Prototype Shades of the Southern: Clan Line again

[AJC]

Sorry to be a bit slow, are 73s still in service today?

Tim

Oh yes, GBRF have a fleet of them based here in Tonbridge and (I think) at Eastleigh. They run monitoring trains for Network Rail, de-icing trains and some of the rail head treatment trains, that sort of thing. I see them moving about most weeks. I think Network Rail have some of their own, too.

Adam

 

[Lancastrian]

Don't forget the ones up in Scotland as well.

 

[SouthernFan Ian]

Here’s one of the Scottish 73’s proving power for the Night Sleeper.

 

[AJC]

Don't forget the ones up in Scotland as well.

I wasn't certain they were still in service - or contained that much of the original locos! - Do they still have shoe gear or did all the third rail kit get stripped out?

Adam

 

[djparkins]

Sorry to be a bit slow, are 73s still in service today?

Tim

Indeed they are and in roles that were never envisioned - like working the Caledonian Sleeper services in Scotland.

Oh - other posts came along to answer your question. IMHO the ones on the CS look very smart indeed.

 

[AJC]

Southern proper(ish): Clan Line, fresh from overhaul and looking splendid - and running like a sewing machine.





The four-year-old was very impressed. Thinking about it, when I was in single figures I had a picture of 35028 on my wall, so I must have been, too when I first saw her in 1986 or thereabouts.

Adam

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

At least it has the correct headcode for Victoria to Folkestone or Dover via the Orpington Loop, Tonbridge and Ashford.

 

[AJC]

At least it has the correct headcode for Victoria to Folkestone or Dover via the Orpington Loop, Tonbridge and Ashford.

Is that the same for the return via Redhill (which is where it was going - there were too many people at the platform end to get the going away shot with the feather in frame). Just grateful that the ECS working to T’ Wells cleared the platform!

Adam

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

It would be the same headcode for London Bridge, Charing Cross, Blackfriars or Cannon Street and Tonbridge or Reading via East Croydon and Redhill. Not Dover or Folkestone to Victoria via Redhill.

On reflection though I think they use the discs today in the standard BR express passenger position. I noticed the same headcode in @Richard Gawler 's post of the Britannia at Hatfield Peverel in the Love Lane thread. However, I think the Great Eastern also used headcode discs for train type and route.

 

[AJC]

At Tonbridge this morning, 66618, which delights in the name 'Railways Illustrated Annual Photographic Awards', hauling another few hundred tons of Mendip to Allington near Maidstone (6O98). Unusually, this was a couple of minutes ahead of time (Mendip stone trains suffer more than most from Western timekeeping disease, but unlike the Mountfield Gypsum, the locos used can manage hills in the rain*…).



Adam

* The reworked 56s GBRF have been using racked up nearly two hours delay repay for my morning commutes earlier this year.

 

[AJC]

Ok, Leeds City is more than a little off piste, but I had started from Kent. This appeared behind me as I was heading to the exit on Sunday. May well be the last time I see one in service. Still a fine looking thing.



Adam

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

I see these all the time in Leeds as some are based at Neville Hill.

There are about ten IC225 sets left operational as LNER have insufficient Azuma sets to operate their services. Apart from those scrapped the remainder are are 'Warm Storage'/LUGO (Laid Up Good Order) at Doncaster.

I believe they are mostly concentrated on the Leeds-KX services and I prefer these over the Azumas as it is a smoother ride with better seats and leg room. I have read the Azumas are based on a Japanese commuter train rather than a high speed main line design.

 

[AJC]

I didn’t get the choice (or was, at least, sufficiently busy not to investigate it). Leeds is a once yearly trip for me in any event. It’s a testament to how well Neville Hill look after them, of course, that they’re still so well regarded.

Adam

 

[AJC]

Someone’s got their stickers out. A blast (or flash) from the past at Charing Cross this morning.



Adam

 

[timbowales]

I hope the screenwash has been topped up

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Was the whole unit in NSE 'Colgate' livery?

 

[AJC]

Was the whole unit in NSE 'Colgate' livery?

No - I'd have taken more interest had it been so! I daresay such a thing will happen, but the tender hasn't properly gone out for Networker replacement yet so it'll be a while. Having had a quick look at Flickr, it seems that someone stuck the flash on around Christmas last year.

Adam

 

[James Spooner]

I saw a class 455 at Guildford earlier in the year, rather smartly decked out in BR blue and grey (or a modern variant thereof)…

Nigel

 

[AJC]

Clan Line is out and about again, and since the boys are on half term, we went for a look. Working quite hard, as it had been held at Tonbridge prior to heading up the hill, but I suspect the 67 on the back - for we are now in leaf fall season, she managed without earlier in the year - was helping out a bit. Still quite impressive, however.





Adam

 

[Arun Sharma]

I saw a class 455 at Guildford earlier in the year, rather smartly decked out in BR blue and grey (or a modern variant thereof)…

Nigel

View attachment 223543

The unit is 455-868 which carries some additional branding on its cab indicating just how reliable these units have been over the past 40 odd years. Here it is at Clapham Jcn a month or so ago: