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GWR operating short 'HSTGTi' sets (see diagrams section for workings)

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43 302

43 302

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CC 72100 said:
For those of you who are interested in this, those are the 4 vehicles that were retained from LA72 which operated the last 2+8 service and flying Banana railtour. (Green outside, FGW inside)

Those 4 coaches lived on as a 4 coach slam door set and even operated the last slam door GWR HST - 2C87 19:00 Bristol TM - Plymouth on 31/12/19 with 43161/43010. The TGS had lighting issues throughout the day and by now had lightsticks fully deployed :lol:
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Worth noting that the formation of LA72 did change a bit as it was a short set. Most of my journeys with it were formed 42005 42015 42554 44005.
 
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CC 72100

CC 72100

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43 302 said:
Worth noting that the formation of LA72 did change a bit as it was a short set. Most of my journeys with it were formed 42005 42015 42554 44005.
Click to expand...

Fair point well made... especially with multiple TS kicking around and only 2 of them in the set.

The formation above was the formation on 31/12, as confirmed by my mark 1 eyeball haha.
 
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7 Ingleborough

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Even if you enter the new coach numbers into R2, the formation still comes up as LA72 instead of GW14. Now undergoing their post conversion E exam at Laira.
 
83G/84D

83G/84D

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2 + 4 set GW14 is due out this morning on a Laira to Penzance & return working. Formation shown as 43170, 49114, 48140, 48141, 48142 and 43186.
 
Dinoman

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Just seen GW14, it has some new decals applied. It has a blue stripe for the disabled coach, and different style coach lettering.
 
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northernbelle

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Dinoman said:
Just seen GW14, it has some new decals applied. It has a blue stripe for the disabled coach, and different style coach lettering.
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Part of a general upgrade of the external information - silver stripes for bike spaces, yellow for First Class and blue for the disabled spaces.
 
fgwrich

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northernbelle said:
Part of a general upgrade of the external information - silver stripes for bike spaces, yellow for First Class and blue for the disabled spaces.
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And not before time. The Silver Stipe for FC was a ridiculous case of Style over Substance. Almost as bad as Stagecoach's blue spots on SWT and Red on EMT. The SWR "Flag" has long been the smartest.
 
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GWRrrr

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Are the 2 + 3 sets staying as 2 + 3 or is there some hold up making them up to 2 + 4?

Thanks
 
Railperf

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irish_rail said:
Anectodetly speaking yes.
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Is the 2+3 good to drive? I imagine it is pretty lively. Perfect for the Cornish main line with its 70mph speed limits. Though i would have been interested to see what a tilting Class 221 voyager could have achieved along there in terms of speeds and journey times.
 
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Railperf said:
Is the 2+3 good to drive? I imagine it is pretty lively. Perfect for the Cornish main line with its 70mph speed limits. Though i would have been interested to see what a tilting Class 221 voyager could have achieved along there in terms of speeds and journey times.
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The trouble is, you can't just whack it wide open as doing that often leads to wheelslip even on a dry rail. There is also the problem that the speedo cannot always keep up with acceleration.
I've heard some drivers comment the brakes are worse than on 2x4s but personally in the handful of 2x3s I've driven ive noticed no difference in braking performance.
 
Annetts key

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I found myself on a 2+3 today with the driver definitely enjoying themselves.
Here’s a quick video where I record the current speed by the pointing the camera to a mobile that shows the current speed of the train by using satellite navigation signals.


Castle Class HST 2+3 acceleration from stopped to 100MPH and back to stopped over 4 miles and 14 chains between Yatton station and Worle station.


The train details are:
Castle Class HST
2C87 1800 Cardiff Central to Plymouth

Formed as 2+3
Front power car: 43022
Rear power car: 43154
Coaches 48110, 48111 and 49104
All coaches have power operated sliding doors for the passenger accommodation.

Video taken between Yatton station and Worle station. RTT gives the distance as 4m 14ch.
WTT ...... RTT
19:14 .... 19:14½ ... Dep Yatton
19:18½ ..19:19 ...... Arr Worle

Note the accuracy of the above timings is affected by the way they are generated. So treat them as appropriate values.

 
47827

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Annetts key said:
I found myself on a 2+3 today with the driver definitely enjoying themselves.
Here’s a quick video where I record the current speed by the pointing the camera to a mobile that shows the current speed of the train by using satellite navigation signals.


Castle Class HST 2+3 acceleration from stopped to 100MPH and back to stopped over 4 miles and 14 chains between Yatton station and Worle station.


The train details are:
Castle Class HST
2C87 1800 Cardiff Central to Plymouth

Formed as 2+3
Front power car: 43022
Rear power car: 43154
Coaches 48110, 48111 and 49104
All coaches have power operated sliding doors for the passenger accommodation.

Video taken between Yatton station and Worle station. RTT gives the distance as 4m 14ch.
WTT ...... RTT
19:14 .... 19:14½ ... Dep Yatton
19:18½ ..19:19 ...... Arr Worle

Note the accuracy of the above timings is affected by the way they are generated. So treat them as appropriate values.

Click to expand...

Imagine the brakes stink on runs like that after slowing down. In the old days before TPWS and more cautious driving being encouraged you would have found some drivers braking a lot harder than that so it's probably just as well these fun size hst formations weren't around regularly back then or else there would have been some hair raising journeys and serious wear on the brakes, tyre damage etc.

That thought reminds of the runs from Reading to Paddington late of an evening perhaps up to turn of the century when sometimes the arrival into the platform was so fast you thought the train wouldn't stop but after some hard braking the experienced London crew would stop perfectly and just in time, often with a bit of smoke underneath for a few minutes afterwards from the brakes and wheelsets. Now you creep into the platforms at most stations in comparison. Probably just as well there is such good acceleration on the castle sets as that more than compensates for slower approaches.
 
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Dai Corner

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47827 said:
Imagine the brakes stink on runs like that after slowing down. In the old days before TPWS and more cautious driving being encouraged you would have found some drivers braking a lot harder than that so it's probably just as well these fun size hst formations weren't around regularly back then or else there would have been some hair raising journeys and serious wear on the brakes, tyre damage etc.

That thought reminds of the runs from Reading to Paddington late of an evening perhaps up to turn of the century when sometimes the arrival into the platform was so fast you thought the train wouldn't stop but after some hard braking the experienced London crew would stop perfectly and just in time, often with a bit of smoke underneath for a few minutes afterwards from the brakes and wheelsets. Now you creep into the platforms at most stations in comparison. Probably just as well there is such good acceleration on the castle sets as that more than compensates for slower approaches.
Click to expand...
It's interesting to note that the train took the booked time between Yatton and Worle so presumably the driving style was what was expected?

The train is all stations (except Pilning) from Cardiff to Exeter. Less suitable traction is hard to imagine. Brake and engine wear must be considerable!

Realtime Trains - 2C87 1800 Cardiff Central to Plymouth

Realtime Trains provides live realtime running information for the Great British railway network using open data.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk www.realtimetrains.co.uk
 
47827

47827

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Annetts key said:
Yeah, but the driver approached Worle a lot slower than usual..., that’s the main reason it took the booked time.
Click to expand...

That's perhaps why such fast running is sometimes necessary when the opportunity is there if careful approaches are required to not put too much strain on the brakes etc. Whilst the castles are a great use of decent quality surplus sets it's far from what they are designed for once the constant stops are added in on many schedules. Stops 15 to 20 mins apart aren't too bad but when it's just constant braking and accelerating such as Worle, Yatton etc it's not ideal. I recall in the past loco classes that were generally reliable on semi fast or express services used to become less reliable on stoppers and snack on brake blocks regularly. Drivers would worsen the problem by hammering the power handle and going straight into full power. The castle sets don't need to do that as a few notches will result in a swift and smooth departure with full power rarely ever needed even to achieve punctuality.
 
Dinoman

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Mex I can

Mex I can

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Saw this one when I got to work this morning, more interesting than a 150 on it’s way to Sheffield. Having said that, I later saw a stock movement from Hull to Sheffield and it was a 150 leading a 170. Is it wrong to get excited by that?
 
Apedlar12

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So does this mean that now only GW16 is left to come down or could there possibly also be some spare coaches which may need to come down too??
 
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