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When will the Class 150's start doing the Reading to Basingstoke route?

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Nick O. Teen

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So you'll be the person some passengers will moan to about it being an inferior type of train to what they are used to.

Is that diagram usually a 2 car Turbo?

I followed the Captain on the 1507, 1607, and 1707 (after which 150001 was taken off for a snooze in the depot), and yes, I copped a couple of moans! And one jovial chap who came out with "Oi, mate! Which museum did you get this out of, eh?"
 
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TEW

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When the 150/1s were first fitted with them they were out of use for a while, wasn't long though and they were soon working.
 

TEW

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I followed the Captain on the 1507, 1607, and 1707 (after which 150001 was taken off for a snooze in the depot), and yes, I copped a couple of moans! And one jovial chap who came out with "Oi, mate! Which museum did you get this out of, eh?"

And I bet those moaners would be the same people last week moaning that FGW should put another carriage on.
 

jopsuk

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Hehe. They're only, what, six years older than the 165s? Hardly museum pieces, though it is perhaps a testament to the leap-forward in design standards with the networkers compared to the mrk3 derived units.

Still reckon they should have just built the 165s as a straight turbo-diesel version of the 365- same slightly shorter body shell, same four-car formation and ideally same 100mph top speed- and then run effectively the same service to Oxford as to Cambridge- four an hour, two non-stop (with one splitting and continuing), one semi-fast and one stopper.
If a two-car version was still needed for branch lines, then, ooh, that could have been the 166.
 

JonathanH

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Hehe. They're only, what, six years older than the 165s? Hardly museum pieces, though it is perhaps a testament to the leap-forward in design standards with the networkers compared to the mrk3 derived units.

Still reckon they should have just built the 165s as a straight turbo-diesel version of the 365- same slightly shorter body shell, same four-car formation and ideally same 100mph top speed- and then run effectively the same service to Oxford as to Cambridge- four an hour, two non-stop (with one splitting and continuing), one semi-fast and one stopper.
If a two-car version was still needed for branch lines, then, ooh, that could have been the 166.

The length of the bays at Reading was a constraint on the use of 4-car 20m stock - it's referred to in some railway magazines of the time.
 

YorkshireBear

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Cant do anything right can they? Get some more stock to increase services. Complaints.... Refurbed 150s cant be much worse than turbos surely?
 

jopsuk

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The length of the bays at Reading was a constraint on the use of 4-car 20m stock - it's referred to in some railway magazines of the time.

Ah well. Pity that, a similar (but diesel) service to Oxford as for Cambridge might have broken the coach operators.
 

RobShipway

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Is 150 001 likely to be in service on the Reading - Basingstoke route Monday next week?
 

JonathanH

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There is a poster at Reading saying that first class is no longer carried on trains between Reading and Basingstoke and the empty stock workings for the 150 and 165 to swap are in opentraintimes until 17 February. From 20 February no swap is shown - either the planning hasn't got that far or perhaps 150002 is scheduled to be ready then and they will operate all day.

Will 150001 and 150002 operate the Reading to Basingstoke line permanently on weekdays or will 150121 and 150127 if they get 57209 and 57212 inserted be part of a common pool?

It would have been nice for 150209 to be formed with 52202 for a period to get it in the book as a 2-coach.
 

Turbostar

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150001 def looks very smart in it's new FGW blue livery. Looks to me FGW have made that extra effort with th e refurb, is this maybe because it's pioneer unit 001??? Nevertheless, def looks smart, be interesting to see whether it manages to come down to the far west now & again.
 

anthony263

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There is a poster at Reading saying that first class is no longer carried on trains between Reading and Basingstoke and the empty stock workings for the 150 and 165 to swap are in opentraintimes until 17 February. From 20 February no swap is shown - either the planning hasn't got that far or perhaps 150002 is scheduled to be ready then and they will operate all day.

Will 150001 and 150002 operate the Reading to Basingstoke line permanently on weekdays or will 150121 and 150127 if they get 57209 and 57212 inserted be part of a common pool?

It would have been nice for 150209 to be formed with 52202 for a period to get it in the book as a 2-coach.

150127 & 150121 have had the carriages from 150209 inserted into them to make them 3 carriage units 1 of them I think it was 150127 was spotted in Bristol today.

Only 150001 & 150002 will work on the Reading - Bassingstoke route.
 

fgwrich

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150127 & 150121 have had the carriages from 150209 inserted into them to make them 3 carriage units 1 of them I think it was 150127 was spotted in Bristol today.

Only 150001 & 150002 will work on the Reading - Basingstoke route.

Im told its a case of we shall see - We may get 121 / 127 this way too depending on maintenance regimes, as the 3 car 150s should then be more of a common pool - although the prototypes should be staying this way and the hybrids in Bristol :D

And as for 150209 / 57209 & 57212 - Both were released from LNWR Bristol last week along with one of the coaches from 150202, All refurbished, with 57209 due to be inserted into 127 as soon as possible.

As for will 001 be out and about next monday, it should be, but today's service was provided by the usual pair of 165s, so until the end of Feb when 002 is released, i wouldn't guarantee it - but i'll be passing through the station pretty much everyday this week so ill keep an eye out.
 
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Helvellyn

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Have they kept the higher capacity seating layout on 1500001, as introduced in the 1990s refurbishment, that gives less legroom? That could be one of the reasons for complaints about the Sprinter compared to a Turbo. Shame they didn't stick a First Class compartment in either.
 

fgwrich

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Have they kept the higher capacity seating layout on 1500001, as introduced in the 1990s refurbishment, that gives less legroom? That could be one of the reasons for complaints about the Sprinter compared to a Turbo. Shame they didn't stick a First Class compartment in either.

Yep, Seating layout is as ex West Midlands, just in FGW interior colours...

As for a First Class compartment, they could and i was having a conversation with one of the mangers about it last week, but the take up of First class on the branch is rather minimal anyway (ive only ever seen the odd 2 or 3 people use it) combined with why go to the expensive of fitting a First Class compartment in when technically the 150s are a temporary fix till Thames Valley Electrification / Crossrail - and are due to head down west in the future anyway.
 

TEW

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150001 def looks very smart in it's new FGW blue livery. Looks to me FGW have made that extra effort with th e refurb, is this maybe because it's pioneer unit 001??? Nevertheless, def looks smart, be interesting to see whether it manages to come down to the far west now & again.

Same refurbishment being done to all the ex-LM 150s, nothing special really but certainly makes them look smarter.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
150127 & 150121 have had the carriages from 150209 inserted into them to make them 3 carriage units 1 of them I think it was 150127 was spotted in Bristol today.

Only 150001 & 150002 will work on the Reading - Bassingstoke route.

Have they now had them added, both 150121 and 150127 had been around Devon and Cornwall last week, didn't know they'd made it back up to Bristol to have the extra carriages added.
 

fgwrich

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Looks Like the first of the 3 cars is now out and about as of monday the 6th:

150127 - Now reformed as a 3 car unit: 57127, 57209, & 52127

Also, 121 & 127 Will retain its 121 & 127 Numbers, with the only changes being to the diagram codes - 150/3

Edit:

Should have also said, 150127 was out and about on the Bristol - Gloucester services yesterday afternoon and is now based out of Bristol...

Also, don't expect to come down and see 150001 on the Basingstoke - Readings for at least another week, as im told its back to driver training up in Reading for now...
 
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Roylang

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Looks Like the first of the 3 cars is now out and about as of monday the 6th:

150127 - Now reformed as a 3 car unit, 52127, 57209, 57127

Also, 121 & 127 Will retain its 121 & 127 Numbers, with the only changes being to the diagram codes - 150/3
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Should have also said, 150127 was out and about on the Bristol - Gloucester services yesterday afternoon and is now based out of Bristol...

Also, don't expect to come down and see 150001 on the Basingstoke - Readings for at least another week, as im told its back to driver training up in Reading for now...

150121 still in 2 car form, working Exeter -> Exmouth this evening.

Roy
 

RobShipway

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Looks Like the first of the 3 cars is now out and about as of monday the 6th:

150127 - Now reformed as a 3 car unit: 57127, 57209, & 52127

Also, 121 & 127 Will retain its 121 & 127 Numbers, with the only changes being to the diagram codes - 150/3

Edit:

Should have also said, 150127 was out and about on the Bristol - Gloucester services yesterday afternoon and is now based out of Bristol...

Also, don't expect to come down and see 150001 on the Basingstoke - Readings for at least another week, as im told its back to driver training up in Reading for now...

Okay, thanks. I was going to pop over to Reading next Monday and was hoping that 150001 would be doing the Reading - Basingstoke route but if not then there is no point in me bothering especially as the weather does not look good over the next couple of days.
 

fgwrich

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I wouldnt for another week or two - whether or not this is true, but the 17th seems to have been mooted, presumably until the arrival of 002.

Though FGW seems to have lived up to one statement on the poster, we do seem to be getting more 3 car operated services now, with 165117 & 165114 (3 cars) both out and about on the branch over the last couple of days :)
 

swt_passenger

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I noticed on their website FGW issued a revised timetable 6 for Reading - Basingstoke from 6 Feb. I've not compared them in great detail, but it looks as though some end to end times have been extended by a minute for the 150s?
 

YorkshireBear

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Is the performance of the 150 that much worse than the 166 ii though they were pretty sluggish.
 

Turbostar

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I've noticed as well 001 & 002 are on paper based at Reading (RG). Is this just for operational purposes in order to get training etc. done before they start timetable workings on the Reading-Basingstoke route, or is it permanent? Just seems strange just 2 of their fleet are based at Reading, with the rest shared between Bristol St Phillips Marsh & Exeter.
 
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