Class 43's finally go down the exportation route

[finn09]

Evening all,
It was brought to my attention earlier that two ex Great Central Class 43's have been brought by the European company 'Rail Adventure' and are expected to be exported soon for a new life in Europe. I hope to have some more information on it soon.
Heres a photo of the 2 freshly repainted powercars at Eastleigh



It has also become the front cover picture on their website https://www.railadventure.de/

Cheers,
Finn

[Briggsy]

It's sad to see the demise of the HST's in the UK. They've been magnificent trains over the years - and I still think they are capable of many more years in service in this country.

I would far rather travel on a HST than any god-awful Voyager train.

[Mightyena]

It depends. Does the HST have the original seats? If so I think I'd rather walk...

[Nexusdj]

Railcolor news reporting that : RailAdventure GmbH is announcing their entry into the U.K. marketplace with a partnership with Britain's own Hanson & Hall rail service company along with the purchase of eight Class 43 locomotives

https://railcolornews.com/2021/04/19/uk ... ower-cars/

From that it looks like they are for UK use hauling new stock around .

[klambert]

It's sad to see the demise of the HST's in the UK. They've been magnificent trains over the years - and I still think they are capable of many more years in service in this country.

I would far rather travel on a HST than any god-awful Voyager train.

I agree, grew up in Reading so HSTs were a familiar sight. I still can't get used to the station without them. Worst intercity seats, go to the IEPs though, the seat's too upright with minimal padding and for a lanky 6ft 4 sod like me, the headrest's in my upper back forcing me to slouch over, I have a slight curvature of the spine so most journeys on an IEP are particularly uncomfortable, I try to get a MK4 set when I can. Even the voyagers seem like luxury!

One of my best journeys recently (pre-coro) in 2019 was on the original IC70 seats on a MK3 from from Ipswich to Liverpool Street, best kip I've ever had on train! So soft and I didn't need to keep fidgeting like I normally do on a voyager.

Ah well progress, is progress I guess, but personally the modern stock just somehow doesn't appeal, they all look like PS5s on rails, I lost interest in anything after the 387s.

On another note, uncomfortable seating in general seems to be a modern trend, the missus and I were looking for a sofa and the new ones were crap! She won't allow me to get some HST seats from ebay though.

[Mightyena]

One of my best journeys recently (pre-coro) in 2019 was on the original IC90 seats on a MK3 from from Ipswich to Liverpool Street, best kip I've ever had on train! So soft and I didn't need to keep fidgeting like I normally do on a voyager.

Huh, I find travelling in those a bit like sitting in a deckchair. They make you slouch something awful, and with the armrests are horrible to get in and out of.

For me, the original Mk3 seats are some of the most uncomfortable things I've ever been forced to endure. A ride on an EMT HST from St Pancras to Leicester was the only rail journey I've had where I was actually in pain by the end of it, thanks to the seating position. I'd honestly have rather done the journey on a 700.

[Class172]

It's sad to see the demise of the HST's in the UK. They've been magnificent trains over the years - and I still think they are capable of many more years in service in this country.

I would far rather travel on a HST than any god-awful Voyager train.

If you live in the right part of the country there are still a fair few of them knocking about.

[Nexusdj]

31106 and 50031 are also going to be repainted in RailAdventure livery (50031 without the logos') and the 8 HST Powercars will be based at Willesden TMD .

https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2021/04/wh ... month.html

[Briggsy]

For me, the original Mk3 seats are some of the most uncomfortable things I've ever been forced to endure. A ride on an EMT HST from St Pancras to Leicester was the only rail journey I've had where I was actually in pain by the end of it, thanks to the seating position. I'd honestly have rather done the journey on a 700.

They wouldn't have been the very original seats. The originals were really comfortable - as they were on most UK trains.

Sadly, as they've all been refurbished over the years, they've gone for those really uncomfortable slimline seats with thin cushioning, so that they can cram more seats in to make more money rather than providing comfort for passengers.

Even first class seats these days are lower in quality than standard class seats from 20+ years ago.

Anyone remember the really bouncy thick heavy sofa-like seats on the old Class 304 / 305 units? Those seats were so so comfortable. No way would they build seats that comfortable these days.

If you live in the right part of the country there are still a fair few of them knocking about.

They're all on borrowed time though sadly. They're just filling gaps until new stock comes along or until the DFT demand new replacements when their next franchise renewal is due.

[Mightyena]

I was under the impression that EMT and Chiltern kept the original seating. It was these ones, at any rate: https://www.flickr.com/photos/55223176@N03/5644825694/

Horrible things

[Briggsy]

The seats themselves are the same - but the cushioning is much thinner and far less comfortable. That seems to be the way TOC's have been heading for a while now. Ditch the old comfortable seats and replace them with thin flimsy cushioning - even in first class.

When the cushions are thinner, there's just no 'play' to mould to people's natural curvatures. Give it another ten years, and they'll probably just make them with solid mesh or wooden backs like picnic tables and park benches.

If CrossCountry don't sort their seat and overcrowding issues out, it won't be too much longer that passengers will be travelling like this.

[klambert]

When the cushions are thinner, there's just no 'play' to mould to people's natural curvatures. Give it another ten years, and they'll probably just make them with solid mesh or wooden backs like picnic tables and park benches.

That's if they bother with seats at all, won't be long before it's just a big windowless metal tube, want a window? That's removed as a safety concern, replaced by giant LCD screens blaring lots of unnecessary information at top volume in the most garish colours and obnoxious ads for phone networks. Sounds fanciful but it's already been proposed for planes: https://www.uk-cpi.com/windowless-plane

Dad mentioned when he worked as station staff at Didcot Parkway in the early 90s, the passengers moaned like errr ... (expletive removed) About the new 165s/166s replacing their beloved MK2 stock, particularly the first class passengers having to forego their lovely compartments.

Nowadays the thames turbos seem like an upgrade compared to their Class 387 replacements. It could either be with time the seat cushioning will become softer, or that train interiors are getting ever worse.

[Briggsy]

It could either be with time the seat cushioning will become softer, or that train interiors are getting ever worse.

My money is on the latter.

Train seats seem to be regarded as an optional extra these days rather than a necessity. I can only assume that the people that design them never actually travel in them - because if they did, they'd soon revert back to comfortable seating.