Where have Class 395s been under their own power?

[mm333]

Obviously there's the loop from St Pancras to St Pancras via Deal and the line down to Maidstone West.

Didn't the last STP-Ramsgate used to go via Canterbury East one night a week to get from Faversham to Ramsgate when the line through Whitstable was closed?

There used to be weekly(?) ECS into Victoria via Denmark Hill for route retention.

There was a unit that went to Eastbourne and Hastings when I think they were promoting extending services regularly that way.

And I've seen photos of the Victory Railtour that went Ashford-Redhill-Gatwick-Barnham-Bognor-Barnham-Portsmouth Harbour-Southampton Central and then back the same way.

Have they been anywhere else?

 

[DelW]

395005 went to Tunbridge Wells and Sheerness on a railtour in 2016 (UK Railtours, A Bridge Too Far, 28/5/16). Also covered Strood - Paddock Wood and Tonbridge - Ashford as well as their normal routes.

 

[RichJF]

They've been to London Bridge, Waterloo East & Charing Cross too...

 

[lumitumey12345]

They've been to London Bridge, Waterloo East & Charing Cross too...

When did they do this?

 

[RichJF]

When did they do this?

Embedded story is from June 2014 with a vid.

 

[Versa274]

Did one unit trial in the ECML some years ago in readiness for IEP project?

 

[62484GlenLyon]

In November each year, on the Saturday before Rememberance Day, between 2014 and 2018 UKRT ran a railtour using 395s. Six Bells Junction website has an entry for each occasion. Each tour had a very imaginative itinerary as only the late, and much missed, John Farrow could conjure up.

On 1st December 2010, during a spell of very snow and icy weather a friend of mine had a 395 on a late evening service train between Victoria and Swanley - and a 376 from Swanley to Victoria during the morning of the same day.

 

[Samzino]

They visited Slade Green Depot for its open day some years back. Went via the Crayford line too on their own power. And they've gone via the Bexleyheath Line too.

 

[D365]

Did one unit trial in the ECML some years ago in readiness for IEP project?

Are you asking if it happened?

 

[king_walnut]

One did some journeys between Hastings and Eastbourne back in 2016. I can't fully remember why but it was something to do with the Hastings MP having a 'vision'

 

[brad465]

For a while there was a weekly service from Swanley-Ashford and back using the Fawkham Junction link with HS1 that a 395 did empty, although that hasn't run since 2016 at the latest, when the connection was mothballed (and for a time played host to a 373 stored there before being scrapped).

 

[fodphil]

One visited the York RailFair, no idea how it got there

 

[Rick1984]

That could be the one I saw go through Peterborough

 

[HarryF]

That could be the one I saw go through Peterborough

I may be wrong, but the journey to York was pulled by a diesel locomotive, and not the class 395 operating under its own power.

 

[connorwilsonwy]

I may be wrong, but the journey to York was pulled by a diesel locomotive, and not the class 395 operating under its own power.

 

[Rick1984]

As I thought quite a long time ago!

 

[Samzino]

Here was the 395 move I mentioned from Slade Green on its own power

 

[BluePenguin]

What a terrible waste of diesel! Why could it not run under the overhead wires?

 

[Samzino]

What a terrible waste of diesel! Why could it not run under the overhead wires?

I assume they didn't have a driver that was signed on the 395 that also had the route knowledge to power it to york. But also might also be a signal system incompatibility thing.

 

[Doomotron]

What a terrible waste of diesel! Why could it not run under the overhead wires?

The 395s only have two modes, DC 750v and CTRL mode, which (at least in Train Simulator) changes the speed display to km/h. I'd assume that (or other potential reasons) meant the trains would need modifications to do it, which combined with the need to only do the round trip once and the need for drivers as said by Samzino would all contribute to it being more sensible to be pulled by a diesel.

 

[BluePenguin]

I assume they didn't have a driver that was signed on the 395 that also had the route knowledge to power it to york. But also might also be a signal system incompatibility thing.

Theoretically, would it be possible putting these issues aside for the trains to physically run on the ECML or WCML though?

The 395s only have two modes, DC 750v and CTRL mode, which (at least in Train Simulator) changes the speed display to km/h. I'd assume that (or other potential reasons) meant the trains would need modifications to do it, which combined with the need to only do the round trip once and the need for drivers as said by Samzino would all contribute to it being more sensible to be pulled by a diesel.

Probably more sensible operationally although much more boring - running Britain's fastest transit under the wire being pulled by a diesel feels criminal

 

[Samzino]

Theoretically, would it be possible putting these issues aside for the trains to physically run on the ECML or WCML though?

If the 395 does or is compatible with the systems of safety on either line plus you have a driver with both the route knowledge to york from Ashford or etc where the 395 is originally stabled and also the additional requirement of the driver being competent to drive the 395 then yes.

 

[Doomotron]

If the 395 does or is compatible with the systems of safety on either line plus you have a driver with both the route knowledge to york from Ashford or etc where the 395 is originally stabled and also the additional requirement of the driver being competent to drive the 395 then yes.

In theory there is nothing stopping 395s from going on most non-HS1 AC routes, as they have TPWS, AWS and can take the right voltages, it's just the case that the trains aren't set up for it. If they ever needed to be, they could be set up like Class 92s which have different power and signalling modes to choose from, so a 'UK AC' mode that keeps the speed display in mph and uses the pantograph could theoretically be added, but I expect the only use of that would be for railtours since I expect 395s will stay on HS1 until the end of their lives. That said, adding it for railtours to one or two units isn't a bad idea by any means, and considering their popularity on railtours around the third rail network an interested party could easily get it done if they wanted to.

 

[Samzino]

In theory there is nothing stopping 395s from going on most non-HS1 AC routes, as they have TPWS, AWS and can take the right voltages, it's just the case that the trains aren't set up for it. If they ever needed to be, they could be set up like Class 92s which have different power and signalling modes to choose from, so a 'UK AC' mode that keeps the speed display in mph and uses the pantograph could theoretically be added, but I expect the only use of that would be for railtours since I expect 395s will stay on HS1 until the end of their lives. That said, adding it for railtours to one or two units isn't a bad idea by any means, and considering their popularity on railtours around the third rail network an interested party could easily get it done if they wanted to.

Indeed but it all adds up to money, paper work and with the railway, a lot of time!

 

[lukeychops]

What a terrible waste of diesel! Why could it not run under the overhead wires?

The pantograph head on a 395 is a European profile, only compatible with HS1 OLE in the UK

 

[liamf656]

A 395 also ran on Old Dalby test track around a decade ago

 

[BluePenguin]

A 395 also ran on Old Dalby test track around a decade ago

Where is that?

 

[Edvid]

Between Melton Mowbray and Edwalton.

The pantograph head on a 395 is a European profile, only compatible with HS1 OLE in the UK

373s travelled on the ECML back in the GNER days - albeit limited to 110mph (both for power supply and OLE oscillation reasons IIRC) - so in that respect high-speed Faiveley pans aren't an insurmountable issue.

 

[paul1609]

Between Melton Mowbray and Edwalton.

373s travelled on the ECML back in the GNER days - albeit limited to 110mph (both for power supply and OLE oscillation reasons IIRC) - so in that respect high-speed Faiveley pans aren't an insurmountable issue.

I believe the 373s had an additional setting "br 25kv ac" on the power selectors which accommodates the different heights and tension of the br overhead system when compared to hs1 which basically has the French TGV ohl system.
Im sure if a decision was made to transfer the 395s elsewhere they could be adjusted but they don't currently have a system to run on both systems so they can't for instance run up hs1 and then on to the North London line.