Scotrail should be introducing refurbished HSTs from GWR to improve their train fleet.
Now they are rebranding some not so refurbished trains as “Classic” and have released a video showing how to open a train door.
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Scotrail should be introducing refurbished HSTs from GWR to improve their train fleet.
Now they are rebranding some not so refurbished trains as “Classic” and have released a video showing how to open a train door. -
Does this mean that Scotrail will be reclassed as a 'heritage' preserved line? Will the re-introduction of steam follow?Originally posted by Dave2002 View Post
I keep hitting the Escape key, but I'm still here! -
How about a few good old Pullman Cars!Originally posted by LeMartinPecheur View PostDoes this mean that Scotrail will be reclassed as a 'heritage' preserved line? Will the re-introduction of steam follow?Comment
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Meanwhile lots of folk on GWR ( poor long suffering they are too) are bemoaning the loss of the HSTs , and what they see as inferior replacements.Originally posted by Dave2002 View Post
BR got a lot of stick back in the 70’s but the inter city 125’s proved to be an enduring success storyI will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
I am not a number, I am a free man.Comment
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...and actually invested in the railways in a serious way!Originally posted by teamsaint View PostComment
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… with the world's most expensive kippers for breakfastOriginally posted by cloughie View PostComment
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Funny you should mention Pulman. Last Thursday, due to the late finish, I was constrained to travel to Waterloo by train, rather than to Victoria by bus. My intended train was the 18:05 from Martins Heron. However, at around 18:00 the platform digital display announced that the next train was not scheduled to stop at this station. It turned out to be a diesel-pulled and pushed Pulman express. Once it had passed, a new announcement appeared. My train had been cancelled. Fotunately the next, slower, train got me to Waterloo in good time.Originally posted by cloughie View PostComment
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And here is the “how to open the door” video - in the Scotsman article.
Or perhaps better here - https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp...-in-new-video/Comment
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What I won't miss about the HST 125 is the acrid brake smell which sometimes penetrates into the carriage. I noticed it the first time I travelled on one from London to Bath in 1978. I noticed it again only a few weeks ago. I assume this is a non-correctable design flaw, the result of putting the air intake too close to the brake unit.Comment
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... o I remember that so well! Doing the Bath/London and Bath/Didcot trip frequently in the 70s and 80s, the acrid smell each time braking for a station. Madeleines and tisane may smell nicer, but HST brakes just as effectively Proustian....Originally posted by gurnemanz View Post
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Never mind the smell. What about the asbestos particles released into the carriage air in the early days of the HST 125s. That did get resolved. It was claimed that tests found no asbestos in the carriage air, but this was put down by some to be due to only white asbestos being used (which was degraded by the heat of the braking) or that any such particles were too small for the equpment used to detect.Originally posted by gurnemanz View Post
{Hmm. Further searches suggest that the use of asbestos in early HST 125 brakes may well have been an urban myth.)Comment
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Have we all seen the rather interesting TV programme about the HSTs? [probably not all, but some may have ...]
I think despite its faults the HSTs could be considered successful - or am I being too generous?
The article in msg 1 mentions a survey from which passengers said they preferred the HSTs to Scotrail’s DMUs. I have to admit I do too - but is it due to the ride (quite smooth) or simply the fact that the heating (when it works... or doesn’t overheat) is more effective? The trains do get up to their max rated speed of 100 mph (on Scottish tracks) briefly on some lines, though they run for the most part at over 80 mph when up to speed.
The DMUs, in Scotland and elsewhere are usually horrible, and sometimes hopelessly overcrowded. Are they actually cheaper to operate? Otherwise why bother with them - they should have been replaced or upgraded years ago. Why the lack of investment in areas more than 50 miles away from London? [don’t bother to answer that ....!!! Anyone in those parts must live in caves and go to work, if they do, wearing wode ...]
The “new” Classic rolling stock still has the exhortations not to flush the toilets in stations.
What are the new trains on the GWR lines like? Are they the Japanese stock supplied under the IEP?Comment
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