Great Western Livery

[PHILIPE]

Rather unexpectedly a Class 158 worked to Penzance today on the 0726 from Bristol.

Already posted here:-

www.railforums.co.uk/threads/gwr-158-cascade-west.162011

 

[jimm]

165128 left Wolverton yesterday and went direct to Long Marston, via London and the Cotswold Line

Picture by Martin Loader.

http://hondawanderer.com/165128_Shorthampton_2018.htm

 

[CC 72100]

It's allocated depot should be Exeter now so will be back to Exeter shortly I assume

Currently at Bristol SPM

 

[ATW158Xpress]

165128 left Wolverton yesterday and went direct to Long Marston, via London and the Cotswold Line

Picture by Martin Loader.

http://hondawanderer.com/165128_Shorthampton_2018.htm

That unit looks smart in GWR Green. I notice they installed air cooler vents on the outside from the photo just like the Chiltern 165's but with keeping the openable windows.

 

[sd0733]

That unit looks smart in GWR Green. I notice they installed air cooler vents on the outside from the photo just like the Chiltern 165's but with keeping the openable windows.

When I went on a 165 with air cooling the hopper windows are kept but have had a t key lock like a 166 to allow them to be opened by staff if it fails

 

[Siemens Staines]

That unit looks smart in GWR Green. I notice they installed air cooler vents on the outside from the photo just like the Chiltern 165's but with keeping the openable windows.

But not on all of them. 119, 123 & now 128 have air-con. The other 2-car 165s that have been to Wolverton and returned in green do not have air-con, 120, 121, 122 and from Martin Loaders picture on the same website neither does 127 (not seen that one in green myself yet).

 

[ATW158Xpress]

But not on all of them. 119, 123 & now 128 have air-con. The other 2-car 165s that have been to Wolverton and returned in green do not have air-con, 120, 121, 122 and from Martin Loaders picture on the same website neither does 127 (not seen that one in green myself yet).

I wonder how many 165’s are going to be fitted with air coolers especially as a small number of 2 car 165’s are due to be cascaded to Bristol later in the year.

 

[59CosG95]

I wonder how many 165’s are going to be fitted with air coolers especially as a small number of 2 car 165’s are due to be cascaded to Bristol later in the year.

Surely the question of where they operate is neither here nor there in terms of air cooling fitment?
I suspect all 36 of them will get the treatment for operational and maintenance simplicity.

 

[Rob F]

That unit looks smart in GWR Green. I notice they installed air cooler vents on the outside from the photo just like the Chiltern 165's but with keeping the openable windows.

Would look so much better if they picked out the area around the headlights in black, as they originally were.

Rob

 

[RPM]

Would look so much better if they picked out the area around the headlights in black, as they originally were.

Rob

Yes I agree. A smaller yellow panel would improve the look too.

 

[jimm]

But not on all of them. 119, 123 & now 128 have air-con. The other 2-car 165s that have been to Wolverton and returned in green do not have air-con, 120, 121, 122 and from Martin Loaders picture on the same website neither does 127 (not seen that one in green myself yet).

None of them have air conditioning - they have air cooling, which does not dehumidify air in the way that air conditioning systems do.

I wonder how many 165’s are going to be fitted with air coolers especially as a small number of 2 car 165’s are due to be cascaded to Bristol later in the year.

All the 165s will be fitted with air cooling - I'm pretty sure it is a franchise commitment to do the work.

 

[Phil Scott]

Mk 3 TGS 44000 now carries GWR Green livery

 

[Connor43002]

Mk 3 TGS 44000 now carries GWR Green livery

Has it been converted for the next 2+4 set or is it just a standard TGS?

 

[43096]

Has it been converted for the next 2+4 set or is it just a standard TGS?

Standard TGS.

 

[brel york]

Is 150!202 still running around with incorrect cab door colour , they were supposed to be silver as they are passenger access doors but wabtec painted them green , we have four doors waiting to be fitted in the correct colour

 

[superalbs]

Is 150!202 still running around with incorrect cab door colour , they were supposed to be silver as they are passenger access doors but wabtec painted them green , we have four doors waiting to be fitted in the correct colour

Last time I saw it, it was indeed green.

 

[Apedlar12]

Is 150!202 still running around with incorrect cab door colour , they were supposed to be silver as they are passenger access doors but wabtec painted them green , we have four doors waiting to be fitted in the correct colour

Yes was running the Bristol Parkway to Weston Super-Mare yesterday...

 

[brel york]

We have been going to change them since we spotted it the day it left site lol

 

[Kite159]

Odd seeing an unbranded 165127 at Reading, no GWR logos on it

 

[FGW_DID]

Odd seeing an unbranded 165127 at Reading, no GWR logos on it

There are a few running round with no Decals on, in fact I think there are a couple of 3 cars that still haven’t had theirs done yet.
The decals are all done by an external contractor, once the unit has returned to Reading, it takes up to two days to do a complete unit. Usually the contractors are booked for a weekend when there is more scope of being able to take a unit out of traffic for two days.

Quite why they can’t do it at Wolverton before the unit is released back, I don’t know!

 

[PHILIPE]

Expect 158798 to be about soon as it has been spotted poking out of Barton Hill in GWR NEW LIVERY

 

[Apedlar12]

Expect 158798 to be about soon as it has been spotted poking out of Barton Hill in GWR NEW LIVERY

Same for 150221 as I think it might have attached to 150266 on 2E66 to Gloucester yesterday evening... Could be its first passenger service in the new livery

 

[PHILIPE]

Same for 150221 as I think it might have attached to 150266 on 2E66 to Gloucester yesterday evening... Could be its first passenger service in the new livery

I assume you mean 2E26. Big fingers, probably.

 

[Siemens Staines]

I notice that there was an exchange of units between Reading and Long Marston today. Does anyone know which units were involved - green 165128 on its way in to service perhaps?

 

[FGW_DID]

166217 coming back to Reading. 166221 planned to go but if it all went pear shaped 166201 was the back up. Not in work so don’t know the exact result.

 

[Siemens Staines]

Thank you for your reply.

 

[pdeaves]

166217 coming back to Reading. 166221 planned to go but if it all went pear shaped 166201 was the back up. Not in work so don’t know the exact result.

Does that imply 166201 will go green? (Sorry if I'm slow here and it's already been said!)

 

[gallafent]

When I went on a 165 with air cooling the hopper windows are kept but have had a t key lock like a 166 to allow them to be opened by staff if it fails

That's what I noticed too. And with the fact that they don't seal very well, the associated wind noise makes the environment a lot noisier and less pleasant than a Chiltern 165 (which have had the hopper windows replaced with one-piece glass, many years ago). Shrug.

 

[D2007wsm]

That's what I noticed too. And with the fact that they don't seal very well, the associated wind noise makes the environment a lot noisier and less pleasant than a Chiltern 165 (which have had the hopper windows replaced with one-piece glass, many years ago). Shrug.

I would rather have a little bit of noise from the locked hoppers like on 158s and 166s than no opening windows if the air cooling or air con fails. At least the option remains to open the windows should this happen.

 

[gallafent]

I would rather have a little bit of noise from the locked hoppers like on 158s and 166s than no opening windows if the air cooling or air con fails. At least the option remains to open the windows should this happen.

Fair point, clearly, when you have a fleet of trains which is expected to fail relatively frequently. Looking at a few photos seems to suggest that, as I remembered, the Chiltern units have no opening hoppers at all, not even for “emergencies”. I guess Chiltern must just look after their trains that much better than GWR do (and of course were prepared to spend extra money at refurbishment time to replace the windows) that the eventuality of the air cooling failing simply never happens (for some definition of never). Comparing the overall experience of travelling in Chiltern 165s with GWR ones (and indeed 166s), the former certainly feel enormously better maintained / less “worn out”. It'd be genuinely interesting to know what the relative failure rates (for various types of failure) of the two fleets are, but I guess that's commercially sensitive (despite being of great interest to the travelling public that pays for the service) so it's unlikely to see the light of day. But we're getting off topic (happy to open a new topic or move across to one of course, but we're away from GWR livery now!).