Does anyone know the old rolling stock used at Hinckley besides the class 170's?

[Railmasterwest]

I have been trying to do some research on it, but i can only find 1 picture of a Regional Railways 158.

 

[LowLevel]

I have been trying to do some research on it, but i can only find 1 picture of a Regional Railways 158.

Depends how far back you want to go. Until 2007 classes 150, 153, 156 and 158 DMUs worked alongside the class 170s under Central Trains. The 170s were introduced from 1999, before that it was the aforementioned Sprinter DMUs.

Go back before 1993 or so and 1st generation class 105, 108, 116 and similar featured since the 1950s alongside the Sprinters which were introduced in the mid 1980s onwards.

Until the mid 1980s there were class 31s hauling coaching stock on the Birmingham - Norwich trains.

Class 47s and the like also featured on summer Saturday trains.

 

[3141]

In the late 1970s I worked in Warwickshire Area Education Office in Nuneaton and had to take a visitor from abroad to the station to catch a train to Leicester. The one that arrived was a Swindon-built cross-country unit. I don't know if the train called at Hinckley or was fast to Leicester.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Swindon-built cross-country unit

Those Derby-based Cl.120 units were common enough on local services around Leicester back then. Birmingham-Leic-Peterborough, Leic-Nottingham/Derby locals. And other E Mids-based services of course like Crewe-Lincoln

 

[DannyMich2018]

Although not old, the occasional Class 220 has appeared on the Birmingham-Leicester services during times of shortage.

 

[Gloster]

The Class 120 Swindon Cross-country sets were at Derby from May 1969 to January 1986.

 

[Topological]

Prior to the WCML upgrades there was a Nottingham to Coventry service that tended to be 150s as I recall, though I have been on it as a 156. That was a good train for connecting to the London to Liverpool train at Nuneaton around the turn of the century.

The Birmingham to Stanstead has been 158s from when the 158s were new, but I do remember 156s on it.

There was another Birmingham train via Leicester, but I cannot now remember where it went. That would have been the equivalent of the now Birmingham to Leicester Cross Country. I cannot remember what used to be on that one.

 

[Bevan Price]

Class 101s used to work the Birmingham / Leicester / Norwich service in the early years of dieselisation.

 

[eastwestdivide]

More info on Birmingham/Norwich and related services in this thread:

Birmingham to Norwich in the 80s

I grew up in Leicester and went to University in Norwich in the early 1980s. I made loads of direct journeys between the two cities and it was a really easy trip with a class 31 hauling 4 or 5 MK1s I think from Birmingham to Norwich. It's a shame that these direct services were broken up -...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Chriso]

I remember West Midlands 150s and 158 styled Express 156’s in Central trains days on the hourly Nottingham - Leicester - Nuneaton - Coventry. If memory serves me correctly they also provided the hourly Ivanhoe line stops at Syston, Sileby and Barrow - Upon -Soar

 

[Railmasterwest]

thank you guys so much!

 

[moogal]

When I used to use the service in the early 2000s, it was apparently entirely random based on the Central Trains "throw a six to start" unit allocation generator. Most commonly a 156, if you were lucky a 158 or 170, and if you were unlucky a single 153. Very rarely a Centro-liveried 150 would stray out that way, but I don't remember having one of those more than a handful of times.

 

[Bald Rick]

I was using daily when the 158s came in.

On my very first trip in, Monday, a 150.
Tuesday - replacement bus as the unit had failed (I think)
Wednesday - heritage DMU - couldn’t tell you the clsss number
Thursday - 156
Friday - 158

(this is not meant to be a parody of a Craig David song)

Similar in a couple of subsequent weeks

After those weeks, the Stansted / Norwich - Birminghams were almost exclusively in the hands of 158s, with an occaisonal 156 (always a 156 on the Oakham starting peak extra) and sometimes 150s, usually on the Leicester starters. The Nottingham - Cov services were thpically 150s / 156s but some heritage mixed up in there too.

 

[warwickshire]

Quite often around 1997 1998, I remember travelling from Coventry to Nuneaton, on a single class 153 on a through Coventry to Grimsby Town service, with the 153 in Central Trains livery.
Which then crossed the Wcml to go via Hinckley, Remember it very very well.

 

[DannyMich2018]

I've lived in Hinckley most of my life so have a very good insight in the railway here. The period I remember best is 1996-2007 plus now of course. Coventry-Nottingham-Lincoln was shared between 153 and 156 between up to about 1999 when 170s were introduced, 153s were less regular after then, Birmingham-Leicester stopping services 158/156 mainly with 170s, there were quite a few odd services too during the 1996-1998 period including a Birmingham-Skegness service in the morning (2 I think) and a Saturday Lincoln to Nuneaton service which terminated at platform 5 at Nuneaton and left a gap in the Coventry service for some time, ex MML 170s appeared from 2004 in addition, up until about 2004 Hinckley had 2 trains per hour (one Cov-Nott/Linocln and one Birmingham-Leicester although the latter were at some point extended to Nottingham) we just have an hourly service now with just a couple of weekday extra peak time calls, we do have an earlier first Sunday service to Birmingham which is very popular, the previous first departure to Birmingham now till after 11.

 

[ajp999]

In the late 1980s /early 1990s there was a Summer Saturday's only InterCity Holidaymaker service from Nottingham to Paignton that operated via Leicester and Birmingham that was HST operated.

 

[WesternLancer]

Prior to the WCML upgrades there was a Nottingham to Coventry service that tended to be 150s as I recall, though I have been on it as a 156. That was a good train for connecting to the London to Liverpool train at Nuneaton around the turn of the century.

The Birmingham to Stanstead has been 158s from when the 158s were new, but I do remember 156s on it.

There was another Birmingham train via Leicester, but I cannot now remember where it went. That would have been the equivalent of the now Birmingham to Leicester Cross Country. I cannot remember what used to be on that one.

Yes I used the Nottingham to Coventry service in around 1990 to 92 from time to time. Pretty sure I recall being on 150s but also first generation DMUs tho I can’t recall the class unfortunately.

 

[Magdalia]

The class 150/1s worked through Hinckley when they were new. They had a few jobs on Birmingham-Cambridge trains in the period when the Norwich service was still loco hauled.

 

[30907]

The Class 120 Swindon Cross-country sets were at Derby from May 1969 to January 1986.

Presumably it was one of them that worked the daily Cambridge-Birmingham in the early 80s?

 

[Magdalia]

Presumably it was one of them that worked the daily Cambridge-Birmingham in the early 80s?

I spent many hours trudging laboriously between Birmingham and Cambridge on Swindon cross country units, but they were in the 1970s, when they also had regular work through to Norwich. The Cambridge-Birmingham was loco hauled from May 1982.

 

[Railmasterwest]

Thank you all SO MUCH! I literally have completed this research. Never knew this would finish it!

 

[midland1]

In the late 1980s /early 1990s there was a Summer Saturday's only InterCity Holidaymaker service from Nottingham to Paignton that operated via Leicester and Birmingham that was HST operated.

Did catch that train from Leicester to Birmingham, on the run down from Arley Tunnel to Whitacre Jn. I wondered if we were going to stay on the rails!