The end of the line for "the single line British Rail"

East Coast, the InterCity East Coast franchise holder after National (Failure) Express, finally comes to an end in 8 days, the franchise is to be take over by Virgin Trains under the name Virgin Trains East Coast. to last until about 2023 unless Virgin suffer the same fate as GNER and National Express, which is doubtful.

What this means for us, the railway passenger.

Virgin Trains East Coast plan to introduce new services to places like Sunderland and Middlesbrough, the former is currently on the Tyne and Wear Metro so would likely only see long-distance travellers, the latter is currently served by Northern and First TransPennine Express services, again more than likely attracting long-distance travellers.

They also plan to take part in the programme to replace the ageing British Rail and Metro-Cammell built stock with the Hitachi class 800/801 which is being built at Newton Aycliffe, meaning new trains, but these will come as they are ready.

East Coast also acquired a loyalty scheme from National Express East Coast, this is to end with East Coast and will be replaced by the Nectar loyalty scheme, which many people have a card for, myself included.

East Coast have said that all tickets bought before the 1st of March for travel after will remain valid so no one will lose out, it's just a new company taking over and there is work to be done to move from one to the next.

So, to sum up, in 2009 I was VERY critical of East Coast, however they've proven themselves in service, got themselves onto television, and got all the trains repainted in very good time, they also appeared at Railfest 2012 with a Class 91 that was named in honour of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, they promoted a British icon, James Bond, and the last movie, Skyfall using locomotive 91107 as it's original number was 91007, and with their television appearance they promoted UK television channel Sky 1 on one of the Class 91 locomotives, they initially stripped all the 91s of names but they did something very special to resume the practice, they named 91109 after Sir Bobby Robson at Newcastle Central Station.

Well done East Coast, you turned around the troubled InterCity East Coast franchise and made it better than ever, Virgin Trains, in a week it will be your turn to try your hand at what East Coast have done before you.

Happy journeys on well-run railways

It's the Voyager family of DEMUs again, and a shocking discovery

So, Saturday, my first ever trip to the Sunderland International Airshow, a great day out had by me, part of my journey was by road (my motor scooter), part by conventional rail (On British Rail Class 220), and part by light rail (Tyne and Wear Metro, British Rail Class 994), my journey to Newcastle was on Voyager 220012, and for years I've used the CrossCountry service and these trains without thinking about it, although I've always noted that the brake system inefficiently wastes it's energy by routing it to a resistor bank on the roof of each carriage, this is known as rheostatic braking which uses the motors, and in theory could be converted to regenerative braking and thus put the power back into the traction system and save diesel fuel (the trains use the Cummins QSK19 diesel engine, the same basic unit as the horrifically awful and hateful Class 185 except it's connected to an electric generator rather than a gearbox and the wheels).

This braking system has one major safety flaw with it, it can be and has been the cause of fires, 220012 was a victim of this flaw in 2008 with a fire started in the resistor bank, the train was not badly damaged, repaired, then returned to service, or I'd not have travelled on it, finding that information out, especially while I was on said train, was very disturbing, but knowing these incidents are isolated it didn't worry me too much, my return journey was on another, unidentified, member of the Voyager family (no idea if it was a 220 or 221 as I didn't check), my next journey on one of these trains is set to be October, it might be 220012 again, it might not, who knows.

Happy, and fire-free, journeys

41001 lives.... an update

I am updating on yesterday's post where I published that 41001, the sole remaining prototype HST power car, moved under it's own power for the first time in over 30 years, this momentous occasion was filmed on behalf of Project Miller and the 125 Group by a team of professionals, complete with the iconic soundtrack of the Paxman 12RP200L Valenta engine, you will find the video on the Project Miller blog.

41001 lives!

I have just found out via the RSS feed of the blog for Project Miller, the 125 Group's banner under which they are restoring to full working order the sole remaining prototype HST power car 41001, that 41001 has moved under it's own power today on the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) to just outside Brush Traction in  Loughborough, marking the first time in over 30 years it has moved under it's own power, and the first time since 2010 that an operational Paxman 12RP200L Valenta engine has been used in a locomotive since the aforementioned Brush Traction re-engined all operational class 43 power cars, a great day for railways.

it is coming up to two years now since I stood in the cab of 41001 at Railfest and wished the 125 Group all the best in getting 41001 working again, and I am very pleased at how much they have achieved in only two years at both Neville Hill and Ruddington, where the locomotive is now based, I had every faith they'd do it, if and when 41001 returns to York, I will be there to greet it.

Again, a great job to the Project Miller guys and the 125 Group, keep up the good work at getting this icon of railway history in a fully operational state.

And for regular readers, my apologies for not posting anything in over a year, there's been a lot going on for me personally and the railways had taken a back seat sadly, normal service should be resumed

My own farewell to the Paxman 12RP200L Valenta engine

As you may be, or may not be, aware, all of British Rail Class 43 has been re-engined with the MTU 16V4000 engines with the exception of those used by East Midlands Trains as these have Paxman 12VP185 engines, back in 2009 however, you may recall I posted in the November 28th post about my fond farewell to the Paxman 12RP200L Valenta engine that has powered the HST since it’s prototype stages, as I knew that within a year or two the engine would be gone from the HSTs, though what is not known is that I captured some video footage of one of the few class 43s that still had the original Paxman 12RP200L Valenta engine at that time, it has since, of course, suffered the same fate as all the other members of Class 43.

Although the Valenta is now not in mainline use, it it, however, due to return again soon, Project Miller, of the 125 Group, currently have 41001 (now registered 43000 for movements on Network Rail’s infrastructure in the 43/9 subclass) on a long term loan from the National Railway Museum, you may recall I saw it and stood in it’s cab at Railfest earlier this year as the 125 Group were showing this with a production HST.

Project Miller also have Paxman Valenta serial number S508, which has since been installed into 41001 but there is a lot of work before it will move under it’s own power again, as this vehicle was a static exhibit for many years.

Given my inability to donate to Project Miller at Railfest as a goodwill gesture in 2013 I shall donate a small amount to them, they are doing a wonderful job and I would like to see this icon of railway engineering back on the rails and moving again, complete with the iconic engine and the iconic sound.

So, here is an unidentified Grand Central Class 43 from 2009 firing up it’s Valenta to head to King’s Cross from York

York Railway Station, 28th November 2009, the last of the Valenta powered Class 43s

Hopefully some day in the future a Class 43 will be Valenta powered again, but until that day the Class 41 will have a Valenta engine.

Happy journeys

Railfest 2012

As you know I attended Railfest 2012, my main intent to go there was to have a look in the cabs of 41001 and 43159, the former being the remaining prototype HST power car and the latter being one of the production models, the one that set the world speed record for diesel traction and has held it ever since.

The two HSTs were only the tip of the iceberg, as parked right next to the prototype HST was A1 60163 Tornado, a steam engine that is just a marvel of engineering, and today I got to go on the footplate of this and several other steam locomotives, these included A4 4498 "Sir Nigel Gresley" (named after it's designer, carrying number 60007),  LMS Coronation Class 6229 Duchess of Hamilton, LMS Princess Royal Class 620l Princess Elizabeth, named after the then 7 year old Princess who went on to become Queen Elizabeth II, and LMS Jubilee Class 5596 Bahamas.

Diesel traction, aside from the HSTs included Virgin Trains Super Voyager 221144, of which only the driving cars remain, as spares due to the use of the non-driving coaches in other sets, the cab was a modern, electronic affair, rather than the usual power handle and brake handle arrangement, there was also Virgin Trains Thunderbird 57308 "Tin-Tin", this is a rebuilt Class 47, rebuilt by Brush Traction from 47846, and equipped with Dellner couplers to allow them to tow stricken Voyagers and Pendolinos, and finally for the diesels there was British Rail Class 55 Deltic 55002, with very little done to it's cab in the way of modern enhancements.

The only electric traction with cab access at the National Railway Museum was Class 395 (I didn't get the number for this one), which was hauled to Railfest as it had not been certified for running on the East Coast Main Line, it was also possible to look inside the passenger compartment of the driving car with cab access.

Other notable vehicles present were A3 4472 The Flying Scotsman, the first time I had seen the engine intact for a very long time, last seeing it at the National Railway Museum a few years ago in a state of complete disassembly, A4 4468 Mallard was also here, with footplate access but I had done this once before a few years ago and had looked on the footplate of 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley anyway.  I also took a short trip in a standard class corridor carriage on a train working with two locomotives, 37119 (carrying it's original number of D6700), on the outbound, and GWR 3700 Class 3744 City of Truro on the return, and in British Rail days the penalty for pulling the alarm handle (or in this case a chain) improperly was £50, but that has probably gone up with inflation.

Another interesting machine that was at Railfest was a rail welding machine of American origin that Network Rail had purchased for almost £1,000,000 a piece, this machine is equipped with both road and rail wheels so can be driven onto the tracks at a crossing, and switch to it's rail wheels, then head to the track that needs replacing, the track is then removed and a new track put in it's place, with this welding machine then clamping over the join and welding the two pieces together, thus speeding up the time it takes for rails to be replaced, Network Rail demonstrated this machine to an audience.  Other Network Rail vehicles at Railfest included the Network Rail MPV with a leaf buster attachment, and a snow blowing machine.

There was a lot more at Railfest than what I have mentioned above, why not check out http://www.nrm.org.uk/NRM/PlanaVisit/Events/railfest.aspx

I include some pictures of Railfest 2012

Beginning with the HSTs naturally, then others to follow

41001 cab door

41001 radiator grille and guard van door, to rear is the Mark 3 coach, see below

43159, with drawgear cover opened

43159's number, side window, and cab door

43159 radiator grille, and guard van door

Info on 43159

Info on 41001

Mark 3 coach E12002, in original livery

E12002 along it's length

Info on E12002 using it's modern number 42353, this is a standard class coach

Now the other vehicles, beginning with Tornado

Tornado's name plates

Tornado

This lever drops the ash out onto the track

Tornado's number, partly obscured by the steps up to the footplate

Tornado's cab side windows, number (again partly obscured by the steps, and plate saying that this great steam locomotive was built in Darlington

The two Driving cars of Virgin Trains Super Voyager 221144

Cab door of 221144

DRS Class 20 20312

GB Railfreight Class 66 66736

More of 66736

Cab of Network Rail MPV with leafbuster, see below

Another Network Rail vehicle

Network Rail Snowblower

Network Rail MPV's leaf buster attachment, no more trains being late because of leaves on the line? perhaps not :P

More leafbusting goodness

The Network Rail MPV and the front of Class 92, operated by GB Railfreight

Information on  20312

More 20312

Class 56 56312 cab door this one was a mobile ad for Ralfest 2012

Direct Rail Services Class 57 57309

The Ralfest 56

More Railfest 56

Virgin Trains Thunderbird 57308 "Tin-Tin"

57308's Nameplate

57308, you may notice the 221, this vehicle had in fact hauled 221144

Info on Class 395, see below for picture

Up close and personal, the Dellner coupler fitted to 221144

Information on 57308 and it's latest "mission"

Class 395 front end

A closer view of Class 395

More 395

Duchess of Hamilton with streamlining

395 is a long way from home here

The couplers on a 395, they appear to also be Dellner couplers

More of the Duchess

LMS coach

Named after Princess Elizabeth, who we all know better as Queen Elizabeth II, it was part of the jubilee

ScotRail Class 380, the Desiro for Scotland

More Class 380

6201, the number carried by Princess Elizabeth

The proof of Mallard's record breaking run lies with this

Class 55 55002 and the rear of the dynamometer car

Class 380 info

More Dynamometer car

The Dynamometer Car's info board

The Flying Scotsman

55002, known as the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

Info on 55002

4468 Mallard, the fastest steam locomotive of them all

Information on the Flying Scotsman

Flashbutt welder, Network Rail's latest way to fix the rails

Flashbutt Welder information

More Flashbutt Welder, the guy in the yellow vest is from the company in the US that makes it

5596 Bahamas

Information on 5596 Bahamas

A mix of old and new

Railfest continues until the 10th June, if you've not got there, hurry and don't miss out

The experience is well worth it

Happy Journeys on the railways for many years to come