Fleet news
8 fleet news items found.
Loco renumberings
Posted on Saturday 30th March 2024 by Thomas Young
While loco renumberings are nowhere near as rife as they were in the 1980s and 1990s, they are still continuing. GB Railfreight is having class 56 diesels rebuilt as 69s, these currently up to 69010 with 6 more planned, while ex-European class 66s are being numbered in the 66306-66316 range, also for GBRf. A recent development is that DB is planning to re-gear 10 of its class 66 locos to have a higher tractive effort, enabling the withdrawal of the remaining class 60s. They will thus be similar to the class 66/6s operated by Freightliner, and with no major number blocks still free, the DB engines will be renumbered as 66651-66660. A temporary renumbering saw LNER 91105 become 91000 in January to mark the 1000th issue of Rail magazine. It reverted to 91105 in February, so I probably won't bother adding 91000 to the database.
In other news, South Western Railway's first class 701 units finally entered service in January, initially between Waterloo and Windsor.
No notes have been left yet. ?There may be some notes posted but which have not yet been approved.
Active Travel units and other news
Posted on Friday 10th November 2023 by Thomas Young
Some of the class 153 single car diesel units are being modified as 'Active Travel' vehicles for use in conjunction with other units. These have additional stowage space for bicycles and luggage. Five with ScotRail for use on the West Highland line have retained their original numbers, while six being converted for Transport for Wales are being reclassified as 153/5s, with unit numbers changed from 1533xx to 1535xx.
Deliveries of various unit types is ongoing, with most now also being used in passenger service, including (from 27th September) the first 720/6 units for C2C. No news yet on the much-delayed introduction of class 701 Arterio units with South Western Railway, though they are now also taking delivery of former 5-car 458/5 units rebuilt (again) as 4-car 458/4s.
With wagons, the third order of (30) IIA-D Biomass wagons for Drax power was delivered in two batches in August and October. GB Railfreight doubled its order for FEA-G container twin-sets from 100 to 200 (400 individual wagons), and the first of the new batch (numbered from 81.70.4663.201 upwards) started arriving in September. A follow-on order for 20 similar twins has been tacked on for Wascosa, which will presumably be for use by Network Rail.
September also saw the delivery of the first examples of a second set of BYA-O 'Stegosaurus' coil carrier conversions. 30 were modified in 2021, now to be joined by another 40.
No notes have been left yet. ?There may be some notes posted but which have not yet been approved.
Unit renumberings
Posted on
Thursday 28th September 2023 by Thomas Young
There have been several instances of unit renumberings over the past couple of years, often with set numbers in the 9xx range to distinguish units with non-standard features. Class
153 that were not PRM-compliant became
153/9s, while class
156 units transferred from Greater Anglia to East Midlands were temporarily renumbered to
156/9s until their Passenger Information equipment was altered to match the existing East Midlands units. Perhaps the most complex case involved the Southern
171s.
For its remaining non-electrified lines, Southern had taken a fleet of new-build Turbostar units from 2003 onwards, classifying these as
171 since they had Dellner couplers unlike the BSI couplers fitted to other Turbostars (class
170). The fleet was formed of 10x2-car
171/7s and 6x4-car
171/8s.
In 2016, four ex-Scotrail 3-car
170/4 units were acquired. They were modified with Dellner couplers and reformed as 2x2-car units (
171/2) and 2x4-car units (
171/4). Changes in demand meant that these additional units were no longer required and, from August 2022, they were reformed back into 3-car sets and regained their original class
170/4 unit numbers, although they retained the Dellner couplers. The units were transferred to East Midlands Railway, where it was decided to renumber them as
170/9s to highlight their non-standard couplers. They were eventually modified in spring 2023, then reverting (for the second time) to their
170/4 numbers.
As if that wasn't enough, the native Southern fleet also saw changes, with each of the 4-car units losing a coach to one of the 2-car units. The shortened units retained their existing numbers
171801-171806, while the lengthened units were changed from
171721-171726 to
171807-171812. The remaining 4 2-car units were unchanged (
171727-171730).
3-car unit 171811 was formed by adding a coach from 4-car 171803 to 2-car 171725.I should point out that I am in the process of adding all these renumberings to the database, but there are still a few more to be done.
Note added Thu 28/09/2023 by Llamafish
Category: Numbering
Most of Southern's 2-car 171s, up to 726 at least, were delivered as class 170s, being fitted with standard BSI couplings until late 2004, when they were converted and numbered in the class 171 series. I believe that 727-729 were delivered as class 171s from the outset. A photo online suggests that a unit numbered 170727 was initially released into traffic, but was almost immediately sent to Ashford Chart Leacon depot, where it emerged in a new livery and with a new number - becoming SWT's 170392, with an entirely different unit now taking the vacant '727' number. 170392 was of course to come full circle, later returning to Southern as 171730.
Source: online | |  |
New units in photos
Posted on
Tuesday 29th August 2023 by Thomas Young
Further to recent mentions in Fleet News, Dan has sent in photos of class
777/1 and
805 units.
777144 was seen on delivery. The units with extra batteries have additional lettering to highlight their 'off-the-juice' capability.
The first 805 was seen on a test run. Destined for Avanti West Coast, the livery vinyls had yet to be applied.
No notes have been left yet.
?There may be some notes posted but which have not yet been approved.
Old trains
Posted on Sunday 6th August 2023 by Llamafish
Inevitably, when new trains begin to arrive (see previous news item), the old ones have to make way. On the multiple unit front, PEP derived stock is on the hitlist in both the South and the North. In the South, all of the class 313s have now finished, and all have been despatched to Eastleigh Works for disposal. In Liverpool, with the ongoing delivery of new class 777 units, the numbers of classes 507 and 508 in service continue to decline every week, with two units released for disposal at Sims in Newport every two weeks.
The arrivals of the first class 555s on Tyneside has resulted in several of the 'old order' being sent for disposal at Tyne Dock.
Class 321 units continue to leave Anglia for the last time. None of the fleet are now in service, and are stored at several locations nationwide. There are regular scrap moves of the non-Renatus units from Worksop and Wolverton, to Booths of Rotherham or Sims of Newport.
Time is nearly up for their similar counterparts operating out of Northampton depot. It has been touted for some time that the duties covered by the handful of class 319s operated by LNR will go over to class 730 operation. This looks to be getting closer, as two class 319s have already departed for scrapping, and class 730s are beginning to accumulate at the Southern end of the WCML.
Not a fleet withdrawal, but changes are also happening with SWR's class 458 fleet. As built, the class was a 30-strong fleet of 4-car units. The first change came in 2016 when the fleet was augmented by withdrawn class 460 vehicles, to create a fleet of 36 5-car units. This second change, happening at the moment, currently involves reducing the fleet back to 4-car units, and a third renumbering, the completed units becoming 4584xx. The former class 460 vehicles will be stored at Long Marston. It has been suggested that the six additional sets created will not be retained by SWR and will also be stored.
The decimation of stalwarts among the wagon fleet continues to gather pace. Nearly two-thirds of the Coalfish ballast wagon fleet have now been scrapped, with at least one train heading to a scrapyard every week. Also joining the Coalfish are members of the OBA, OCA and SPA fleets, of which numbers are declining rapidly. Happily however, wagon 112000, the doyen of the OCA fleet, has now been preserved.
With the advent of many new boxes and hopper wagons over the past couple of years, the old JYA and JHA wagons are disappearing from the West Country, initially via storage at Gascoigne Wood.
VTG has also had another clearout, this time all of the TDA bogie tanks have been sent for disposal from Long Marston, all of them leaving at regular intervals to Wards at Ilkeston.
Finally, the last major fleet to have the death sentence passed to them is that of the CDA china clay fleet, synonymous with Cornish freight for the past 35 years. It's been suggested that the fleet could come out of use as early as the 11th August, a date already poignant for railway enthusiasts. DB recently announced a tender for 40 wagons. The story may not quite be over however, as the Bodmin Railway, in conjunction with the National Wagon Preservation Group (NWPG), have announced the intention to try and preserve a short rake of the wagons. Details of the fundraising effort, and how to contribute, can be found online.
No notes have been left yet. ?There may be some notes posted but which have not yet been approved.
New trains
Posted on Sunday 6th August 2023 by Thomas Young
The first class 93 Stadler tri-mode loco was delivered at the end of June. 93001, in Rail Operations Group green livery, is now at Worksop for trials, expected to be joined by 93003 and 93004 in September. Ten locos are on firm order, with options for a further 20.
Also from Stadler, deliveries of class 777 units for Merseyrail are continuing, with the first of the class 777/1 sub-class arriving in January. These are units (initially totalling 7) fitted with additional batteries to allow their use on the non-electrified line to Headbolt Lane. The unit numbers have had 100 added, and all are from the Swiss-built element of the order (units built in Poland were the odd-numbered ones). Numbers are thus 777 140/142/144/146/148/150/152. For functional reasons, I have decided to show these as renumberings from the originally planned 777 040/042 etc, even though the latter numbers were probably never carried. The overall order has been increased by one to 53.
Stadler is also building 46 class 555 units for the Tyne Wear Metro, and the first of these 5-car trains (555 003) was delivered at the end of February. Although there are numerous differences, both the class 555 and 777 trains are articulated and have primarily yellow liveries.
No notes have been left yet. ?There may be some notes posted but which have not yet been approved.
HS2 tunnel segment trains
Posted on
Sunday 21st May 2023 by Thomas Young
I mentioned these in the news of 2nd August 2022, but it appears that the trains did not actually start running until about April 2023. This week I popped out to photograph the returning empties passing through Clapham High Street. The loaded trains run in the evening but it may be possible to photograph them in mid-summer.
66754 hauling the West Ruislip HS2 Stop Boards to Grain Thamesport tunnel segment empties at Clapham High Street on 18th May 2023.
Most of the train was formed of 40ft FBA-K wagons, like 600015, each of which had one green and one blue module fitted.
There were also a number of 60ft FEA-C twins, such as 650017. Each of these wagons had two of the green modules fitted, with either a gap in between, or a low dropside module. The latter appear to have been formed by fitting new ends to the dropside modules latterly carried by some FEA-S wagons for infrastructure work.
No notes have been left yet.
?There may be some notes posted but which have not yet been approved.
More new biomass hoppers plus update on recycled ex-tipplers
Posted on Saturday 6th May 2023 by Thomas Young
W H Davis is building a batch of 30 new biomass wagons for Drax Power, numbered 83.70.0698.226-255. These follow on from (and are to the same design as) the 225 IIA-D wagons built between 2013 and 2016, although the TOPS and Design codes for the new wagons are not yet known.
Things have been quiet on the programme to rebody former MRA side-tipplers as JNA-Y open box wagons. Loram at Derby has completed around 100 wagons but until recently they were being stored (at York and Gascoigne Wood). They are now entering service so I have added the numbers (81.70.5831.001-250) to the database.
No notes have been left yet. ?There may be some notes posted but which have not yet been approved.
Site news11 site news items found.
Some new Profile articles (at last)Posted on
Tuesday 2nd April 2024 by Thomas Young
Profile articles were a major part of the original LTSV Wagons website, but they have been a bit neglected since the switch to the data-driven version of this website (in January 2021), and many are now rather out of date. There is a certain irony here, since one of the main reasons for developing the database was to enable the collation of large amounts of data that could then be used when researching new and updated profile articles!
Anyway, with a bit of help, I have just added three new profiles. William Snook (a member of the National Wagon Preservation Group and the author of the UK Railway Datafile number books) supplied text for the following articles, which I have now turned into profiles with some additional information plus photos and data links.
Profile 63: JPA Bogie Cement Tank WagonsProfile 64: YCO-A Pilchard Bogie Ballast Sleeper WagonsProfile 65: HHA Bogie Coal Hopper WagonsWilliam also supplied information to update one of my earlier profiles:
Profile 4: JSA Covered Steel Wagons (ex Tipplers)Not only that, but I have added a batch of 31 new photos. Highlights below.
I raided Dan Adkin's collection to cover the various types of class 377 Electrostar units
Nathan photographed a couple of the former Tilcon JGA-K hoppers that were trialled (unsuccessfully) on China Clay traffic last autumn
Paul visited the North West and sent photos of some Avanti Pendolinos and Northern units.
Derek was in Eastleigh (as usual!) and caught a few rare types, including this VGA van.
Dan also supplied three photos of 2-car class 155/1 units, although since the class 155/0 units were all converted to single-car class 153s, these are probably now just plain class 155s!
No notes have been left yet.
?There may be some notes posted but which have not yet been approved.
On the Buses (AKA Making excuses again)
Posted on Saturday 27th January 2024 by Thomas Young
As the issue is still ongoing, I thought I should write to explain why I have not managed many updates on my LTSV websites over the past few months. The simple fact is that I have been moonlighting as the editor of a monthly (printed) magazine about buses! I have had a small involvement with LOTS (the London Omnibus Traction Society) for several years, including providing proof-reading and IT support to the editor of their magazine. The editor was getting on a bit and, a few months ago, he asked if I would be willing to take on some aspects of his work. I agreed to this and, although it took a while to get things set up, I managed to produce the January 2024 issue without any major problems. At the time, I envisaged this taking up perhaps 3-4 days a month, meaning that I would have plenty of time left over for LTSV.
However, there was then a change when the editor's health took a turn for the worse and he was admitted to hospital, potentially long-term. I now had to cover the whole of his job, or at least find other people to assist with parts, but either way it is proving to be rather time-consuming. The monthly magazine seems to be on-track, then there are a couple of yearly publications due out in the spring and on top of that, I had already been working on a major web project to mark LOTS' 60th anniversary later this year. Just to complicate things, some long-planned building work on my house finally got underway in mid-January, while I have had no fewer than three bouts of illness over the winter - just cold/flu but it knocked me for six each time and seemed to take ages to shift. Plus, of course, the dog ate my homework.
Anyway, there is light at the end of the tunnel (though I have been advised not to go towards the light!) and 'normal service' across all LTSV websites should be restored soon.
Curiously, I do seem to be to moving towards an editor-like role on LTSV-RD, with other people providing the actual content. The latest development is that a well-known name has kindly agreed to write-up some new Profile articles on certain wagon types. The first of these should be uploaded within the next week or so.
No notes have been left yet. ?There may be some notes posted but which have not yet been approved.
This month I have mostly been....
Posted on Friday 10th November 2023 by Thomas Young
...out of action (stored unserviceable), with a cold followed by a back injury. I am not completely recovered but I have made a start on some updates, first up being some recent unit deliveries, renumberings and disposals. As ever, there is masses to do, and I am planning to take a 'little but often' approach to make some headway.
No notes have been left yet. ?There may be some notes posted but which have not yet been approved.
This week I have been mostly...Posted on
Friday 6th October 2023 by Thomas Young
...wrestling with Intermodal RIV renumberings. I realised that some of the data on the 70.4938 batch of wagons was out of date, and it turned out to be quite a complex job. Comprising just 225 twin wagon sets, many were renumbered, some then reverted, while others were split into 2 separate coupling adaptor wagons, then reconverted to intermodal twins with the original numbers but not all reapplied to the same wagons! The data is almost complete and I am planning to also write a new profile article to give some context to the changes.
These wagons are probably best remembered for the Scunthorpe to Ebange (France) steel billet flow, for which they carried special modules as seen on 31.70.4938.037-9 at Denmark Hill in 2013.
Note added Sun 08/10/2023 by Thomas Young
Category: Other/General
The data updates for the 70.4938 wagons have now been (hopefully) completed. Of 225 twin sets, 127 were given new numbers as twins, of which 83 have since reverted to their original numbers. A further 16 twins were split and renumbered as 32 single wagons. All of these have also since reverted to their twin numbers, but not all to the same numbers as originally carried! All will be explained in the forthcoming profile.
Source: n/a | |  |
Power-door Mk3sPosted on
Thursday 28th September 2023 by Thomas Young
Earlier this month I went to Neasden to photograph the Mk3 coaches used by Chiltern Trains. With the announcement that TransPennine Express is to cease using its Nova 3 trains (class 68s with Mk5 coaches) in December, the Chiltern trains may soon be the only regular day-time loco-hauled/propelled services.
Driving Van Trailers (built for the West Coast Mainline) are at the London end of each rake.
The slam doors have been replaced with flush-closing plug ones.With a bit of help from my friends, I am also able to show the other users of Mk3 coaches with power doors, although they are all already being taken out of service.
CrossCountry had five HST sets rebuilt with recessed sliding doors, each set including a Trailer Composite Kitchen (like 45005 shown here) converted from loco-hauled Open Standards.
GWR had 16 shortened sets for secondary services in the South West, with similar doors to the CrossCountry sets.
ScotRail introduced rebuilt and shortened HSTs for its Inter7City services from 2021. These feature another new type, the Trailer Guard's Buffet First, rebuilt from Trailer Firsts.
No notes have been left yet.
?There may be some notes posted but which have not yet been approved.
Progress with the data
Posted on Sunday 3rd September 2023 by Thomas Young
This week I have been working on three separate sets of data updates.
1. Renumberings over the past year or so (not yet complete).
2. Flagging up wagons which have been preserved (ongoing, and has also resulted in some updates to older renumberings).
3. 129 preserved steam locos added to the database. These are all the examples believed to have been allocated 98xxx TOPS numbers.
No notes have been left yet. ?There may be some notes posted but which have not yet been approved.
More photosPosted on
Tuesday 29th August 2023 by Thomas Young
146 more photos have just been uploaded, starting with a return visit to Harringay earlier this month. I timed it to make sure I would see at least one IC225 train in the new/old LNER livery.
Double-retro. A 1930s name and a 1980s livery now adorn the remaining Mk4 trains used on the East Coast.
I also caught a couple of 800/1 Azumas, that I managed to miss last time.Later the same day I finally caught the loaded tunnel segment train, though in the dark only a few of the photos were usable.
The Grain to Ruislip service is scheduled to pause at Hither Green, and on 9th August it actually did.Next I dipped into Dave Warby's Flickr collection to help fill some gaps in my coverage of older EMUs. Types now shown include
302,
305,
307,
308 and
319.
The 307 units are long-gone, and Liverpool Street today is barely recognisable compared to this 1986 view.
I travelled quite a lot as a kid in the 1970s and 1980s, but the 504s were one class I never saw any of.Dan has helped fill lots more gaps, with photos of more recent EMUs in various parts of the country.
Scotrail's class 380 units have a distinctive appearance, due largely to their 'reclining' gangways!
Disposal of Merseyrail class 507 and 508 units has now commenced, following the entry into service of the first 777s.Nathan sent in some recent photos of steel wagons in South Wales, these being former pipe carriers now converted for slabs but still coded
BTA.
There is a slight, but noticeable, sag to most of the wagons seen in this train!Merf allowed me to use some of his older photos to plug more gaps, with several classes that I will now never be able to see.
The only class 05 to gain a TOPS number was the one exiled to the Isle of Wight.
To see the curious class 13 'Master and Slave' hump shunters you really had to go to Tinsley.Finally, an LTSV crossover, in more ways than one. While out photographing London Transport Service Vehicles (for my original website), I managed to take a photo of one with a train crossing above!
A Freightliner class 59/2 passes above an Abellio London Ford C-Max crew ferry car at Stewarts Lane (Battersea).
No notes have been left yet.
?There may be some notes posted but which have not yet been approved.
New photos (2020s vs 1980s)Posted on
Tuesday 8th August 2023 by Thomas Young
The 96 photos uploaded today fall into two categories. First up are 71 taken recently, starting with a few from Paul Nicholls. Some highlights are shown below, but to see all 96, cick on Photos above.
The Elizabeth Line class 345 units are very similar to the Anglia class 720s (see below), but with lots of detail differences. Paul captured this view at Maidenhead.
At his local station, Paul came across a C2C class 357/3 unit with Pride adornments.I visited Stratford last month, mainly to photograph the
755 Flirt units now scheduled on some Norwich to London turns.
Delivery of the large fleet of class 720 units is now almost complete. This is one of the 720/1 units that were originally ordered as 10-car units but changed before delivery to 5-car sets.
Some Norwich trains are currently formed of 755/3 and 755/4 bi-mode units. Note the short (but wider) power car.
Another Pride-related livery has been applied to Overground 378205
One freight was photographed. All IKA intermodal wagons look more or less the same to me, though perusing these photos I noticed that the IKA-F wagons have a notably different intermediate coupling from that on the more common IKA-Js.Nathan photographed a trial train of Stent (a type of sand) from Burngullow to Longport. This used the recent
JNA-V wagons.
Most of the JNA-Vs have lettering for 'Land Recovery Ltd', although I always seem to read it as 'Land Rover Discovery' !
However, a couple curiously carry boards referencing Carlsberg. Is this advertising?
Nathan also sent an excellent shot of a CDA wagon that has gained some special livery adornments. This type is apparently due to be taken out of service very soon (see Fleet News).The remaining 25 of today's photos are all from the 1980s, when men were men, diesels were blue and the Western region had no overhead. These are all scans of either prints, negatives or slides, and the quality is variable.
Two 25 plus 31 combinations were seen at Banbury in 1983.
Wagon fans may get nostalgic at this consist seen near Clapham Junction.
My dad caught a Halibut at Brixton in 1988! Although the number is not legible, only two examples of this type were built.
A 47/0 brings parcels vans into Paddington in 1985.
No notes have been left yet.
?There may be some notes posted but which have not yet been approved.
Some data updates
Posted on Sunday 6th August 2023 by Thomas Young
I have been a bit distracted with a new project lately (relating to London buses), but I am now back and have started with some updates on new trains. The details are in Fleet News, while the relevant numbers, batches and codes have now been added to the database.
No notes have been left yet. ?There may be some notes posted but which have not yet been approved.
81 more photosPosted on
Sunday 21st May 2023 by Thomas Young
Another 81 photos have been uploaded today.
Paul was in Sheffield in April and he sent in a bundle of photos of units, locos, wagons and trams seen there. This is re-formed 3-car Sprinter 150003.
You can play spot the difference with this comparison between a 158/0 and a 158/9. Spoilers: They are the same!
It's nice to see some of the Blue Circle 'Chevron' tanks still in use, though I suspect their replacement is being planned.
Dan supplied some photos of new trains, including the 196 DMUs that have recently entered service (though photographed whilst on test back in September 2021).
Also at Dan's usual Northampton haunt were some of the new FEA-G container twins for GBRf.
The JNA-Y box wagons converted from MRA side tipplers are unlike any other wagons, and have also recently entered service. This example was seen at Toton.
Derek photographed the Eastleigh to Hoo working at Hook on 15th May, when it was formed of just a single FZA flat with its accompanying RRA runners. Derek noted that this regular service has reverted to class 73 haulage of late, and that the last two digits of the headcode were displayed on the front blinds.I photographed the empties of the recently-started HS2 tunnel segment service at Clapham (see today's Fleet News Story).
The remainder of today's photos are some of my mine that I found down the back of the sofa, including a couple of breakdown cranes at Old Oak Common in 2008.
Since renumbered and lengthened (twice), 378009 was at Stratford in 2010.
Also since renumbered (in this case back to 450051), this South West Trains Desiro was one of several modified to high-capacity by the removal of some seats.
No notes have been left yet.
?There may be some notes posted but which have not yet been approved.
More numbers added
Posted on Saturday 6th May 2023 by Thomas Young
I have just added a load of numbers to the database, comprising the 250 JNA-Y ex tippler boxes for Network Rail (81.70.5831.001-250), another 20 FEA-G container wagons for GBRf (81.70.4663.081-100) and 30 new-build biomass hoppers for Drax Power (83.70.0698.226-255). I have also been able to add numbers to two of the old photos uploaded last month. Dan did some amazing detective work to work out the IDs of two of the class 33 locos seen at Kensington Olympia in 1987.
No notes have been left yet. ?There may be some notes posted but which have not yet been approved.
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