krus_aragon
Established Member
I'll just leave this picture here ready for that eventuality...
Private Frazer from Dad's Army
Private Frazer from Dad's Army
Thank you, someone needed to.I'll just leave this picture here ready for that eventuality...
Private Frazer from Dad's Army
According to porterbrook, the powerpacks arrive in March.how quickly can Porterbrook start to get 769s off the production line and actually fulfil their orders?
If they are used mainly on stopping service there may not be much need to change on the fly, and the KAW (Wales) units may never use electric mode at all. If there is some problem with AC mode, changeover or 100mph operation they could be introduced with a restriction to 75mph and diesel only. Presuming they could match Class 150 timings as stated in the various articles they would still fulfil the short-term need for extra DMUs.Attention will soon move to how/where the 769s will switch their power source from diesel to electric and vice versa.
I doubt they will switch "on the fly" - 319s have never been able to do that.
They can't test any of that on the GCR.
I think at least one partially converted unit* went back to Northern at one point earlier in the year.Have all the northern conversions gone to the factory now, or are they still working services? Seen on twitter that a different set was on jacks for fitting the power packs .424 IIRC.
Depending how the control circuitry is wired, Diesel to DC should be possible as they’re effectively the same as far as the train is concerned.
At Oxenholme they will have to stop in the station before negotiating the Windermere branch anyway.
I'd love it if we could order a batch of four coach "150s" as there are plenty of busy routes where eighty metre 75mph trains are just what is needed
Isn't that near enough exactly what a 769 is, with the added benefit of a pantograph?
Yes, that's exactly what tbtc is saying
If the testing goes well, how quickly can Porterbrook start to get 769s off the production line and actually fulfil their orders?
I'm guessing we are still many months off seeing any 769s in revenue earning service
I think I read somewhere else that two units can be converted at the same time, but I can't remember where it was.
Probably this thread with picture of 2 units in Brush at the same time?
I've read elsewhere that Northern Connect is being reviewed. So I suppose the plan could change. Given that we weren't going to have 323s on the chat Moss. (One wizzed past me the other day) then we should probably do a sweep on here as to where they'll end up. Can see a ruk thread in 2040 "unusual places you've seen a bi-mode before they go to Rotherham for razor blades"
I can see the NRRUG sending one down my way.I've read elsewhere that Northern Connect is being reviewed. So I suppose the plan could change. Given that we weren't going to have 323s on the chat Moss. (One wizzed past me the other day) then we should probably do a sweep on here as to where they'll end up. Can see a ruk thread in 2040 "unusual places you've seen a bi-mode before they go to Rotherham for razor blades"
The 323s are up for a C6 sometime this year, so it depends on what livery they come back in but i'll that for the 323 thread.
To be fair re 170s, it is possible to re-gear those to 75mph but better acceleration, and possibly also to increase fuel efficiency at the same time by switching to a mechanical gearbox. In essence, turning them into ribbon-glazed Class 172s, which in the West Midlands have proven themselves to be ideal local stopping DMUs.
TBH, if I'd been speccing Northern and they'd still been on the market, I'd have ordered a stack of 3-car 172s to create new Manchester and Leeds S-Bahnen with strong branding and simplified, consistent routes and timetables (and possibly carry on the concept at lower frequencies elsewhere on the local stopping network as the Swiss do but using Class 150s in some cases), and tarted up a load of Class 158s with new seats, new aircon etc for Northern Connect, as well as 156s for the secondary expresses like Southport. Sure, they're getting on a bit, but the Class 158 is probably the best overall regional express DMU the UK has seen.
I can see the NRRUG sending one down my way.
Indeed there was. The Northern Rail units were going to directly replace pacer's where as their CAF successor's are indirectly replacing them.Going back a few years, wasn't there a provisional order of additional 172s made for Northern (and GWR) but was cancelled by the SRA because "everything is getting wired, you don't need new DMUS"?
Going back a few years, wasn't there a provisional order of additional 172s made for Northern (and GWR) but was cancelled by the SRA because "everything is getting wired, you don't need new DMUS"?
Indeed there was. The Northern Rail units were going to directly replace pacer's where as their CAF successor's are indirectly replacing them.
Agreed: It'd make most sense to me for a fleet of 172s to have directly replace the Pacers and tatty and ageing 150s, rather than yet another injection of new trains on the top end services (See the 185s, and 175s before them, though the latter did admittedly replace slam door 101s and loco-hauled mark 2s) that do little to improve the lot of the majority of commuters and result in the cascade of inappropriate 23m end door stock to urban services. Even Northern Spirit circa 2000/2001 proposed a fleet of faster accelerating, lightweight "Turbostar lite" units (Which is ultimately what was developed in the form of the 172s) to replace the Pacers.TBH, if I'd been speccing Northern and they'd still been on the market, I'd have ordered a stack of 3-car 172s...
Going back a few years, wasn't there a provisional order of additional 172s made for Northern (and GWR) but was cancelled by the SRA because "everything is getting wired, you don't need new DMUS"?
Plus they were regarded as unaffordable, and the manufacturers didn't want to build them (emissions regulations, low numbers etc).
We have CAF and Stadler now, and suitable diesel power packs.
And bi-modes.
The SRA had been abolished when the issue of new DMUs came up, and it was Andrew Adonis's DfT which declared that the future was electric.
While the cancellation led to severe capacity problems, I think we have more and better new trains on order as a result.