HST Power Car into retro livery

[221129]

They are both being painted... And maybe a little more than just 2 powercars...

 

[superalbs]

They are both being painted... And maybe a little more than just 2 powercars...

Do you mean carriages will be painted, or are we talking more powercars?

 

[221129]

Do you mean carriages will be painted, or are we talking more powercars?

Well you have 2 powercars, a blue set is going to look a bit odd in between them in October...

 

[43096]

Its GWR doing the celebrating not EMT

I think you can say all the HST operators except Cross-Country are celebrating. Plenty of work done at Craigentinny, Heaton and Neville Hill to get power cars looking smart for the day.

 

[CosherB]

Well you have 2 powercars, a blue set is going to look a bit odd in between them in October...

Derogation for the BR livery on the Mk 3s regarding DDA?

 

[HMS Ark Royal]

I think you can say all the HST operators except Cross-Country are celebrating. Plenty of work done at Craigentinny, Heaton and Neville Hill to get power cars looking smart for the day.

Why not crosscountry?

 

[cactustwirly]

Why not crosscountry?

There aren't any XC powercars at St Phillip's Marsh on Monday

 

[HMS Ark Royal]

There aren't any XC powercars at St Phillip's Marsh on Monday

I get this, but couldn't they have sent one light engine?

 

[VP185]

They have no spare power cars available.

 

[HMS Ark Royal]

They have no spare power cars available.

100% utilisation? Thats surprising

 

[NoMorePacers]

Well, they only have 6...

 

[HMS Ark Royal]

Well, they only have 6...

I thought they had more... They must be buggered if one fails

 

[CC 72100]

XC have 10 power cars and in the event of a failure and no replacement available then they use a EC power car (hasn't happened under VTEC yet)

 

[HMS Ark Royal]

XC have 10 power cars and in the event of a failure and no replacement available then they use a EC power car (hasn't happened under VTEC yet)

Well if they have ten, surely one or two must be able to nip down, show the flag and the pop back again - makes no sense if they are all in use

 

[NoMorePacers]

Possibly up nearth...

 

[TH172341]

At the end of the day XC is a business and considering they're not exactly blessed with spare stock, I can see it logical in not being involved. Besides, they'll be plenty of HST action courtesy of other operators.

 

[ash39]

Yes they are a business first and foremost, but considering they have one of the least stretched fleet of power cars (I think 4/6 from 10 in service on a weekday?) , I'm surprised they couldn't spare one.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Yes they are a business first and foremost, but considering they have one of the least stretched fleet of power cars (I think 4/6 from 10 in service on a weekday?) , I'm surprised they couldn't spare one.

They live at Craigentinny, so Bristol is quite a long way to send a power car and at least one of your drivers, probably 2. Then there's getting a path for a light engine movement (75mph restriction)...

 

[43096]

They live at Craigentinny, so Bristol is quite a long way to send a power car and at least one of your drivers, probably 2. Then there's getting a path for a light engine movement (75mph restriction)...

Sorry, that's just excuses.

If VTEC, Network Rail, Grand Central and EMT can work together to send power cars to Bristol for the event with a combined move starting from Craigentinny via Heaton, Etches Park and the GCR(N) (to collect 41001 and coaches), then no reason why XC couldn't have joined in.

Poor effort from XC.

 

[Bungle965]

Sorry, that's just excuses.

If VTEC, Network Rail, Grand Central and EMT can work together to send power cars to Bristol for the event with a combined move starting from Craigentinny via Heaton, Etches Park and the GCR(N) (to collect 41001 and coaches), then no reason why XC couldn't have joined in.

Poor effort from XC.

Agreed, XC have to spend money if they were going to do this. Fuel, Driver costs etc, and they were not prepared to do it which is very typical of them.
Sam

 

[fgwrich]

XC have 10 power cars and in the event of a failure and no replacement available then they use a EC power car (hasn't happened under VTEC yet)

Although they have borrowed one East Midlands PC as well!

 

[HMS Ark Royal]

Sorry, that's just excuses.

If VTEC, Network Rail, Grand Central and EMT can work together to send power cars to Bristol for the event with a combined move starting from Craigentinny via Heaton, Etches Park and the GCR(N) (to collect 41001 and coaches), then no reason why XC couldn't have joined in.

Poor effort from XC.

Agreed, XC have to spend money if they were going to do this. Fuel, Driver costs etc, and they were not prepared to do it which is very typical of them.
Sam

Well there was a VTEC coach on the end (Brake purposes?) with nothing trailing... Surely crosscountry could have spared a power car to slide onto the back for a day or two. Would have been nice to see all the HST operators send one there

 

[CC 72100]

Although they have borrowed one East Midlands PC as well!

Well yes, depends on where the set failed!

 

[Philip Phlopp]

Sorry, that's just excuses.

If VTEC, Network Rail, Grand Central and EMT can work together to send power cars to Bristol for the event with a combined move starting from Craigentinny via Heaton, Etches Park and the GCR(N) (to collect 41001 and coaches), then no reason why XC couldn't have joined in.

Poor effort from XC.

Christ, you would think the railway exists just to keep bloody trainspotters happy. You've no idea how much whining we've had about bridge parapets being raised too.

There's plenty of operational reasons why XC didn't send powercars to the jamboree, mainly the franchise being totally broke and not being able to afford the maintenance costs on the HST sets as it is, which is why they're parked up when they're really needed in service. XC know they can fill the HST sets on most routes, but they can't run them without making a considerable loss, it's cheaper for them to run Voyagers and have overcrowding and passengers left on the platform.

 

[yorksrob]

Christ, you would think the railway exists just to keep bloody trainspotters happy. You've no idea how much whining we've had about bridge parapets being raised too.

There's plenty of operational reasons why XC didn't send powercars to the jamboree, mainly the franchise being totally broke and not being able to afford the maintenance costs on the HST sets as it is, which is why they're parked up when they're really needed in service. XC know they can fill the HST sets on most routes, but they can't run them without making a considerable loss, it's cheaper for them to run Voyagers and have overcrowding and passengers left on the platform.

Out of interest, is this mainly down to actual fuel costs, or is it due to the leasing arrangement ?

 

[Philip Phlopp]

Out of interest, is this mainly down to actual fuel costs, or is it due to the leasing arrangement ?

Leasing arrangement and accompanying maintenance agreement with Bombardier for the Voyager fleet, which is a flat fee deal of some sort. XC get more and bigger bills the more they use their HST fleet.

 

[43096]

Christ, you would think the railway exists just to keep bloody trainspotters happy. You've no idea how much whining we've had about bridge parapets being raised too.



There's plenty of operational reasons why XC didn't send powercars to the jamboree, mainly the franchise being totally broke and not being able to afford the maintenance costs on the HST sets as it is, which is why they're parked up when they're really needed in service. XC know they can fill the HST sets on most routes, but they can't run them without making a considerable loss, it's cheaper for them to run Voyagers and have overcrowding and passengers left on the platform.

Quite a patronising know-it-all, aren't we?

I think we all know that the railway isn't there for enthusiasts - although they are generally loyal customers of the railway, which seems to be forgotten.

XC have only themselves to blame for the situation with their HST sets as they signed up to the dry lease. If they wanted the ROSCOs to do the heavy maintenance they could have gone for a wet lease.

It's not like the move to the open day is going to cost much: it's what, an 800 mile round trip, minimal fuel (other power cars may well be powering) and no crew costs (ROG are doing the moves).

As for the financial reasons, EMT have been in revenue support and VTEC are rumoured to be struggling yet they have both managed to send stock (and made the effort to make it look good).

So I stand by my comment that it's a poor show by XC. It just reinforces the view that XC is a badly run TOC.

 

[Philip Phlopp]

Quite a patronising know-it-all, aren't we?

You're the one suggesting XC is a badly run TOC simply because they didn't send an HST power car for a depot open day.

That's seriously insulting to the staff who work bloody miracles day in and day out to keep the service running, and to maintain stock which is late at getting back onto depot and needs to be off depot earlier thanks to incidents happening almost anywhere across the network.

And as for leases - flat fee, wet leasing ROSCO maintenance wasn't an option for XC at the time the HSTs were taken on lease. There was a lot of money spent getting the stored examples back into a serviceable state, when I saw 43101 at Brush, it looked more like a plant pot than a HST power car, with weeds growing out of it, the Mark 3 LHCS which was converted was just as bad, having spent time at Long Marston.

As for enthusiasts being forgotten - christ, you're getting depot open days and support from a number of TOCs already, and there's all manner of rover tickets made available to tourists and enthusiasts. The railway really does look after the enthusiasts very well.

 

[ainsworth74]

I must admit I do find myself perplexed by accusations of a 'poor show' from XC for not sending a power car to an open day. Would it be nice? Of course. Is it a 'poor show'? Hardly. XC have much more important concerns than keeping enthusiasts happy.

 

[hello]

i think they have 8 out of 10 power cars being used on a sunday