Sunday, July 30, 2006

Blue pullman 3x47


Blue pullman 3x47
Originally uploaded by nm63uk.
The blue pullman heads south near newark on Saturday 29/07/06. This was a Durham - Kings cross trip.

Monday, July 17, 2006

Saturday, July 15, 2006

By the beach

The new 185 train at Cleethorpes, right by the beach. Standing on platform 3 awaiting departure to Manchester Airport. On the beach you can see some of the kiddies amusements, the building you can see above the train is an amusement arcade.


By the beach
Originally uploaded by nm63uk.

arrival

The new 185 train arrives at Manchester picadilly station and gets a mars bar refil.


arrival
Originally uploaded by nm63uk.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Retouche 47's - nm63uk ---> Color version

Just a beautiful version of my shot of the 47's

the 0716


the 0716.jpg
Originally uploaded by nm63uk.
Quite a busy scene at Cleethorpes on 04/07/06 just before the inaugural run of the new 185's.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Floating bed

Tech Ticker » Blog Archive » Floating Bed

Looks quite nice and only 1.5 million US dollars.

Blogged with Flock

185 journey review


Seating
Originally uploaded by nm63uk.
The seating on the 185's is comfortable and is adjustable. The arm rests can be put in the upright position too if you prefer. The trains over all are excellent and give a nice quiet ride. I have read that some people find them a little noisy, I guess those people are not used to the awful sprinter trains that run through Gainsborough, now that's noisy.

Build and finish quality seems good throughout, although time will tell on that one. The small green button used to open the doors [seen under the green arrows] is far too small and not at all sensitive, even the staff on this train had a problem with it and often resorted to using the emergency button above the doors, eventually locking it open. If you were carrying any bags you would need to put them down to open the doors with this button. Little button, big problem.

The toilet was quite large as it was big enough for a wheelchair. The toilet paper dispenser was over stuffed which left you with small torn strips of paper instead of whole sheets. Why do they do that?

I didn't like any of the controls for the toilet - once you've washed your hands you need to move the lever to unlock the door and press a button to open it, then you feel like you need to wash your hands again. Not very hygienic of Siemens methinks and when drying your hands after washing, it's very easy to get your hands wet again as the sensors for the dryer and the water are too close together.

I have to say though, that you couldn't complain about the ride, the train is very smooth at all speeds and you barely notice even the tightest bends. The man who served the drinks said it was the first time he had managed to write straight while the train was moving. I should also add that the staff were all very nice too, they gave me a stick of rock and a beachball. No kidding.

Well done to 'first tpexress' for running these. Lincolnshire passenger trains enter the 21st century.

the 07:16 Ready to depart


the 07:16 Ready to depart
Originally uploaded by nm63uk.
The inaugural service of the new class 185 was number 122 at 07:16 on Tuesday the 4th of July 2006. Here it stands just minutes before departure. I travelled to Manchester Picadilly and back on it. It ran pretty much on time for the entire journey with only small delays leaving Doncaster and on arrival at Manchester.