Creation of class 230 DEMUs from ex-LU D78s by Vivarail

[Peter Sarf]

According to Underground News 683...

230 001 is 7058+17058+7511
230 002 is 7122+7067
230 003 is 7069+7127
230 004 is 7100+7500
230 005 is 7066+7128

Oh - embarrassment. Yesterday I saw 7048 + 17058 + 7501 in LU livery (well ali' with red doors) from the road near the entrance to Vivarail. Now you are making me think we mis-read or I mis-noted the centre car. Is the centre car of 230001 definitely 17058 ?.

Just saw District Dave's site and my guess is we really saw 17048. What we saw appears to be a re-formed group of coaches (8048 being replaced by 7501). The 8xxx series of unit end-coaches are cab-less so the absence of 8048 makes sense. So is this destined to be a Welsh one ?.

In other news opinion from the Bletchley end is that these 230s do indeed accelerate very well.

 

[trash80]

Thats what UN says

 

[THC]

Á propos of nothing at all, we've made it to page 230. Well done everyone.

THC

 

[sw1ller]

Á propos of nothing at all, we've made it to page 230. Well done everyone.

THC

Where they up to with the class 800 thread?

 

[A0wen]

Well new chug is out to play today - currently heading towards Bedford and looking very smart too.

 

[DarloRich]

Well new chug is out to play today - currently heading towards Bedford and looking very smart too.

i wonder if the required millage between failure figures have been met yet. I wonder when LM staff training will start?

 

[sw1ller]

i wonder if the required millage between failure figures have been met yet. I wonder when LM staff training will start?

Will it be 1000 miles with this or less as it’s old stock refurbished?

 

[6Gtraincrew]

Gone very quiet recently. Is there any news on if testing is continuing? Have they solved the controller problem which delayed WMT introduction? Have union issues been solved? Do we know how the TFW sets are coming along?

 

[A0wen]

Gone very quiet recently. Is there any news on if testing is continuing? Have they solved the controller problem which delayed WMT introduction? Have union issues been solved? Do we know how the TFW sets are coming along?

I've seen it out and about most weekdays on the Marston Vale.

 

[DarloRich]

Gone very quiet recently. Is there any news on if testing is continuing? Have they solved the controller problem which delayed WMT introduction? Have union issues been solved? Do we know how the TFW sets are coming along?

it is out an about quite a bit actually. What I don't know is if it is meeting the required mileage accumulation

I've seen it out and about most weekdays on the Marston Vale.

it often seems to be doing late night runs when the line is empty - after another complete failure of the 153 yesterday ( meaning we were down to only one train all day) we are very keen to see the new units in use ASAP!

 

[HLE]

Any reason given why the dogbox failed? Must be the air down there! Though its seemed for a while the units allocated to the vale were 2 X 150's which seemed to help reliability a bit.

Daresay the maintenance has been more lax than usual given they're off to EMT in 2019, or meant to be. Had a few issues this end recently.

 

[Silverlinky]

Any reason given why the dogbox failed? Must be the air down there! Though its seemed for a while the units allocated to the vale were 2 X 150's which seemed to help reliability a bit.

Wiring fault on power controller was the reason I heard. Unable to get any power.

 

[Neen Sollars]

First post. Press release from Vivarail today, see link below, hope it works. Vivarail trying to increase the range of the all battery 230`s with improved battery technology. Upbeat press release which appears to indicate pantograph and third rail working variants in development.
Is a class 230 to be referred to/nicknamed as "An Orville"?

"http://vivarail.co.uk/vivarail-and-hoppecke-announce-long-term-supply-of-batteries-for-class-230s/"

How do I change background or insert a photo in the square above the members handle please.

 

[samuelmorris]

Thanks for the info - sounds promising as battery technology is still improving all the time (though I'm not sure the batteries fitted to trains would ever be that high-density for safety reasons).

I don't know if you can do it as a new member but to change your avatar, mouse-over your profile name in the top right of the site and hit 'Avatar'.

 

[Chester1]

First post. Press release from Vivarail today, see link below, hope it works. Vivarail trying to increase the range of the all battery 230`s with improved battery technology. Upbeat press release which appears to indicate pantograph and third rail working variants in development.
Is a class 230 to be referred to/nicknamed as "An Orville"?

http://vivarail.co.uk/vivarail-and-hoppecke-announce-long-term-supply-of-batteries-for-class-230s/

How do I change background or insert a photo in the sqaure above the members handle please.

The 65 mile range would be easily enough for the Island Line (8.5 miles, 22 minutes and 8 minutes recovery), a charger at Shanklin and depot only would do. Its promising for battery trains in general. The same batteries in 323s would solve much of Northern's DMU shortage!

 

[gnolife]

The 65 mile range would be easily enough for the Island Line (8.5 miles, 22 minutes and 8 minutes recovery), a charger at Shanklin and depot only would do. Its promising for battery trains in general. The same batteries in 323s would solve much of Northern's DMU shortage!

65 mile range on a 230 would equate to how far on a 323, which I would expect to be significantly heavier?

 

[samuelmorris]

Not so comparable as the vehicles on a 323 are much larger, (23m length vs 18m) so could potentially fit larger batteries. I don't know the units well enough to say how much space is taken up by the auxiliary gear that would still be required (and of course a lot of space is lost if the transformer is still required for AC operation where available).

 

[big all]

Not so comparable as the vehicles on a 323 are much larger, (23m length vs 18m) so could potentially fit larger batteries. I don't know the units well enough to say how much space is taken up by the auxiliary gear that would still be required (and of course a lot of space is lost if the transformer is still required for AC operation where available).

more space tends to mean the vehicle is already a bit heavier as more mass so may indeed mean less battery power because off both added weight limit and indeed because the span is greater between bogie pivots[unsupported span] this may further reduce the maximum load you can apply

now not saying more space wont be usable for a bigger battery pack just saying there is more to the equation

 

[Bletchleyite]

Not so comparable as the vehicles on a 323 are much larger, (23m length vs 18m) so could potentially fit larger batteries. I don't know the units well enough to say how much space is taken up by the auxiliary gear that would still be required (and of course a lot of space is lost if the transformer is still required for AC operation where available).

The transformer would probably be of use for charging during layovers on existing 25kV supplies. Or for charging while running, for something like Barrow/Windermere.

 

[martinsh]

Dogbox appeared to be out of action again today ?

 

[Brissle Girl]

Dogbox appeared to be out of action again today ?

That may be so, but it’s somewhat tangential to the topic isn’t it.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The transformer would probably be of use for charging during layovers on existing 25kV supplies. Or for charging while running, for something like Barrow/Windermere.

Has Barrow ever been suggested as a route where these might be considered. What are the future plans for rolling stock on the two lines from Barrow to Carnforth and from Barrow to Carlisle?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Has Barrow ever been suggested as a route where these might be considered. What are the future plans for rolling stock on the two lines from Barrow to Carnforth and from Barrow to Carlisle?

I don't think it would be an utterly terrible idea to split the line at Barrow, and use a dedicated small fleet of 3-car 230s on the Coast. But I don't believe that is the plan; I believe 195s on the ex-NorthWest Express services and 15x on the locals is the long-term plan.

 

[PomWombat]

Wasn't this stock mooted for the Harrogate line along with 3rd rail electrification?

65 mile range on a battery would allow Leeds-York services, with 25kV OHL for recharging at either end .... but just how quick/slow would a recharge be? At least there's a longer layover at York at the moment, but it's usually short at Leeds.

Leeds-Knaresborough returns would be a bit harder, without a decent recovery time in Leeds.

 

[Bantamzen]

Wasn't this stock mooted for the Harrogate line along with 3rd rail electrification?

65 mile range on a battery would allow Leeds-York services, with 25kV OHL for recharging at either end .... but just how quick/slow would a recharge be? At least there's a longer layover at York at the moment, but it's usually short at Leeds.

Leeds-Knaresborough returns would be a bit harder, without a decent recovery time in Leeds.

Mooted by Harrogate Council I believe. But as you say this was alongside the daft idea of installing a third rail along the route and using the D-Stock to operate services. Needless to say this idea had no traction (pun intended).

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Mooted by Harrogate Council I believe. But as you say this was alongside the daft idea of installing a third rail along the route and using the D-Stock to operate services. Needless to say this idea had no traction (pun intended).

Not the council, but the Harrogate Chamber of Trade and Commerce.

 

[DarloRich]

Dogbox appeared to be out of action again today ?

on Monday it died early in the morning and has to be rescued from Stewartby. it was replaced by another unit eventually. The sooner we are shot of those things the better!

 

[Bletchleyite]

on Monday it died early in the morning and has to be rescued from Stewartby. it was replaced by another unit eventually. The sooner we are shot of those things the better!

I know the Marston Vale is a bit of a basket case line, but shooting all the remaining passengers seems an extreme way to avoid having to subsidise it

 

[krus_aragon]

I know the Marston Vale is a bit of a basket case line, but shooting all the remaining passengers seems an extreme way to avoid having to subsidise it

You may wish to follow Private Baldrick's method of self defence, just in case. :P

 

[zn1]

the branch always used to be a unit breaker, some dmus could cope with way it banged them around, others couldn't...hopefully by giving the 230's a good hard test regime, to break em should sort out any issues..the branch needs her own fleet, it always worked better when the maintenance was done locally at BY...the ferrying of units to and from birmingham always feels to me like a waste of fuel, waste of train crews and pathing...it must be cheaper to have a local team long term to look after this ladies