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

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TJDevon

TJDevon

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Is anyone on this excellent forum able to summarise the current situation with these units:-

1) How many are now are at Reading. Possibly 4?
2) How many have been involved with Fault Free Testing (FFT).
3) Have any passed FFT?
4) What faults have arisen, if any? In particular, anything different to what has happened to those at Cardiff?
5) Have the units been operated on all their intended routes?
5) Have any track/platform related problems arisen?
6) Is there any realistic hope of driver training starting anytime soon?
7) Is it possible, with due regard to Covid19, to estimate how long it will take to train all the Reading drivers?

Rightly or wrongly I sense that GWR are being a shade backwards in coming forwards about the progress of these units.

Behind all the above queries is a desire to obtain a best estimate of when further Turbos will be able to transfer West. A recent observation stated 'not before September'. Is that realistic or optimistic?

Thanks to the somewhat geriatric nature of their units, GWR are currently struggling to have all diagrams in the West Country fully covered on a daily basis. Even just a couple more Turbos would make a difference.

Finally I ponder whether GWR have any fall-back plan should the 769s not prove acceptable.

Thanks in advance to anyone able to help.
 
J

JonathanH

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Making up a response from what has been posted before:

TJDevon said:
Finally I ponder whether GWR have any fall-back plan should the 769s not prove acceptable.
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That doesn't seem likely, given the number delivered recently increased from three to four and none have been sent back. I doubt it would be something for the public domain in any case.

TJDevon said:
1) How many are now are at Reading. Possibly 4?
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Four delivered, 930 / 943 / 946 / 959, but one of those (943) went to Eastleigh this week to get it out of the way and one (930) was at Oxford sidings last week, on its return from Rail Live at Long Marston, again to keep it out of the way.

TJDevon said:
2) How many have been involved with Fault Free Testing (FFT).
3) Have any passed FFT?
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It was described elsewhere by an informed source as 'mileage based accumulation' rather than 'fault free running'.

TJDevon said:
5) Have the units been operated on all their intended routes?
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No record of them having been to Henley or Bourne End appears to have been posted here, neither Basingstoke other than 769943's transfer to Eastleigh.

TJDevon said:
5) Have any track/platform related problems arisen?
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It has been posted that the testing at Shalford Junction at the end of May was culmination of the clearance work but it does seem that current attention is being focused on platform / train interface with longer dwells at specific stations on the test runs.

TJDevon said:
6) Is there any realistic hope of driver training starting anytime soon?
7) Is it possible, with due regard to Covid19, to estimate how long it will take to train all the Reading drivers
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If you look at the schedule in the direct award, based on an April 2020 delivery for the first unit, it was never expected that any would be in service until the September 2020 timetable change with the last introduced in May 2021. Given the first unit was about a year later than that, it should give some idea of timescales in better circumstances than those which currently prevail.

TJDevon said:
Rightly or wrongly I sense that GWR are being a shade backwards in coming forwards about the progress of these units.
Click to expand...
What do you think should be in the public domain? It does seem that some progress is being made.

TJDevon said:
Behind all the above queries is a desire to obtain a best estimate of when further Turbos will be able to transfer West. A recent observation stated 'not before September'. Is that realistic or optimistic?
Click to expand...
Seems a bit optimistic to me.
 
squizzler

squizzler

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TJDevon said:
Rightly or wrongly I sense that GWR are being a shade backwards in coming forwards about the progress of these units.
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Whilst I have no gen on the trains in question, the two pairings of backward/forwards and rightly/wrongly in one sentence read like unintentional poetry, it rather ticked me.
 
rebmcr

rebmcr

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nmsq said:
getting a 4 car unit to reverse at Bourne End which can only accommodate a 2 car reversal for Marlow would be very interesting.
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The existing distance from the point blades to the buffer stops is already almost exactly 80m — the length of a 4-car Class 769 train. Four carriages of Class 166 are much longer, at 92m, so that's why a 4-car service has previously been infeasible.

Of course, a safe buffer stop distance, as well as track circuit overlap and signal sighting needs to be taken into account — not just the length of the train. However, looking at a satellite view, it does not seem impossible to realign the track from the Maidenhead direction a little further north, so that the track from Marlow joins it enough further west to accomodate four carriages of 20m stock. Selective door opening would likely be required, with I believe only three to three-and-a-half carriages being platformed.

The private gardens between the two might end up being slightly reduced, but it does look like they don't reach as far as they possibly could into what probably remains 'railway land' nestled right in the crook of the junction — so it may even be possible without clipping the gardens at all.
 

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AM9

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rebmcr said:
The existing distance from the point blades to the buffer stops is already almost exactly 80m — the length of a 4-car Class 769 train. Four carriages of Class 166 are much longer, at 92m, so that's why a 4-car service has previously been infeasible.

Of course, a safe buffer stop distance, as well as track circuit overlap and signal sighting needs to be taken into account — not just the length of the train. However, looking at a satellite view, it does not seem impossible to realign the track from the Maidenhead direction a little further north, so that the track from Marlow joins it enough further west to accomodate four carriages of 20m stock. Selective door opening would likely be required, with I believe only three to three-and-a-half carriages being platformed.

The private gardens between the two might end up being slightly reduced, but it does look like they don't reach as far as they possibly could into what probably remains 'railway land' nestled right in the crook of the junction — so it may even be possible without clipping the gardens at all.
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That's an interesting suggestion. One point in it's favour is that trackbed level (according to Google Earth) at the buffers is nearly two metres higher than the points at the Maidenhead end of the platform. If that is correct, then a 1:40 gradient would reduce the likelihood of overrunning into the buffers. I don't know how slow TPWS can be set but if the buffers were modified to use the 5m of track that they had to give a progressive deceleration, that would mitigate the impact of a collision as far as possible.
 
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Meerkat

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AM9 said:
That's an interesting suggestion. One point in it's favour is that trackbed level (according to Google Earth) at the buffers is nearly two metres higher than the points at the Maidenhead end of the platform. If that is correct, then a 1:40 gradient would reduce the likelihood of overrunning into the buffers. I don't know how slow TPWS can be set but if the buffers were modified to use the 5m of track that they had to give a progressive deceleration, that would mitigate the impact of a collision as far as possible.
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They just need a big sector plate :lol:
 
J

JN114

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Class319&373 said:
Is this 769930's return to Reading today?

Realtime Trains - 538T 1120 Oxford Down Carriage Sdg to Reading Traincare Depot

Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk www.realtimetrains.co.uk
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It is Colas and running as a 5Q.. ID (5Q09 specifically), 769s still have to run as Qs for gauge restrictions.

As one has moved to Eastleigh there should be room for 9930 to come back to Reading.
 
FGW_DID

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3973EXL said:
STP 10/07

Realtime Trains - FRGT 1056 Burton Ot Wetmore Sidings to Reading Traincare Depot
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Not happening tomorrow. (maybe next week)

Deepgreen said:
Today's NDL run appears (according to RTT) to have been aborted again. Is this another diesel engine problem?

Realtime Trains - 549U 0915 Reading Traincare Depot to Reading Traincare Depot

Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk www.realtimetrains.co.uk
View attachment 99465
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769946 has failed but not sure what the actual issue is. 769959 will be out for this afternoons run.
 
D

Deepgreen

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FGW_DID said:
Not happening tomorrow. (maybe next week)



769946 has failed but not sure what the actual issue is. 769959 will be out for this afternoons run.
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Thank you. The afternoon one isn't doing well either, being 23 down from an 8 late start from Reading. May be nothing mechanical of course. That run also aborted - at Redhill. The time gradually but steadily lost from Reading to Guildford with nothing in front of it suggests a performance problem.
 
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FGW_DID

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FenMan said:
And, meanwhile, Realtime Trains says the test runs scheduled for Monday and today didn't happen.
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Nope, nothing ran Monday or Wednesday, various ailments or planned work meant the required two units weren’t available. I think tomorrow’s has been binned off as well.
 
3973EXL

3973EXL

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FGW_DID said:
Nothing has been notified to the depot Movement Controllers so may not happen (Or we’ll get told right at the last minute! :rolleyes::rolleyes:)

Same goes for the move from Burton also posted above.
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No sign of the Burton LD move.

Realtime Trains - 048T 0915 Derby R.T.C.(Network Rail) to Burton Ot Wetmore Sidings

Burton now showing Caped.

STP 20/07
Colas LD moves.
Realtime Trains - FRGT 0752 Eastleigh Arlington (Zg) to Reading Traincare Depot
Realtime Trains - FRGT 0915 Reading Traincare Depot to Reading Traincare Depot
Realtime Trains - FRGT 1332 Reading Traincare Depot to Reading
Realtime Trains - FRGT 1622 Reading to Eastleigh Arlington (Zg)
 
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D

Deepgreen

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Yet another 769 NDL run seems to have aborted, including some bizarre times reported (not accounted for by the earlier-than-scheduled return leg, either):

Realtime Trains - 508A 1232 Reading Traincare Depot to Reading Traincare Depot

Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk www.realtimetrains.co.uk
Screenshot 2021-07-19 at 15.44.42.png
Many of these runs seem to have erroneous data at North Camp, Chilworth and Dorking West. What proportion of these 769 NDL runs have actually made the full trip, I wonder?
 
strimmer

strimmer

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Deepgreen said:
Yet another 769 NDL run seems to have aborted, including some bizarre times reported (not accounted for by the earlier-than-scheduled return leg, either):

Realtime Trains - 508A 1232 Reading Traincare Depot to Reading Traincare Depot

Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk www.realtimetrains.co.uk
View attachment 99907
Many of these runs seem to have erroneous data at North Camp, Chilworth and Dorking West.
Click to expand...
Looks to me as if it just turned round at Redhill to regain its booked path.
 
D

Deepgreen

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JN114 said:
Real TID 5Q10

And running on DC where available (Reading Spur - Wokingham, Ash - Guildford, Reigate to Gatwick)
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Have the previous runs not used DC at all?

strimmer said:
Looks to me as if it just turned round at Redhill to regain its booked path.
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Precisely, but why was it so late to start with and why do the North Camp times, for example, look like fiction, not being accounted for by the return leg either? A large number of these runs seem to start very late or lose so much time en route to require them to be aborted.
 
J

JonathanH

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Is taking these units out for just two hundred-mile round trips three times a week really going to get them any nearer being introduced into service? It seems a somewhat slow process. I appreciate that there probably continue to be no drivers trained on these units but introduction is going to take many years at this rate.
 
FGW_DID

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Today’s trips were some sort of testing for Network Rail. 769930 did both trips however despite RTT showing it arrived and then left Reading TCD, it actually was stabled in Platform 4 at Reading between the trips.

Fridays trips out are the NDL as today but Wednesday sees 5Q10 & 5Q11 running down to Southampton and back.
 
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