| Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
24/1/07 19:08 service - 1199/3431 Written by streety7 on Wednesday, 24th January 2007 Noticed this train as the 1742 to Westbury at Gloucester, formed of a 2-coach 158 unit. However it was dark so couldn't see if it was in Wessex, Central or TransPennine Livery. I thought the Cheltenham to Westbury services were formed of 143/150? If it was a 158 which i'm sure it was and if it was a TransPennine one those have very good interiors, with degraded first class, much nicer than the ones wessex or Central own. I don't know if this is another 'warm storage' case, but there is a 158 sat on the sidings of Gloucester station which has got graffiti all over it, and has the TransPennine livery on it however the doors still held the old livery which was the franchise before Wessex Trains - although I can't remember the name of that franchise, but I wonder if this unit is in warm storage? Will have to see if it is there next week... Re: 24/1/07 19:08 service - 1199/3445 Written by Steve35 on Wednesday, 24th January 2007 [quote author=Chris Street link=topic=1199.msg3431#msg3431 date=1169663726] I don't know if this is another 'warm storage' case, but there is a 158 sat on the sidings of Gloucester station which has got graffiti all over it, and has the TransPennine livery on it however the doors still held the old livery which was the franchise before Wessex Trains - although I can't remember the name of that franchise, but I wonder if this unit is in warm storage? Will have to see if it is there next week... [/quote] That's 158750. It was the unit that derailed at Kemble on Tuesday 16th Jan. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/6265945.stm Not surprisingly it has wheel damage, see http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p235/traindriverrob/16012007039.jpg for a picture. The red and silver thing with the tiny yellow wheels is called a Wheel Skate - a device which is used to move a train that has damaged wheels. It is, in effect, a cradle that lifts the train's damaged wheel clear of the rail. When a wheel skate is used the maximum speed of the train is 25mph on plain track and 10mph when going over a set of points. Where the train goes for repairs will depend on the extent of the damage. FGW will be able to repair it if it isn't too bad (some new wheels will probably be required). If there's bodywork damage as well it would probably have to go to a specialist repair facility eg Crewe or Derby and would be out of traffic for several months (158's have aluminium bodies - not as easy to weld as steel). I'd guess that the leasing company that owns 158750 is now assessing the extent of the damage and deciding where to repair it. Regarding the livery: 158750 is still in 'Regional Railways Express' livery which was the livery carried when the 158's were built (1989-1992). The livery therefore dates from the British Rail era. It does however have Transpennine vinyls stuck on the bodysides below the windows (apart from the doors!). If the vinyls were to be peeled off the original livery would be revealed. e.g. http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/gb/diesel/dmu/158/SR-RRE/158_158715.jpg Re: 24/1/07 19:08 service - 1199/3449 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Thursday, 25th January 2007 Understand there were just 5 people on the train out of Chippenham .... What a STUPID schedule we have! (OK - I know that the rail buffs will tell me that it's scheduled that way because of .... operational reasons .... but the effect is "we'll run it at our conveninece, and bugger the passengers who need to travel on the route".) link to index of articles |
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Save the Train was the campaign to bring an approriate train service back to and through Melksham. Most big contributors are still around writing at the Coffee shop forum where new members are very welcome. The train has been saved - sort of - we have stepped back up from an unusable service to a poorish one but it's doing very well. We did that through setting up the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership. That fulfilled its early objectives; it has been taken over by local and regional government types who are now doing medium and long term work. The team from this forun can also be found at the Melksham Rail User Group (which was the Melksham Rail Development Group at the time these articles were written and we had no users. We mustn't loose sight, though, that the train service remains poor and needs our community support in marketing and campaigning to keep it going in a positive direction ... and all the more so when we're expecting to find a different normallity once we get out of the Coronavirus Pandemic and head for zero carbon via the climate crisis. Yes, it's saved ... it's now a key community facility ... the need for enhancement and the strong and near-universal local support remain, and the rail industry and goverment remain slow to move and provide the enhancements even to level us up with other towns. Please support the Melksham Rail User Group - now very much in partnership rather than protest with the rail industry and local government, including GWR, TransWilts and unitary and town councils. And please use the trains and buses, and cycle and walk when you can. -- Graham Ellis, (webmaster), February 2021 | |||
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