind you it was still only four platforms iirc because there was a cab-road/empty-parking along the length of where the tracks for platforms 2 & 3 are now. So the station was rationalised but retaining the four platforms by moving platforms 2, 3 & 4 nearer to platform 1 - iirc ?. Then when the extra two platforms were added, about ten years ago, by Chiltern, they had to be poked in on the North western corner of the rest of the station. Room for perhaps two more platforms now the sidings have gone ?. Either that or demolish the flats and offices that seem to have been built in the 1990s on the Western side of the station
. What a busy station Marylebone is nowadays compared to the days (early NSE ?) when it was proposed to convert the route into a guided bus way !. Electrification anybody ?.
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