TheGreatBritishRailScene

Hea throw Connect provides a direct rail link between Heathrow Airport and central London with a service running every 30 minutes.  Heathrow Connect also provide the only direct rail service between London and Heathrow Terminal 4. Heathrow Connect services depart from London Paddington train station, which connects to the Bakerloo, Circle, District and Hammersmith London Underground lines.

Harry Here, Summarising Some Of The Interesting Fleet News Between Oct 2016 and Spring 2017...... 10/2016: 142073 heads to  Doncaster for overhaul , as all ArrivaTrainsWales are going into the new livery gradually. 27/01/2017: 37423 and an extra DRS MK2 arrive at Norwich from  Derby, for Short Set usage.  Meanwhile, 68021 and 68016 arrive to take over duty's on the 68 Hauled Anglia Short Set, because 68025 and 68005 both need exams.  01/17: Virgin East coast finish the overhaul of all 45 trains! 

London Midland have defended the short formation of some of their services. January 2017 "Customers regularly using our weekday trains to and from Euston during November and December will probably have noticed one or more services operating with fewer carriages than advertised. If you are one of these people, we are very sorry for any discomfort and inconvenience you have experienced. Below you will find information on why there has been an increase in short trains on the route and what we are doing to improve things."

This Is The 2017 Summary, To State The Voices Used In Announcements At Stations And On Trains Around The UK: 

Harry Back From Vacation! No Week Review Today Though, As Peter Skuce Has Sent In Some Great Images Of His.  First, Chiltern Rail. This is the interior of a Class 168 clubman, used on their services in Western England. Chiltern operate many types of this unit... 5 from 1999 (168001-005), 8 from the year 2000 (168107-113), 6 from 2004 (214/218/219 are 3-car, and 215-217 are 4-car) and also 2-car 168/3s numbered 168321-329.

Peter's made some excellent reports, so we couldn't resist using them! Part 6A yesterday highlighted the Chiltern Line Modernisation, and this will lead from that.  Between 2003 to 2005, Chiltern Railways carried out a major interior refurbishment to the Class 165 Chiltern Turbo DMU trains. The refurbishment featured the following enhancements:

Chiltern 168. (C) P Skuce. Peter. Part A is for the Chiltern Line Modernisation. Part B will lead from this. During the 1960s British Railways built forty one, 4 carriage Class 115 DMU trains for the London Marylebone – Aylesbury Chiltern Line. One trailer carriage had entirely Standard Class accommodation with 106 seats, whilst the other trailer carriage was a composite, featuring First Class cabins with seating to the 2+2 layout and Standard Class with two toilets. They were powered by Leyland Albion engines, with mechanical transmission and their maximum speed was 70 mph. A new maintenance depot was built at Aylesbury to accommodate the trains.

WEST COAST MAINLINE MODERNISATION: During the early 1960s, British Railways commenced a major electrification and modernisation of the West Coast Main Line between London Euston - Crewe and Liverpool/Manchester. Electrification was completed by 1965, with regular service from Easter 1966. The route was the first in the country to be energised at the now standard 25,000 Volts alternating current and featured the chunky heavy duty, sturdy steel gantries holding both the catenary wire and contact wire itself (it is this latter wire that the train’s pantograph receives electricity from). At the same time the signalling was modernised from semaphore to colour light signals. The through trains to Glasgow Central, such as 'The Royal Scot', were hauled by Class 40 Diesel Electric locomotives.

319 Interior. P Skuce (C) WELCOME TO PART 2. Privatisation of the railway network in the mid 1990s saw Go-Via winning the Thameslink franchise and in 1997 they refurbished, at RailCare Wolverton Works, forty Class 319/0 EMU trains in a blue/yellow colour scheme, fitted the entire train with carpets, changed the seating layout to 2+2 with seats covered in a blue/yellow scheme and installed First Class cabin in one Driving Trailer vehicle with twelve First Class seats to the 2+1 layout. The Class 319/0 then became Class 319/4. At the moment same time, the Class 319/1 had their First Class accommodation removed, became Class 319/3 and moved onto Luton/St Albans – London – Elephant & Castle – Streatham – Sutton/Wimbledon Metro services.

PART 1. During 1959 and the early 1960s, British Railways modernised suburban passenger services on the first fifty miles of the Midland Main Line between London St Pancras, St Albans, Luton and Bedford with the construction of thirty, 4 carriage length Class 127 Diesel Multiple Units powered by Rolls Royce engines coupled with Hydraulic transmission. Each four carriage train seated 274 passengers in Standard Class with two toilets in one intermediate trailer vehicle. A new depot was constructed at Cricklewood to maintain and repair the trains. They directly replaced the ageing steam locomotive hauled passenger trains and became known as BedPan units by both passengers and staff alike. Intercity services would be formed of Clsss 45 Peak Diesel Electric locomotives and rolling stock formed of both Mark 1 & Mark 2 loco hauled coaching stock.

Quite frankly, a sombre topic for anoraks and rail fans alike.... trains just disappearing quite literally into the undergrowth and becoming forgot about.  So today I thought I'd dig up details of some of the locations where trains are withdawn and scrapped, and possibly twigging memories of this stock with the elder generation of readers. Readers of a nervous disposition, turn away now..... Pig's Bay is one of the less known sites where trains go once withdrawn. Situated just next to the beach in East Shoebury, linked to the C2C line near Shoeburyness Essex, the site is primarily used by the MOD for training.  However, it's hardly talked about as a place where rail vehicles are stored or scrapped - even though it's large site! There's approximately 6 miles of track across the site, with many junctions and sidings (as seen to the right) to store many ex-Railway stock. 

Kirkstall Forge station, on the Northern Rail network in Leeds, opened on Sunday 19th June - providing one train per hour in each direction. The orignal station was not too far from the current site, but this one is host to numerous aspects: 129 spaces in the carpark; Fully accessible platforms; A footbridge and ramps; Secure cycle parking; and Waiting shelters.

As you should all know by now, Great Western Railway (GWR) have ordered a total of 36 Class 800s, 21 Class 801s and 29 Class 802s. The first branded Class 800 (800 004) has finally been unveiled at GWR's depot at Reading looking fine in its dark green GWR livery, similar to that of many refurbished Class 166s presently. The set was unveiled on 30th June 2016. What's facinating is this unit has two names, one for each cab.  800004  is named Sir Daniel Gooch and Isambard Kingdom Brunel. A photograph courtesy of Jack Boskett , who was invited to North Pole depot on 28th June 2016, can be found below. ©Jack Boskett

Short Post From Me (Harry) Today, Following On From Jordon's Post For The Flying Sc otsman. Today,  I Bring You All Updates For Its Next Few Events.... On 25th June it will be on 'The Yorkshireman', running from London Victoria to York, followed by 'The Hadrian' on 2nd July between Leicester and Carlisle. We will bring you the latest updates of this on our own Blog Social Media feeds, Facebook.com/GBRailScene and Twitter @TheGBRailScene. Another opportunity to see the Scotsman is on the 10th July and 17th July, when it runs 'The Waverley' from York to Carlisle. Timings will be available closer to the time, on RealTimeTrains and many other sites.

Edd Hughes.   Southern: As announced in 2015, ScotRail lost 9 of their 170/4 units as they prep for new additions  - though  5 of these have returned to ScotRail following  sub-lease.  The units which are staying were cascaded to Southern due to plans to use the stock on the Uckfield branch - converted into 171s so they're compatible with the existing units of their fleet. Anyone wishing to identify these ex-170/4 units, just look at the headlight arrangement compared to sister 171 units.

AUTO POST. Firstly, the naming of GWR shunter 08663. Named St Silas, it commemorates the St Silas church, which was destroyed 75 years ago during a bombing raid in January 1941 .  Sadly 140 lost their lives that night as German airmen attempted to hit the Railway and Docks area of the city.  Simon Cassidy, Driver Operations Manager, said: ‘The Royal British Legion do a fantastic job in supporting countless people affected by service for their country. We are proud that this locomotive will serve as a tribute to the work of the Legion and in remembrance to those who lost their lives on that fateful evening.'

PART 1 IS HERE IF YOU'VE MISSED IT, FOR GENERAL NEWS. Fleet News.   The New Livery As stated by  Matthew , the FTPE fleet of nine 2-car 170s are all to be subleased to Chiltern Rail, all departing within the next year, for their benefit. Five of these 170/3 units have already transferred, meaning that FTPE were naturally under capacity. Thus, the same amount (six at present) of  156 Sprinters are sub-leased  from Arriva Northern to bring up numbers, used for the hourly service on the Manchester Airport to Blackpool North corridor  - as announced in January 2015.

In Derby in 1995, a fleet of 16 Class 325 (4-car) units were built in order to meet the needs of the Parcels Industry. These units ( 325001-016)  were to be a more cost-effective method, rather than locomotive hauled stock which was used previously. Thanks Anthony W for photo permission. Here, Royal Mail Class 325 325013 leads her sisters 001 and 003 on   Diverted 1M44 Willesden to Shieldmuir.  However, in 2012,  325010  was damaged and stored. As a result, it has been used as a source of spares and has since been scrapped. This leaves 15 units, 325001-325009 and 325011-325016 . 325002 is named Royal Mail North Wales and North West; 325006 is named (to commemorate documentary maker)  John Grierson and 325008 named Peter Howarth CBE (former MD of Royal Mail).

The first Weekly Review of 2016! Let's cut straight to the chase, the significant news stories since our last update.  ANGLIA + MIDLANDS:  156401 , from East Mids Trains, was on loan to Greater Anglia this week to cover the Short Set diagram. The short set is currently away from home for maintenance, and is due back next week (when 90034 goes for an exam). 37405 travelled by road separately from Dereham (no lorry access to Crown Point) due to having wheel flats. 90006 due back soon. Robert informs me that  360101 and 115 are now internally refurbished, as are  all 317/6s. There's just 10x 317/5 to do.

Harry here, covering the last Weekly Review before Christmas! And my last post this week! CHILTERN :  Following on from a fire at London Marylebone station at approximately 20:30 on Friday 11th December, it's confirmed that the fire damaged the air-conditioning unit and part of the carriage itself. Thankfully no one was harmed.  82302  was the set for the record and 12094 (Banbury set) was involved. Station Manager Paul Hobbs said: “The fire affected one of the train’s carriages but crews worked quickly to put it out. Around 500 people were evacuated from the station.”