The Rail Enthusiast thread

[Richard A Thackeray]

Sunday 30th

Hopperton Crossing
Hopperton Street
Allerton Maulever With Hopperton
(not far from Whixley & jct47/A1)
North Yorkshire

This is on the York - Knaresborough line
The Great North Road ('old A1) can be seen at the end of Grey Thorn Lane, as it is at the opposite side of the line (red road on the 'Geograph map)

Extended gate-keepers house
(note the British Rail plaque, in the porch)

The station was 300yards(?) further west; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopperton_railway_station
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/7509314
(1892 - 1914) OS 25" map; https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18.5&lat=53.99972&lon=-1.36096&layers=168&b=ESRIWorld&o=89

 

[Spartak]

166213 at Portway Park & Ride heading to Severn Beach this evening ...

 

[robjh]

Any clues about this old thing? Looks like a locomotive then used as an unpowered body to fit a snowplough on, it's rusting away in a corner at Calalzo-Pieve di Cadore station in the Italian Dolomites.
Looks like a 0-4-2-4-0 (?) arrangement. Assume it was diesel, though I guess it could be electric with the pantograph removed.

 

[BrumJim]

Any clues about this old thing? Looks like a locomotive then used as an unpowered body to fit a snowplough on, it's rusting away in a corner at Calalzo-Pieve di Cadore station in the Italian Dolomites.
Looks like a 0-4-2-4-0 (?) arrangement. Assume it was diesel, though I guess it could be electric with the pantograph removed.
View attachment 821323

Looks very typical of an Italian electric loco of that era. Can't really find any help on Google for more information.

 

[ivegotabike]

https://www.yorkmix.com/1bn-investment-in-new-trains-will-bring-faster-journeys-to-york

Can a rail enthusiast, or anyone esle for that matter, explain to me why

- it will take 8 years to build 29 trains
- the government needs to invest directly in Alstom
- why Rock Rail needs to be involved

 

[Bristolian]

https://www.yorkmix.com/1bn-investment-in-new-trains-will-bring-faster-journeys-to-york

Can a rail enthusiast, or anyone esle for that matter, explain to me why

- it will take 8 years to build 29 trains
- the government needs to invest directly in Alstom
- why Rock Rail needs to be involved

Building a train is somewhat more complex that cars and lorries. I would suspect that the timing is due to existing contracts at Alstom that need to be dealt with first, for example:
1. 10 new nine-car Class 345 Aventra trains for the Elizabeth Line, the first of which is due to be delivered later in 2026
2. Cross Country Voyager Refurbishment with 312 train cars to be refurbished, scheduled to run throughout 2027.

No idea about the other questions 👍

 

[Mike_P]

Theirs also stringent safety checks and test running to be done on a new design with the potential for delays due to modifications required and crews to trained on them.
Current rail rolling stock etc is owned by leasing companies hence the involvement of Rock Rail. Presumably that will be a further step in renationalisation of the railways to remove the leasing companies.

 

[Jenkins]

Double driver change at Ipswich - 66769 and 66765

 

[Andy in Germany]

A pair of rather smart looking Siemens Vectron B-B locomotives in Stuttgart yesterday.

 

[Andy in Germany]

https://www.yorkmix.com/1bn-investment-in-new-trains-will-bring-faster-journeys-to-york

Can a rail enthusiast, or anyone esle for that matter, explain to me why

- it will take 8 years to build 29 trains
- the government needs to invest directly in Alstom
- why Rock Rail needs to be involved

It won't take 8 years to build them, but it will take some time to get approval for them, because as said above, the safety and approval process is quite long and stringent, for obvious reasons. That said, it also takes some time to test and new cars, but because the turnover for cars is faster, we don't realise it.
The thing cars don't need is driver training; drivers don't just get a licence and then drive any train anywhere. They are certified for specific train types on specific routes, because they have to know exactly how the train will react, where signals are and what to do in an emergency. That means every driver has to drive the route, and the possible diversionary routes on the new trains, and only when they can show they know the route can they drive it with passengers.
This is also a bit more complex in the UK, because it's harder to buy trains off the peg like we can on the mainland, because British trains are built to a smaller profile.

 

[BrumJim]

https://www.yorkmix.com/1bn-investment-in-new-trains-will-bring-faster-journeys-to-york

Can a rail enthusiast, or anyone esle for that matter, explain to me why

- it will take 8 years to build 29 trains
- the government needs to invest directly in Alstom
- why Rock Rail needs to be involved

- 8 years? No idea. Typically you are looking at 2 years design, 2 years build and service introduction. I'm guessing that there will be prototypes built to prove concept before fleet design, but this is a guess. I don't work there any more. They certainly wouldn't wait for one line to finish before starting another.
- Many other news articles and DfT press releases here, here and here don't use the same words. Yorkmix doesn't look like the highest level of journalism, but it might reflect the fact that some of the funding is coming from TRU (part of Nothern Powerhouse), possibly due to the cost savings from not doing full electrification.
- No idea. Several models have been proposed for new trains. In a way, it is very helpful for private companies to invest in new trains rather than the boom-bust model of government purchase (do we have an election soon? No? Lets wait then) which has done untold damage to UK manufacturing. But there is tremendous inefficiency from designing trains for a specific route, and then being outbid at the next franchise award. GBR probably isn't going to make this any better, as deciding the lease cost could put too much power in the hands of those who own the trains.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

https://www.yorkmix.com/1bn-investment-in-new-trains-will-bring-faster-journeys-to-york

Can a rail enthusiast, or anyone esle for that matter, explain to me why

- it will take 8 years to build 29 trains
- the government needs to invest directly in Alstom
- why Rock Rail needs to be involved

It wouldn't normally take 8 years, no, but at the same time, there is also the fact that they are wanting to get away from diesels and so on an use battery, hydrogen, bi - mode, etc by... 2035 is it? 2040?

If these are to be Britain's first long distance battery electric trains, then it seems like a lot of that time might be taken up by testing, proof of concept, etc etc.

Up until now, battery trains have been confined to relatively short stretches of line, but these are to be long distance. BIG DIFFERENCE.

It also depends on when they will actually be needed from as well, these things are all planned, you don't just buy a new train like you would a car.

 

[BrumJim]

It wouldn't normally take 8 years, no, but at the same time, there is also the fact that they are wanting to get away from diesels and on an use battery, hydrogen, bi - mode, etc.
Some of that time might be research/testing, etc.

It's not the first time they have put a battery under a train (IPEMU based on Class 379), and the rest of it will be pretty standard, so I am surprised, but probably won't be when I see the full details.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

It's not the first time they have put a battery under a train (IPEMU based on Class 379), and the rest of it will be pretty standard, so I am surprised, but probably won't be when I see the full details.

(Sorry, I added to my message, not realising you had already replied).

Anyway... Yes but as I said, according to the article, these are to be long distance, that's quite a difference.

I know the '379s' do get a good run to, but, well we need to look at far greater distances.

These things are planned too, so they might only actually be needed from 2034 onwards.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Probably for high - intensity use too, plus also they might themselves be used to test systems for even longer distance systems, I mean, I know it ways 'long distance', but it's not like it's, say, London to Inverness or similar.