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PTE-liveried multiple units - unusual services/locations?

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Springs Branch

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More a question than a comment - when some of the Class 303 EMUs were transferred from Glasgow to south Manchester in the mid-1980s, were any of them already in Strathclyde orange and black?

I know the 303s did end up re-painted into GMPTE orange & brown plus "M-Blem", but did any start off their Manchester career in Strathclyde's "wrong orange" & black?
 
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308165

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A few from the Airedale line in the 90s/early 2000s.

1. WYPTE Class 144s working to Carlisle. Usually these were coupled to a 156 but there was a Saturdays only service in summer that was booked to be one. The best I remember travelling on was a pair of three cars on a service back from Carlisle.

2. Tyne & Wear liveried Class 142 working Leeds - Morecambe. I have a picture of one at Hellifield somewhere.

3. A WYPTE Class 155 working the evening Leeds - Ribblehead. I seem to think it may have terminated at Hellifield due to engineering on the s&c. Crewing must have been a challenge as it was planned for a Skipton crew who didn't sign them, presume a Leeds crew worked it through.

4. One I didn't see but heard about was a Carmine & Cream Scotrail 156 working a Carlisle - Leeds. This was the result of a problem that trapped the Northern unit that worked the morning Dumfries - Carlisle North of the border, and I assume the Scotrail unit off the morning Newcastle - Glasgow was borrowed, since it would be trapped at Carlisle. I think the trapped Northern unit may have made it to Glasgow that day.
Wasn't a Strathclyde 156 involved in the Ais Gill accident in 1995? Either directly involved or used as a "rescue train"? I vaguely recall seeing the orange on photos and news reports at the time.
Or is that another false memory?
I think you are right, one was used as a rescue train. I distinctly remember the reporting on Channel 4 the night after and being surprised at the appearance of a Strathclyde 156 in the background. I wonder if it was used to get media to the site as well.
 

61653 HTAFC

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For a few years Lancaster was the place to see out-of-area Pacer liveries..
Class 142 in two types of Provincial blue, Manchester orange, Liverpool yellow, GW chocolate & cream.
Class 144 in West Yorkshire red
And not a lot of logic to what went where
Possibly Tyne&Wear 142s too, they occasionally ended up working out of Leeds so may have worked Morecambes.
 

Strathclyder

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To add to this and my original info, I've since remembered that Tyseley also had some Strathclyde sets (101688-690) in 1992/93 - they were outshopped from Doncaster in orange/black after refurb, in readiness for their move north (for the new service to Whifflet?), but ran from Tyseley in their new colours before moving north.

And yes you are correct re the farewell tour - 101693 was the middle set in the rake, with 676 (RR) and 685 (Green) either side of it.
Interesting, cheers for that. As for what they would've been refurbished for, the reopening of the Whifflet Line (or releasing 156s from Barrhead duties to enable the Sprinters to strengthen Kilmarnock services) makes the most sense date-wise.

Cheers for the reminder, knew I wasn't going nuts. Just did a bit of digging and RailwayMedia.co.uk bears gold once again.


There was another incident in BR days (pre Hatfield) where all Mk4s had to be withdrawn, and so whatever EMUs could be cobbled together were used to run a skeleton service, a bit like on GWR when the 80x all had to be withdrawn.
Honestly I've no idea; but that looks like one of WYPTE's 321s so...

... is probably the answer.
Pairs of 321/9’s ran to Kings Cross too bringing WYPTE to the capital!
That was after the Sandy derailment when all mk4 sets were stopped for checks. Was quite a surprise being on a DayRover and seeing a pair of 317s in Leeds!
Cheers all for the answers here. :)

When allocating Class 156 sets at Corkerhill (the only place a large number of them finished each night) to diagrams the criteria we used were;

RETB-fitted sets to RETB diagrams
Sets due Exam the next day onto a Corkerhill-finishing diagram
Sets getting close to Exam onto diagrams with suitable mileage
Sets due Heavy Clean the next day onto a suitable diagram

Whether a set was orange or not played no part in allocating them at all !
Makes sense of course from a operational/maintenance perspective, but it doesn't completely detract from the fact that it was still rather odd - for both the travelling public & spotters/enthusiasts alike - seeing one venture to the likes of Perth or Stirling.

@D6968 & @Wilts Wanderer, further to your posts about the Skippers, I presume this ex-WR Chocolate/Cream+Tyne & Wear PTE 142 combo was something of a regular sight at the time (linked images copyright of Flickr's 6089Gardner)?


 
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D6968

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I was just about to mention that one, I remember doing a double take when one pulled across the viaduct into Knaresborough station around 1992!
When was the last one repainted? I seem to recall seeing photos of them choc and cream in various mags in the mid/late 1990’s.
Secondly (and maybe a little bit off topic) Would the Chocolate and Cream livery have any connections to the like of 37207 and it’s Cornish Rail head code box?
Edit @Strathclyder just confirming that some ran until the mid 90’s in chocolate and cream

A couple of instances come to mind...

I think I'm right in adding that before ERTMS, Centro 150s occasionally made it onto the Cambrian Coast.
They most certainly did, I have a few photos of them whilst my parents had our caravan just outside Twywn, I can also remember my Aunty taking my brother and I into Aberdovey one Sunday whilst my Nan went to Mass. And seeing a Centro livered one go past us on the way to Pwheli
 
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alangla

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Surprised this hasn’t been mentioned, but from what I remember, the SPT liveried 170s used to regularly reach all the same parts of the network as their Barbie liveried counterparts, despite being standard class only. On the SPT 156 question, wasn’t one fitted with RETB and sent to Inverness to work the far north & Kyle lines in the 1990s?

For extreme locations for SPT stock, I guess nothing beats the 156 in the Netherlands and the 334 shells in Eastern Europe (Hungary?)
 

Neptune

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For extreme locations for SPT stock, I guess nothing beats the 156 in the Netherlands and the 334 shells in Eastern Europe (Hungary?)
The 333’s were built in Zaragoza and fully painted on release from the factory.
 

Strathclyder

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Surprised this hasn’t been mentioned, but from what I remember, the SPT liveried 170s used to regularly reach all the same parts of the network as their Barbie liveried counterparts, despite being standard class only.
Can't beileve this slipped my mind. They did end up all over the place. RailwayMedia.co.uk (am not being paid to promote it, honest!) has multiple pics of them off-patch, this one of 170473 at Dundee being the most notable, though of course they went even further afield on a not-infrequent basis.


More a question than a comment - when some of the Class 303 EMUs were transferred from Glasgow to south Manchester in the mid-1980s, were any of them already in Strathclyde orange and black?

I know the 303s did end up re-painted into GMPTE orange & brown plus "M-Blem", but did any start off their Manchester career in Strathclyde's "wrong orange" & black?
The first 303 to recieve Strathclyde Orange/Black was 303008 in 1983, while IIRC the surplus-to-Glasgow 303s that departed for Manchester did so 2 years prior (1981). So they all would have been in Blue/Grey (am not sure if any all-over Blue units were left in service by the early 80s).
 
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randyrippley

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Possibly Tyne&Wear 142s too, they occasionally ended up working out of Leeds so may have worked Morecambes.
I don't remember seeing one, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. Could easily have worked via Carlisle and Barrow

Wasn't a Strathclyde 156 involved in the Ais Gill accident in 1995? Either directly involved or used as a "rescue train"? I vaguely recall seeing the orange on photos and news reports at the time.
Or is that another false memory?
The local press certainly reported the fire brigade as commandeering a unit and loading it with kit to reach the site, and a 156 would have been most likely
 
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sprinterguy

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@D6968 & @Wilts Wanderer, further to your posts about the Skippers, I presume this ex-WR Chocolate/Cream+Merseytravel 142 combo was something of a regular sight at the time (linked images copyright of Flickr's 6089Gardner)?


That's not Merseytravel, that's Tyne and Wear PTE livery. As you suggest, not an uncommon sight, as while most of the former 'Skippers' allocated to Heaton were repainted into the Tyne and Wear yellow and white livery, 142025 and 026 retained their original chocolate and cream livery until privatisation.
I don't remember seeing one, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. Could easily have worked via Carlisle and Barrow
Far less likely for a TWPTE liveried unit to turn up on a service via Barrow, as the Cumbrian Coast line was the preserve of Newton Heath based units. As 308165 has noted above, they did sometimes show up on Leeds - Morecambe trains though as those were Neville Hill diagrams, and to some extent Neville Hill and Heaton allocated units were used interchangeably.
 

Neptune

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I don't remember seeing one, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. Could easily have worked via Carlisle and Barrow
T&W 142’s certainly appeared on Leeds - Morecambe services. HT and NL 142’s were interchanged a fair bit.
 

alangla

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That's not Merseytravel, that's Tyne and Wear PTE livery. As you suggest, not an uncommon sight, as while most of the former 'Skippers' allocated to Heaton were repainted into the Tyne and Wear yellow and white livery,
When Bathgate first (re) opened, I think it was operated with 143s sent from Newcastle - were they T&W PTE or Provincial/Regional Railways?
 

D6130

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T&W 142’s certainly appeared on Leeds - Morecambe services. HT and NL 142’s were interchanged a fair bit.
Merseyrail 142s also appeared on the Leeds - Morecambe services from time to time and - on at least one occasion - a Tyne & Wear 142 appeared coupled on the front of a 156 on a Leeds - Carlisle service, as a way of getting it back from Neville Hill to Heaton in passenger service via the Tyne Valley. (I was driving it from Skipton to Carlisle). Slightly OT, but back in the mid-nineties, a Heaton 143 in Regional Railways livery was tacked onto the front of a four car 156 formation on a Leeds-Carlisle service for the same reason. I wasn't driving it, but I saw it at Skipton. As it made the train too long for most of the platforms on the S & C, it had to be locked out of use and it must have been quite a job to stop the train in the right place at those stations. That's where a good, experienced, old-school guard would have been useful!
 

Bertie the bus

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More a question than a comment - when some of the Class 303 EMUs were transferred from Glasgow to south Manchester in the mid-1980s, were any of them already in Strathclyde orange and black?

I know the 303s did end up re-painted into GMPTE orange & brown plus "M-Blem", but did any start off their Manchester career in Strathclyde's "wrong orange" & black?
I'm not 100% certain but I think the transferred ones were still blue/grey at the time. Some definitely were and IIRC all were.
 

D6130

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I'm not 100% certain but I think the transferred ones were still blue/grey at the time. Some definitely were and IIRC all were.
That is correct, although some of them may have had the stylised (or should I say 'Styalised'? :lol:) 'GG' symbols of the then Greater Glasgow PTE. IIRC, at least one of them was subsequently repainted in the slightly different GMPTE orange and brown livery, as carried by the Bury electric units in their final days.
 

Neptune

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That is correct, although some of them may have had the stylised (or should I say 'Styalised'? :lol:) 'GG' symbols of the then Greater Glasgow PTE. IIRC, at least one of them was subsequently repainted in the slightly different GMPTE orange and brown livery, as carried by the Bury electric units in their final days.
Yes I remember seeing them in blue and grey then GMPTE livery (which was obviously very similar to SPTE).
 

YorksLad12

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Talking of brown & cream in West Yorkshire... a new station ending in 'y', for you all to have a guess at.
 

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tomsy47

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I remember seeing a GMPTE Class 150/1 in Devon when I was a kid. It would have been around the time of privatisation. I cannot remember exactly where I saw it though. In 2004, a Centro Class 150/1 was also on hire in Devon, as I caught it a few times on Exmouth - Paignton services.
 

randyrippley

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Far less likely for a TWPTE liveried unit to turn up on a service via Barrow, as the Cumbrian Coast line was the preserve of Newton Heath based units. As 308165 has noted above, they did sometimes show up on Leeds - Morecambe trains though as those were Neville Hill diagrams, and to some extent Neville Hill and Heaton allocated units were used interchangeably.
So Lancaster did get every Pacer livery........confusion reigned for passengers
 
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SPT livery 170s were regular to aberdeen/inverness prior to repainting

A trio of SPT livery 156s worked to carnoustie during the British open golf championship in 2007, which is the last time 156s were seen north of dundee/perth in regular service
 

Sprinter107

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Except, of course, First Great Western and Valley Lines/ATW/TfW.
A Valley Lines red white and green Pacer 142069 has definitely worked a Preston to Colne service, cos i have a photo of it, so there is a possibility it may have got to Lancaster. It was borrowed for a short while from Canton to Newton Heath. Some 142s were allocated to Exeter for a couple of years, they got FGW purple i think. Dont know how long that lasted upon transfer back to Newton Heath
 
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