Remaining LNER HST Services

[gaillark]

As BRX said above, I was expecting a larger crowd at KX.
Would have been really nice if LNER produced a special commerative window label for the last trains. Asked the Guard on 1D30 to stamp the window label with his ticket stamper which he duly obliged as that is the only record of being on the final HST departure as proof!
Great atmosphere on board.

I count myself really lucky as I saw all three sets tonight.
At around 1810 with 1D26 passing me at Alexandra Palace with the driver giving a friendly blast on the horn which was great gesture then heading to King's Cross to catch the very last northbound 1935 to Stevenage. Then returning back on Thameslink to Finsbury Park and just in time for the 2027 back to Alexandra Palace. As I alighted the delayed 1A45 raced by with the final southbound to the Cross.

Really sad to see them go as they are still the very best on the network.
Thank you InterCity 125 for so many memories and thousands of journeys over the years.

 

[WesternLancer]

I thought there was some excellent running on 1D30, 19.35 north from Kings Cross. tho obv after Doncaster some delay.

Pleased to take 1E18 south - down stoke bank with the window open through a record breaking location was a very nice thing to do!

Yes, LNER could have perhaps done this a bit better in a way - say final runs on a saturday, maybe with departures in daylight if possible, but staff on board and many on the platform had a sense of occasion I thought.

Maybe some people were too worried about recreating this....
https://c1.staticflickr.com/7/6027/5953670958_381a148107.jpg

Come to think of it, a Deltic on a side by side platform with a charter might have been a nice thing to have organised...

Well done to all concerned anyway!

I look forward to seeing the tour set next week.

 

[Stampy]

I was on the 1935 from King's Cross.....

Managed to get one of these before they sold out...

 

[WesternLancer]

I thought there was some excellent running on 1D30, 19.35 north from Kings Cross. tho obv after Doncaster some delay.

Pleased to take 1E18 south - down stoke bank with the window open through a record breaking location was a very nice thing to do!

Yes, LNER could have perhaps done this a bit better in a way - say final runs on a saturday, maybe with departures in daylight if possible, but staff on board and many on the platform had a sense of occasion I thought.

Maybe some people were too worried about recreating this....
https://c1.staticflickr.com/7/6027/5953670958_381a148107.jpg

Come to think of it, a Deltic on a side by side platform with a charter might have been a nice thing to have organised...

Well done to all concerned anyway!

I look forward to seeing the tour set next week.

Mind you - if LNER's plan was to put the effort into the charity tour next week, that is fair enough - the superb looking reliveried set (see thread under railtours) has been impressively acheived, and in many ways that's a nice match to GWRs efforts earlier in the year. Personally bad luck it's in the run up to Xmas with too many other commitments on my plate to have taken a seat on chunk of it. But well done indeed to LNER for organising that - which can have been no small task - organisationally and financially.

 

[BRX]

Yes, and the considerable effort in painting a whole set into original livery.

 

[WesternLancer]

Yes, and the considerable effort in painting a whole set into original livery.

Yes, exactly - which is what is so superb about the gesture. A legacy on a set which hopefully will continue to run and be seen.

All that is needed next is to rescue surplus original seating from the EMR stock and reinstate the original interior layout!

Which come to think of it might not be such a bad idea since a a charter set would probably benefit from many more table seats for 4 than the IC refurb layout (late 80s early 90s?) has. Easier said than done obviously.

For example the GW refurb 125 layout would be useless for charters, I can't think anyone would book to sit in one of them in standard class really. The early refurb and the Mallard refurb (which I think retain the same number of tables roughly as each other, but not as per the original c1978 design) are not so bad as a compromise, but I'd think groups of 4 for families and friends is a more desirable layout.

Perhaps the greater space afforded in the ex Grand Central Angel set coaches is also more desirable for charters?

 

[BRX]

Yes, exactly - which is what is so superb about the gesture. A legacy on a set which hopefully will continue to run and be seen.

All that is needed next is to rescue surplus original seating from the EMR stock and reinstate the original interior layout!

Which come to think of it might not be such a bad idea since a a charter set would probably benefit from many more table seats for 4 than the IC refurb layout (late 80s early 90s?) has. Easier said than done obviously.

For example the GW refurb 125 layout would be useless for charters, I can't think anyone would book to sit in one of them in standard class really. The early refurb and the Mallard refurb (which I think retain the same number of tables roughly as each other, but not as per the original c1978 design) are not so bad as a compromise, but I'd think groups of 4 for families and friends is a more desirable layout.

Perhaps the greater space afforded in the ex Grand Central Angel set coaches is also more desirable for charters?

It would definitely be good to see any charter or preserved set restored to a more original layout. It's not just the lack of tables but the high seat backs that really change the whole feel of the saloons.

 

[DarloRich]

I am on that video

I have to report one silly spotter acting up on that southbound train. Very poor behaviour and attitude towards the crew.

I hope the farewell specials are free of any silliness.

 

[hexagon789]

Well I'm a bit sad, but I never found the ECML sets particularly exciting compared to the Midland and Western counterparts.
I've lost interest in rail tbh, I'm strongly considering buying a car atm

As much as I am sad to see them go, I won't lose interest in rail. After all similar things were said by people when the HSTs themselves took over from Deltics and Westerns.

 

[SteveyBee131]

As much as I am sad to see them go, I won't lose interest in rail. After all similar things were said by people when the HSTs themselves took over from Deltics and Westerns.

Indeed. It is sad that the long distance, full length HSTs are done (and for me and some others, the Pacers too), but it's not like trains are finishing full stop. The railways are constantly changing and moving on. We can look back with fond memories, at the same time as watching with interest the current scene.

 

[50039]

The lesson for me is to value what we have now - I ignored HSTs for years, no real interest, and now I find I have a big gap in my photo galleries where they should be. Sure, I’ve taken plenty towards the end, but how I wish I had taken more when they were new...

So now - I’m learning that lesson and as dull as I consider Azumas to be, I’m making sure I capture them now whilst they are shiny and new... maybe in 30 years time we will feel the same affinity for them as we did for HSTs, and the Deltics, 50s and Westerns which preceded them... stranger things have happened!

 

[theblackwatch]

Looks like they ran passenger back to Leeds from Harrogate off 1D26 1803 from KGX. Massively delayed though getting into Leeds.

Yes, it ran passenger as 1Z26 - little did I realise that, due to the delays with the Kings Cross to Harrogate journey I would end up being one of just a handful of passengers on board what turned out to be the final LNER HST service train (the 19.35 ex King's Cross having arrived around 50 mins earlier). The train was delayed outside Leeds awaiting a vacant platform, as 8/9/11, which are the only three through platforms it could use, were all occupied.

 

[xotGD]

Am I the only one who’s glad they’re gone? I decided to take the 1935 (final one out of Kings Cross) to celebrate

No, you're not the only one. However a as they are just being replaced with new plastic tat with less comfortable seats and underfloor engines there is no reason to celebrate.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

No, you're not the only one. However a as they are just being replaced with new plastic tat with less comfortable seats and underfloor engines there is no reason to celebrate.

Matter of opinion sir

 

[hexagon789]

Indeed. It is sad that the long distance, full length HSTs are done (and for me and some others, the Pacers too), but it's not like trains are finishing full stop. The railways are constantly changing and moving on. We can look back with fond memories, at the same time as watching with interest the current scene.

Exactly, the world goes on, the memories are still there and thankfully so are many HSTs still and for some years yet on other duties

 

[55002]

43317 & 43290, the pair that worked the last southbound on Sunday, heading up from Ferme Park to Craigentinny tomorrow

 

[Morpethcurve]

The 1239 newcastle to Edinburgh is showing as an HST on the info boards.
Disregard - no coach G.
As you were. .....

 

[Yorkshire222]

This article https://www.railnews.co.uk/news/2019/12/03-lner-previews-new-harrogate-azuma.html suggested there would still be a HST running to Harrogate, has that gone too now?

 

[Failed Unit]

This article https://www.railnews.co.uk/news/2019/12/03-lner-previews-new-harrogate-azuma.html suggested there would still be a HST running to Harrogate, has that gone too now?

Yes. The article is badly written. It was really meaning carry on until 15th December.

 

[DanNCL]

This article https://www.railnews.co.uk/news/2019/12/03-lner-previews-new-harrogate-azuma.html suggested there would still be a HST running to Harrogate, has that gone too now?

Correct it's gone. There are no HSTs left on LNER now, everything is now worked by Azumas and 91s.

 

[ainsworth74]

As with all good things or at long last (depending on your point of view) the LNER HSTs have left public service. This thread is therefore closed. We do have a thread regarding the Railtour which is still ongoing. Any other matters (such as the transfer to EMR) are either the subject of an existing thread or suitable for a new one.

All change please all change.