GWR Class 769 information. (Units no longer with GWR - Off Lease March 23)

[Mitchell Hurd]

Sorry if I've expressed my positive feedback on the 769's on here already but incase I haven't...

I think these will be a major improvement over the Turbos. Personally, I think the Turbos are still rock solid excellent trains. However, a 4-car 769 vs a 2-car 165 means more space for a start.

Also, as apparently the driving motor coaches will have the MAN diesel engines, it will mean a more quieter trip for many passengers on non-electrifed routes.

I'm hoping some of the 769's will be used on services on the Turbo diagrams that run to and from Banbury & North Cotswolds, Oxford, Didcot and Reading because of the overhead wires on the to and from Didcot and Reading sections at least. I also understand that the odd 1 or 2 Turbos run to and from Oxford - London Paddington + I believe the first working out of London to Greenford so hopefully the 769's will be used there if that makes sense.

Sorry I've gone a little off topic - please move this to the right thread if need be.

 

[cactustwirly]

Sorry if I've expressed my positive feedback on the 769's on here already but incase I haven't...

I think these will be a major improvement over the Turbos. Personally, I think the Turbos are still rock solid excellent trains. However, a 4-car 769 vs a 2-car 165 means more space for a start.

Also, as apparently the driving motor coaches will have the MAN diesel engines, it will mean a more quieter trip for many passengers on non-electrifed routes.

I'm hoping some of the 769's will be used on services on the Turbo diagrams that run to and from Banbury & North Cotswolds, Oxford, Didcot and Reading because of the overhead wires on the to and from Didcot and Reading sections at least. I also understand that the odd 1 or 2 Turbos run to and from Oxford - London Paddington + I believe the first working out of London to Greenford so hopefully the 769's will be used there if that makes sense.

Sorry I've gone a little off topic - please move this to the right thread if need be.

No they won't, they are older than the turbos, and I'm not sure how reliable they are.
The engines in the turbos are reasonably quiet anyway, but their interior is much nicer compared to the turbos.

The 4 car 769s won't be running to Greenford as the platforms aren't long enough, so that diagram will continue to be a 165.
I believe the diagrams around Oxford will still be turbos, it's the North Downs, Reading - Basingstoke and Henley that gets the 769s

 

[PHILIPE]

Sorry if I've expressed my positive feedback on the 769's on here already but incase I haven't...

I think these will be a major improvement over the Turbos. Personally, I think the Turbos are still rock solid excellent trains. However, a 4-car 769 vs a 2-car 165 means more space for a start.

Also, as apparently the driving motor coaches will have the MAN diesel engines, it will mean a more quieter trip for many passengers on non-electrifed routes.

I'm hoping some of the 769's will be used on services on the Turbo diagrams that run to and from Banbury & North Cotswolds, Oxford, Didcot and Reading because of the overhead wires on the to and from Didcot and Reading sections at least. I also understand that the odd 1 or 2 Turbos run to and from Oxford - London Paddington + I believe the first working out of London to Greenford so hopefully the 769's will be used there if that makes sense.

Sorry I've gone a little off topic - please move this to the right thread if need be.

I'm afraid you won't be seeing them on those routes. The routes intended are shown in Post #174 and that source is very reliable and keeps us up to date on a regular basis

 

[Mitchell Hurd]

I'm afraid you won't be seeing them on those routes. The routes intended are shown in Post #174 and that source is very reliable and keeps us up to date on a regular basis

That's ok - to be fair, I'd rather have the trains that I know are doing a perfectly fine job and the Turbos fit that category currently !

 

[Mollman]

It's GWR Green, the whole livery is boring!

Still nicer than Northern's livery which looks unfinished

 

[samuelmorris]

I'm not sure it's possible to really give 'feedback', positive or negative, about a unit that hasn't entered service yet...

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'm not sure it's possible to really give 'feedback', positive or negative, about a unit that hasn't entered service yet...

Ride on a 319, it's like that

 

[samuelmorris]

Ride on a 319, it's like that

Even in the cars with the diesel power units?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Even in the cars with the diesel power units?

Ride on a 150, it's like that

(I was referring more to stuff like seating though)

 

[Bob Price]

Noise wise, they sound like this

 

[Bletchleyite]

Ta. Refer, I think, to what I said about 150s above, though the idle seems a little faster

 

[pdeaves]

Noise wise, they sound like this

I grew up in Luton and remember the 319s being introduced fresh from the factory. Everything about this video is 'Just Wrong' to me - wrong sounds, wrong colours, wrong electrification (i.e. neither OLE nor 3rd rail), even wrong class number! It will take some getting used to.

 

[fgwrich]

Noise wise, they sound like this

I see they've taken the Pantograph off of that one. The acceleration doesn't look that impressive either.

Engine wise - It sounds rather as I expected, just like NI Railways C3K (Same engine).

 

[_toommm_]

I see they've taken the Pantograph off of that one. The acceleration doesn't look that impressive either.

Engine wise - It sounds rather as I expected, just like NI Railways C3K (Same engine).

I suspect they’re being rather cautious with it If you’ve ever been on a 319 with Northern they seem to accelerate at a much reduced rate compared to their previous operators.

 

[Bob Price]

I grew up in Luton and remember the 319s being introduced fresh from the factory. Everything about this video is 'Just Wrong' to me - wrong sounds, wrong colours, wrong electrification (i.e. neither OLE nor 3rd rail), even wrong class number! It will take some getting used to.

They have taken the pantograph off as they won't be under wires on the Rhymney valley services yet. They can be put back on again easily apparently. It is strange seeing them in action.

 

[northernbelle]

I see they've taken the Pantograph off of that one. The acceleration doesn't look that impressive either.

Engine wise - It sounds rather as I expected, just like NI Railways C3K (Same engine).

The acceleration is broadly similar to a Class 150 which is what was envisaged and what the 769s will inter-work with at both Northern and TfW. At GWR they will be required to more or less match 'Turbo' timings which, at the line speeds of the routes concerned, shouldn't be an issue either.

 

[Greybeard33]

Also, as apparently the driving motor coaches will have the MAN diesel engines, it will mean a more quieter trip for many passengers on non-electrifed routes.

The driving cars are in fact trailers with the diesel generators underneath. They are the only cars that are reasonably quiet on the 319, but on the 769 you will have the roar of the diesel engines. In one of the two centre cars you get the whine of the traction motors, while the other has the intermittent thumping of the brake compressor. "You pays your penny and you takes your choice...."

 

[Scottychoo]

They were awful 20 years ago on Thames link so goodness only knows what state they are in now.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The driving cars are in fact trailers with the diesel generators underneath. They are the only cars that are reasonably quiet on the 319, but on the 769 you will have the roar of the diesel engines. In one of the two centre cars you get the whine of the traction motors, while the other has the intermittent thumping of the brake compressor. "You pays your penny and you takes your choice...."

Personally I find the transformer whine on 319s a really nice noise, almost violin-like, but I guess you don't get that on diesel?

Re acceleration it looks about the same as a 150. They are basically just 4-car 150s but with more modern, less polluting engines as far as the passenger goes.

 

[JonathanH]

Personally I find the transformer whine on 319s a really nice noise, almost violin-like, but I guess you don't get that on diesel?

Why not, it will be the same traction motors moving the train, just taking their electricity from the diesel 'generators' rather than the third rail.

Therefore, diesel noise in the end coaches and the motor noise in the relevant one in the middle.

 

[JonathanH]

In the proposed May timetable, one of the units which works on the Basingstoke line appears to spends the night at Oxford presumably in order to allow a 3-car 165 to work the 0030 from Paddington to Oxford rather than a 2-car unit.

2J81 2052 Reading to Basingstoke
2N96 2130 Basingstoke to Oxford
1P47 2305 Oxford to London Paddington
1D48 0030 London Paddington to Oxford
5D48 0148 Oxford to Oxford Up Carriage Sdgs

5J05 0516 Oxford Up Carriage Sdgs to Oxford
2J05 0519 Oxford to Basingstoke
2J92 0631 Basingstoke to Reading

Does this continue after the 769 revolution taking a 769 into Paddington and back each evening or am I missing something?

 

[cactustwirly]

In the proposed May timetable, one of the units which works on the Basingstoke line appears to spends the night at Oxford presumably in order to allow a 3-car 165 to work the 0030 from Paddington to Oxford rather than a 2-car unit.

2J81 2052 Reading to Basingstoke
2N96 2130 Basingstoke to Oxford
1P47 2305 Oxford to London Paddington
1D48 0030 London Paddington to Oxford
5D48 0148 Oxford to Oxford Up Carriage Sdgs

5J05 0516 Oxford Up Carriage Sdgs to Oxford
2J05 0519 Oxford to Basingstoke
2J92 0631 Basingstoke to Reading

Does this continue after the 769 revolution taking a 769 into Paddington and back each evening or am I missing something?

I wouldn't have thought so, that looks like it's worked partly with Oxford crew, the intention is only Reading depot signing the 769s

 

[Bletchleyite]

Why not

Because the step-down from 25kV isn't used on third rail or diesel?

 

[samuelmorris]

Personally I find the transformer whine on 319s a really nice noise, almost violin-like, but I guess you don't get that on diesel?

Re acceleration it looks about the same as a 150. They are basically just 4-car 150s but with more modern, less polluting engines as far as the passenger goes.

You do still get that noise, it's actually quite audible in the youtube clip posted above on this page.

 

[pdeaves]

Why not, it will be the same traction motors moving the train, just taking their electricity from the diesel 'generators' rather than the third rail.

Therefore, diesel noise in the end coaches and the motor noise in the relevant one in the middle.

Motor noise =/= transformer noise, though.

 

[samuelmorris]

Indeed, I suspect travelling in the PMS will sound much as it did on DC power, with a little of the diesel unit noise from the adjacent driving car audible in the background.

 

[JonathanH]

I wouldn't have thought so, that looks like it's worked partly with Oxford crew, the intention is only Reading depot signing the 769s

How is capacity then maintained on the 2315 from Paddington to Oxford which uses the Greenford and Bourne End units and the 0030 from Paddington to Oxford if there are no 3-car Turbos and the Bourne End working becomes a 769?

That Basingstoke unit must go to Oxford for a reason.

 

[Domh245]

There's 2 very similar noises on a 319 - there's the transformer hum/whine and then the noise from traction equipment.

(AC with transformer whine)

(DC, without)

 

[Bletchleyite]

Definitely the transformer hum I'm thinking of, it resonates really nicely with the classic DC traction motor sound.

 

[KT530]

Since last December's timetable change. Basingstoke - Reading all stops did have a rather simple 2tph service then, which has now changed to a 3tph service during the peaks. If there's one thing I understand the crews aren't fond of, it's the 15/20 minute waiting time at Basingstoke.

Not sure what’s not to like - now get time to chill for a while instead of chasing tail with minimum turnarounds.