Inter City 125 / HST
Discussion
miniman said:
MitchT said:
Some of them have been spruced up prior to withdrawal so they can bow out in style. The "Inter City" one is heading to the York NMR for preservation. This is often seen on one end of a set with the one at the other end bearing the new EMR livery.
GWR did a couple back in 2018-ish
Here's my video of it passing by (slowly due to a temporary speed restriction) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQVHdg3Gq48
BrotherMouzone said:
Southerner said:
BrotherMouzone said:
Are the GWR ones to London Paddington going out of service too? :-(
'Fraid they went back in May 2019
Superb things, they absolutely put their half-arsed replacements in the shade.
I still see the odd ones on the Reading to Swansea route, as recently as a couple of weeks ago.
Where do they terminate then? Do they not go further east than Reading?
HSTs will never see Reading or Paddington again though, sadly, with the exception of Network Rail's "Flying Banana" test train.
Pic of mine of GWR's 43002 - the first production power car (loco), after it ended its service days and before it went to the National Railway Museum on display in the old Swindon railway works.
Edited by Southerner on Friday 14th May 09:57
anonymous said:
[redacted]
What do ya think of it? Controversial eh 
Quite like it myself. For the less bearded among us, it's the first time one has ever operated without yellow fronts, due to them having upgraded the lights to the latest standards, crucially including the high level one above the windscreen. Nice.
miniman said:
rockin said:
Strange but true - one of the oddities of these high speed marvels was that until very recently the toilets still discharged straight onto the track bed...
I don’t think any of the Mk3 coaches were ever converted to tank s
tters were they?Edited by matchmaker on Friday 14th May 12:19
miniman said:
MitchT said:
Some of them have been spruced up prior to withdrawal so they can bow out in style. The "Inter City" one is heading to the York NMR for preservation. This is often seen on one end of a set with the one at the other end bearing the new EMR livery.
GWR did a couple back in 2018-ish
I remember the first time I ever drove one, I was still a secondman at Old Oak Common at the time (driver's assistant in plain English), I was on the way back to London from Swansea with my driver and we hitched a lift with another Old Oak crew in the cab of the last HST of the night, it was the booked driver's very last turn before retiring and we all took turns in the chair, I had it from Swindon and was amazed how smooth it felt, looking down at the speedo needle nudging 128mph as I shut off for Didcot. I'll miss them.
I used to travel to school each day by rail on the Midland Main Line. Usual fodder was a Class 45 Peak with a string of Mark 1 or Mark 2 coaches. Gradually HSTs took over. Yes they were faster, but also more cramped, as they switched from about 10 coaches to 7 or maybe 8. Also they used to fail quite regularly in the harsh winters we used to get in the 1980s, so you’d often get them limping along on one power unit or not at all. Still cool machines though and always loved the noise and smoke when a non-stopper powered past the station platform.
I think it is hilarious that anyone would describe these as reliable . . .
The only reason they managed to keep any sort of timetable with them was that there had an engine at each end so could keep moving when one failed.
In the early 80s there were normally 5-10 power cars running around the country with dead engines in them waiting for an overhauled unit, they had to run them dead or take the whole set out of service.
It was a bit of a challenge and couldn't overcome the crap engine design but a massive programme of oil sampling (every power car every 48 hours IIRC) and phonecalls to the op. centre to get a message out to the driver to stop an engine if certain elements in the oil passed specific levels meant less of the failures were catastrophic. Most common failure resulted in all the coolant in the sump with the oil together with one of the pistons Frequently there was a hole in the crankcase and sometimes a dent in the locomotive sidewall. Terrible engine design not suited to this application.
I was involved with them several times while with BR and one of the privatised consultancies.
They did trial some Mirrlees Blackstones to replace the Valentas but one was badly damaged just outside Paddington in an accident and I believe rail privatisation resulted in it going no further.
At least the coaches didn't have MA sets but were 415V 3 phase from a secondary alternator on the engine. You just needed a 3ft tall fitter with 8ft long arms to maintain them.
The only reason they managed to keep any sort of timetable with them was that there had an engine at each end so could keep moving when one failed.
In the early 80s there were normally 5-10 power cars running around the country with dead engines in them waiting for an overhauled unit, they had to run them dead or take the whole set out of service.
It was a bit of a challenge and couldn't overcome the crap engine design but a massive programme of oil sampling (every power car every 48 hours IIRC) and phonecalls to the op. centre to get a message out to the driver to stop an engine if certain elements in the oil passed specific levels meant less of the failures were catastrophic. Most common failure resulted in all the coolant in the sump with the oil together with one of the pistons Frequently there was a hole in the crankcase and sometimes a dent in the locomotive sidewall. Terrible engine design not suited to this application.
I was involved with them several times while with BR and one of the privatised consultancies.
They did trial some Mirrlees Blackstones to replace the Valentas but one was badly damaged just outside Paddington in an accident and I believe rail privatisation resulted in it going no further.
At least the coaches didn't have MA sets but were 415V 3 phase from a secondary alternator on the engine. You just needed a 3ft tall fitter with 8ft long arms to maintain them.
When they first came into service Western Region did a promotion of 125mph for 125p
Spent a few weekends getting our moneys worth
Will always remember on our first trip a lad with a stopwatch the size of a dinner plate running through the carriage yelling 125 through Southall ( it may have been Slough) with a very large grin on his face
Happy days
Spent a few weekends getting our moneys worth
Will always remember on our first trip a lad with a stopwatch the size of a dinner plate running through the carriage yelling 125 through Southall ( it may have been Slough) with a very large grin on his face
Happy days
Edited by silverfoxcc on Saturday 15th May 12:53
When they first came into service Western Region did a promotion of 125mph for 125p
Spent a few weekends getting our moneys worth
Will always remember on our first trip a lad with a stopwatch the size of a dinner plate running through the carriage yelling 125 through Southall ( it may have been Slough) with a very large grin on his face
Happy days
Spent a few weekends getting our moneys worth
Will always remember on our first trip a lad with a stopwatch the size of a dinner plate running through the carriage yelling 125 through Southall ( it may have been Slough) with a very large grin on his face
Happy days
Edited by silverfoxcc on Saturday 15th May 12:53
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Ah yes, those! They won't be going anywhere under their own steam like that, they'll need either the high level headlight or a splash of yellow! Given that the buffered 43s are the ugly ducklings of the bunch, I think this lot have managed to make them look pretty smart 
The XPT is only a 'sort-of' HST, it isn't as closely related as some (including Hornby!) would like you to think!
rockin said:
Strange but true - one of the oddities of these high speed marvels was that until very recently the toilets still discharged straight onto the track bed...
Urban anorak legend goes that somewhere was a tunnel, presumably with less clearance than most, in which it was discovered that two HSTs passing one another at full tilt would experience the bogs operating 'in reverse' shall we say......as in, you'd get a bit wet, due to the effects of the air pressure 
. So the speed through the tunnel had to be reduced accordingly!
Lincsls1 said:
Love these trains! 
Childhood thing.
They are for me too-that “Intercity” black/white livery and the scream of a Paxman Valenta enthralled me as a kid living close to the Midland Mainline.Childhood thing.
It’s always been a childhood dream of mine to be a driver, and to drive one-I’ve achieved the former, but the latter looks a fading possibility.
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