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ex Northern Spirit class 142 refurbishment started

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387star

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According to other forums...

New seat covers and flooring and presumably an internal repaint

PS 334020 was due out on the 16th but according to the scotrail forum now delayed
 
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sprinterguy

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Good lord, have they indeed? :shock:

Although as I have said in the "State of Northerns' stock" thread, where I have quoted your post:
It's a shame that that's all that they're doing, as the 2+2 Northern Spirit seats, while being the most comfortable type of seating fitted to the Northern 142s, have never been particularly durable or resistant to damage, particularly the headrests which always seem quite flaccid and flimsy. It's a shame that the Northern 142s haven't been given a refurb the same as the ATW Pacers.
 

pemma

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From MCRUA's site:

Over on the far side of the shed was Heaton’s 142019, fresh from repaint. This is the first ex-ATN (Arriva Trains Northern) 142 to be refreshed, being the test bed for all the other ex-ATN 142s with their 2+2 seating. The lighting has been brightened up, the dull lighting being a regular source of complaint along the Mid Cheshire Line in the evenings, this from conductors who struggle to see the screens on their AVantix ticket machines and from passengers struggling to read. The intention had been to upgrade the seating, but this proved to be too expensive due to railway vehicle acceptance procedures, so the old seats have been sent away for reupholstering and re-covering. Sadly, this is only a “refresh”, not a “refurbishment”, so there’ll be no more space for luggage, prams/pushcairs or bikes, quite a problem on these units. Fortunately, we don’t get them along our line very often.
 

shedman

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I saw one at NL last week with no seats so had a had feeling it had started. Ill keep my eyes open.
 
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The one on Blackpool south line last Wednesday had new seat covers and looked quite decent.
I don't mind the 2+3 seating and very useful sitting next to a large person!
The ride quality is dreadful, the bounce, and the airtime etc I thought it would be an idea for Northern to name the BPS line units after roller coasters - 'Big Dipper' 'Grand National' Big One' etc. :lol:
 

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From MCRUA's site:

Then onto the unit refresh area in which stood 150211, the same unit as featured in its failed state in our January blog on unit failures seem to be rising. Externally it had been rubbed down and the body filled in the lower areas. The hole above the driver’s cab as seen in the post above was still there, to be filled in later prior to repaint. Internally all the fittings in the passenger and cab areas were removed. Floors were being renewed with high quality marine ply, with the seats sent away for reupholster and re-covering. Once completed it would be next in the paint shop.

Also from that site. Is this an ex LM unit because I wasn't aware flooring was being touched
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I suppose renewed might mean the floors won't necessarily look any different
 

sprinterguy

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Then onto the unit refresh area in which stood 150211, the same unit as featured in its failed state in our January blog on unit failures seem to be rising. Externally it had been rubbed down and the body filled in the lower areas. The hole above the driver’s cab as seen in the post above was still there, to be filled in later prior to repaint. Internally all the fittings in the passenger and cab areas were removed. Floors were being renewed with high quality marine ply, with the seats sent away for reupholster and re-covering. Once completed it would be next in the paint shop.

Also from that site. Is this an ex LM unit because I wasn't aware flooring was being touched
No it's not one of the units that Northern have gained from London Midland, it's been with Northern for a good few years.
 

pemma

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I don't mind the 2+3 seating and very useful sitting next to a large person!

I don't like 3+2 seating but I won't like to see Northern 150s go to 2+2 seating unless they are always used in reformed 3 carriage formations or doubled up (after getting extra carriages), simply because they can't afford to reduce the number of seats on trains.

As mentioned in the bit I quoted from MCRUA they don't frequently appear on Manchester-Chester services but when they do it's not good. What normally looks like a not too busy service looks like a busy service when an ATN 142 turns up, then if it's normally a busy service then oh dear.
 

Jordy

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The one on Blackpool south line last Wednesday had new seat covers and looked quite decent.
I don't mind the 2+3 seating and very useful sitting next to a large person!
The ride quality is dreadful, the bounce, and the airtime etc I thought it would be an idea for Northern to name the BPS line units after roller coasters - 'Big Dipper' 'Grand National' Big One' etc. :lol:

I think you might be thinking of the ex First North Western ones rather than Northern Spirit - the Northern Spirit ones we're talking about in this thread have 2+2 seating. The ex FNW ones have 3+2 bench seats.
 

387star

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This unit has now entered service with photos on a number of sites including this one: http://www.northernrailways.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=10735&start=30 Looks very good with the lighting improved, new flooring, new upholstery, internal repaint, new side panels. Out of interest why are there overhead luggage racks on one side only?

Also the class 144 refurbishment programme is reported complete
 
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trentside

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This unit has now entered service with photos on a number of sites including this one: http://www.northernrailways.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=10735&start=30 Looks very good with the lighting improved, new flooring, new upholstery, internal repaint, new side panels. Out of interest why are there overhead luggage racks on one side only?

Also the class 144 refurbishment programme is reported complete

I think the luggage racks have always been like that, though I must admit I'd not really thought about it before - it does seem strange.

The interior looks far brighter post-refurbishment, the Northern Spirit scheme was very drab. It's just a pity the seats aren't robust, so various headrests will no doubt be missing or damaged before too long.
 

yorksrob

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It's looking rather snazzy I think, although I have to say, I still prefer the layout of the units with high back seating.

The perplexing issue with the luggage racks seems to afflict some carriages at random rather than being universal or restricted to a particular type of Pacer. I wish they'd just replace the missing ones.
 

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Yeah those seats must be an easy target for vandalism and I refer not the headrests but more to the seat backs which are made of the same soft material as the seat cushions rather like on a coach. Surely the only train like this? It does seem instead of standard train seats that Northern Spirit chose to continue with the bus seat scheme and replicate the type of seats probably found in buses at that time (late '90s)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
PS apparently 150136, has had the full works internally with new flooring etc that's thanks to Shaun on the Northern Railways forum
 
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driver9000

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When are they gonna repaint the rest of the exLM 150s?


I think there are just 2 left in Central Trains green left now, one is a 150/1 the other is a 150/2. Unless I just keep seeing the same 2 over and over again :)
 

callum112233

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I keep noticing some 150's looking very shiny recently :P. Hopefully Northern will keep them that way and keep the train shampoo stocked up :D.
 

sprinterguy

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What will be the total number of units that will be involved in this refurbishment programme ?
It concerns the majority of the Heaton allocated 142s. Off the top of my head, 29 units will be involved in this refurb/refresh. Obviously the more recent additions to the Heaton Pacer fleet, those that have returned from loan with FGW and others that were reallocated from Newton Heath in fairly recent times, won't be similarly treated as they still retain the original 3+2 bus benches.
 

pemma

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It concerns the majority of the Heaton allocated 142s. Off the top of my head, 29 units will be involved in this refurb/refresh. Obviously the more recent additions to the Heaton Pacer fleet, those that have returned from loan with FGW and others that were reallocated from Newton Heath in fairly recent times, won't be similarly treated as they still retain the original 3+2 bus benches.

Any ex-ATN that are on the west side would be switched around with ex-FNW ones or refurbished ex-ATN ones on the east side to ensure they all get done.

I think there are just 2 left in Central Trains green left now, one is a 150/1 the other is a 150/2. Unless I just keep seeing the same 2 over and over again :)

What about the blue Network West Midlands livery? One 150 I was on a couple of months ago had a Northern vinyl applied over the top of this livery.
 

driver9000

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As I recall there were 3 NWM blue 150s and have all been repainted. Definitely 150103 and 150110 have been done very recently and are looking very shiny.


EDIT - Apparently there were 4 NWM liveried units. All now in Northern colours except for 150118 which was still in NWM colours a couple of weeks ago.
 
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sprinterguy

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Any ex-ATN that are on the west side would be switched around with ex-FNW ones or refurbished ex-ATN ones on the east side to ensure they all get done.
All the ex-ATN 142s are officially allocated to Heaton, so I should imagine that at some point they will all rotate back to Heaton, even if they spend periods working on the west side.
 
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