Sunday 13th February 2022 class 507/508 tour

[gimmea50anyday]

Knowing the people in the planning department of BLS and Merseyrail, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a fundraiser for Railway Children. The same planner had a few hands in organising TPEs charter trains while he was the Duty Control Manager there and is heavily involved in the Railway Children's 3 peaks charter. A true railwayman is Tim, really knows his stuff and employs common sense.

 

[JonathanH]

Knowing the people in the planning department of BLS and Merseyrail, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a fundraiser for Railway Children.

Profits are to be contributed to the Merseyrail nominated charity, James' Place as it says in the very first posting.

Who we are
Our mission is to stop men dying by suicide. We believe death by suicide is preventable. At James’ Place, we want to make sure that help is available for every man facing a suicidal crisis and to support them to find hope for the future.

 

[gimmea50anyday]

Ah, missed it. I stand corrected

 

[Babybirdrobin]

It is a shame that I missed it and wasn’t up in Merseyside when it happened, would’ve loved to be a part of that.

 

[Watershed]

It is a shame that I missed it and wasn’t up in Merseyside when it happened, would’ve loved to be a part of that.

It's this Sunday. But it's sold out, as with most such tours.

 

[Babybirdrobin]

It's this Sunday. But it's sold out, as with most such tours.

Wish I could’ve gotten a ticket (and that I was up in that area at the moment).

 

[VEP3417]

if anyone's going on it, feel free to post photos ect in this thread, be nice to see

 

[50002Superb]

508140 and 508141

 

[Neil Polo]

I’ve just seen them at Hall Road platform 2. They’ve gone on to Southport by the looks of it. I was hoping to see the train pull into the siding.

 

[50002Superb]

It did go into the siding at Hall Road

A few more pics here…

 

[swt_passenger]

if anyone's going on it, feel free to post photos ect in this thread, be nice to see

As the OP might it be an idea to alter the date in the thread title? I think it might help if people want to find this thread later as a record of todays events.

 

[birchesgreen]

Looks like a brilliant tour, my twitter timeline is full of pics of it (good thing!)

 

[D821]

Did they pick the dirtiest unit they could find? Glad to hear it went well.

 

[50002Superb]

They reckon that those will be two of the first to go due to remaining mileage, although I also got the pair for mileage on Saturday too!!

 

[MR-507508]

They reckon that those will be two of the first to go due to remaining mileage, although I also got the pair for mileage on Saturday too!!

I agree 508140 being one of the first to go, 508141 was only overhauled around July 2020 giving another five years worth of mileage (from the date of overhaul) for the unit as I understand?
Was this mentioned by someone from Merseyrail on the tour regarding these two units and their withdrawal?

 

[507020]

I agree 508140 being one of the first to go, 508141 was only overhauled around July 2020 giving another five years worth of mileage (from the date of overhaul) for the unit as I understand?
Was this mentioned by someone from Merseyrail on the tour regarding these two units and their withdrawal?

A telltale sign is that the mask vinyls cost £2000 each per end to apply, so to avoid the cost of removing them again, they were applied to the units with the least miles left which will be the first to go. As you can see, 508140 has one but 141 doesn’t.

 

[MR-507508]

A telltale sign is that the mask vinyls cost £2000 each per end to apply, so to avoid the cost of removing them again, they were applied to the units with the least miles left which will be the first to go. As you can see, 508140 has one but 141 doesn’t.

Yes, I think that was the initial plan, however due to delays with the class 777 introduction 508120 and 508131 have now been overhauled within the last 12 months.
508123, 508140 and 508143 have face masks and not been overhauled so potentially could be the first to go, I guess it all depends on how long it takes for the class 777s to arrive into service and whether these remaining three end up also receiving an overhaul.

 

[507020]

Yes, I think that was the initial plan, however due to delays with the class 777 introduction 508120 and 508131 have now been overhauled within the last 12 months.
508123, 508140 and 508143 have face masks and not been overhauled so potentially could be the first to go, I guess it all depends on how long it takes for the class 777s to arrive into service and whether these remaining three end up also receiving an overhaul.

It is of course a rolling cycle of overhauls, so the longer the 777s take to enter service, more units will run out of miles and have to be overhauled, changing the units that are likely to be withdrawn. The unplanned and immediate withdrawal of 507006 hasn’t helped things. The Merseyrail soft toy actually displays a carriage number from either 508110 or 134 (I can’t remember which unfortunately)

 

[50002Superb]

I agree 508140 being one of the first to go, 508141 was only overhauled around July 2020 giving another five years worth of mileage (from the date of overhaul) for the unit as I understand?
Was this mentioned by someone from Merseyrail on the tour regarding these two units and their withdrawal?

It was someone from BLS on the Tour

 

[L401CJF]

Thoroughly enjoyable day, the only disappointment for me was that they didn't allow anybody off at Hunts Cross for photos.

This was my first time on a BLS charter (or any charter come to think of it), the only other thing I could think of which would be nice to see is the ability to take contactless payments for the likes of snacks, raffles tickets etc. Was made to feel quite guilty a few times - especially for the raffle - as everything is cash only and I never carry cash! "The only reason TOCs allow us to do these tours is to raise money from onboard raffles and sales". Thats all well and good, but given we are in 2022 I am sure i'm not the only one who doesnt use cash these days! I presume they have their reasons for not using card payments, maybe to avoid fees? But surely something they would understand in the modern age.

On the subject of overhauls, i am sure i'm not the only one who noticed a freshly overhauled 507010 at New Brighton seemingly on a test run or similar.

 

[Neil Polo]

It did go into the siding at Hall Road

A few more pics here…View attachment 111111View attachment 111112

What time was that? Just out of curiosity.

 

[MR-507508]

Thoroughly enjoyable day, the only disappointment for me was that they didn't allow anybody off at Hunts Cross for photos.

This was my first time on a BLS charter (or any charter come to think of it), the only other thing I could think of which would be nice to see is the ability to take contactless payments for the likes of snacks, raffles tickets etc. Was made to feel quite guilty a few times - especially for the raffle - as everything is cash only and I never carry cash! "The only reason TOCs allow us to do these tours is to raise money from onboard raffles and sales". Thats all well and good, but given we are in 2022 I am sure i'm not the only one who doesnt use cash these days! I presume they have their reasons for not using card payments, maybe to avoid fees? But surely something they would understand in the modern age.

On the subject of overhauls, i am sure i'm not the only one who noticed a freshly overhauled 507010 at New Brighton seemingly on a test run or similar.

Yes, 507010 was heading to Birkenhead North depot from siding 2 at New Brighton. It had been working on the New Brighton line on Saturday but developed a fault and had to come out of service. I think 010 was actually stabled in the New Brighton Wall Siding until shortly before the tour arrived to use the Wall Siding so 010 was shunted into siding 2.

 

[Bikeman78]

Yes, I think that was the initial plan, however due to delays with the class 777 introduction 508120 and 508131 have now been overhauled within the last 12 months.
508123, 508140 and 508143 have face masks and not been overhauled so potentially could be the first to go, I guess it all depends on how long it takes for the class 777s to arrive into service and whether these remaining three end up also receiving an overhaul.

It was an excellent day out. Good weather, on time throughout, nice and warm on 508140 and good motor noise too. The on board catering was excellent value.

I also had 508140 on Saturday evening on the Southport line. I doubt they can afford to let any more go. There is already a single unit on one of the eight turns to Southport. It must be grossly overcrowded because even the pairs were full at various times.

 

[prod_pep]

It was indeed a good day out. I was on 508141, which too was in fine fettle and toasty warm. The guard after Southport deserves a special mention for his historical trivia as the journey progressed. Brilliant effort and a lot more interesting than the earlier guard's incessant announcements!

A BLS chap also informed me that both 508140 and 508141 are pencilled in for early withdrawal. No surprise with 508140 but 508141 has several years' worth of miles left. Going by the overhaul cycle, units like 508122 and 508127 will be in relative danger as well as 508140 and 508143 (unless overhauled), but perhaps that won't be the only metric for withdrawing the 508s.

 

[50002Superb]

I’ve now had time to gather my thoughts after a 2 hour-ish drive back last night and a twelve hour day today.

I should preface this as saying it was my first BLS Tour so I didn’t really know what to expect and our general conclusion was that whilst decent value for money it wasn’t the kind of trip I would do again.

It was notable in our coach that three different groups left the train throughout the day, realising that the trip wasn’t quite what they expected it to be and, in all honesty, I had similar feelings.

On these types of trips, in order of priority, I am generally looking for the following:

1. Seeing locos / units / etc
2. Getting different types of haulage
3. Photo opportunities
4. New track

The trip was billed as including (and I’m paraphrasing) visits to Road 5 of Birkenhead North Depot, Southport Carriage Sidings and Kirkdale Sidings.

The Birkenhead aspect was really disappointing. We were sat within 140 which didn’t enter the shed whereas 141 did and, whilst I understood the reasons why, it was clear that a number of people weren’t overly interested seeing inside the shed whereas I was. This was due to be a real trip highlight to me but actually made it quite sour.

Southport was excellent.

Kirkdale, liked Birkenhead North, was also a waste of time in terms of point 1.

I think, perhaps, what I have realised is that BLS Tours aren’t quite my thing and I would have reservations of doing one again. That’s not in any way to denigrate the excellent work done by the BLS Team, Volunteers and MerseyRail staff on the day. They did an excellent job and a good sum was raised for charity.

6/10

 

[Sheridan]

If new track is bottom of your priority list why where you that concerned about not getting in the shed?

 

[50002Superb]

If new track is bottom of your priority list why where you that concerned about not getting in the shed?

To see what was inside, see point 1.

 

[Bikeman78]

I’ve now had time to gather my thoughts after a 2 hour-ish drive back last night and a twelve hour day today.

I should preface this as saying it was my first BLS Tour so I didn’t really know what to expect and our general conclusion was that whilst decent value for money it wasn’t the kind of trip I would do again.

It was notable in our coach that three different groups left the train throughout the day, realising that the trip wasn’t quite what they expected it to be and, in all honesty, I had similar feelings.

On these types of trips, in order of priority, I am generally looking for the following:

1. Seeing locos / units / etc
2. Getting different types of haulage
3. Photo opportunities
4. New track

The trip was billed as including (and I’m paraphrasing) visits to Road 5 of Birkenhead North Depot, Southport Carriage Sidings and Kirkdale Sidings.

The Birkenhead aspect was really disappointing. We were sat within 140 which didn’t enter the shed whereas 141 did and, whilst I understood the reasons why, it was clear that a number of people weren’t overly interested seeing inside the shed whereas I was. This was due to be a real trip highlight to me but actually made it quite sour.

Southport was excellent.

Kirkdale, liked Birkenhead North, was also a waste of time in terms of point 1.

I think, perhaps, what I have realised is that BLS Tours aren’t quite my thing and I would have reservations of doing one again. That’s not in any way to denigrate the excellent work done by the BLS Team, Volunteers and MerseyRail staff on the day. They did an excellent job and a good sum was raised for charity.

6/10

I thought that it was well known that the main objective of the BLS is to tick off as many rare bits of track as possible. In this respect, the tour did exactly as advertised. Every siding and cross over that was on the schedule was done to the letter. In the sidings the driver pulled up very close to the buffer stops, edging up very slowly to get as close as possible without hitting them.

I get that it's not everyone's cup of tea. I'm not normally that interested myself (the main objective for me was the link line between the Wirral and Liverpool Central) but I like the Merseyrail system and I'll happily do another trip if they do one before the 507/508s go in the bin.

 

[Watershed]

the main objective for me was the link line between the Wirral and Liverpool Central

Same here - I only originally booked for that little bit! Everything else was a bonus as far as I was concerned.

For £50, I think it was a very good value day out and there was probably something there for everyone.

In the sidings the driver pulled up very close to the buffer stops, edging up very slowly to get as close as possible without hitting them.

Indeed. Here's a picture illustrating how close they got to the buffers at Hooton platform 3:


I'm pretty sure the coupler was touching the bottom cross-beam of the buffer stop!

 

[Big Jumby 74]

Here's 508041 in a former life awaiting transfer Up North !