I bet you wouldn't get 40 years service with the state of the art 'Banger' trains these thieving train companies have acquired on the cheap. The HST is the best diesel trains ever to grace the railways solidly built with speed and comfort in mind
The HST's actually ran regularly at 135mph and even on a few occasions to 140mph in '140 club' and drivers of old will tell you all about it. They were pinned back to 125mph due to limiters placed in them in the early 1990's. London to York on my HST journeys was twice achieved in 1hr 40mins. Newcastle in 2hr.39 and so on. No new trains have beaten the HST yet and it will be a long time before they ever will. Further, the HST coaches were quite than the new trains that have replaced them and far more plush in first class and much nicer lighting and seating in standard too.
I remember my very first ride on an HST, in 1979, from Kings Cross to Doncaster with my grandpa. It was his first time on an HST as well, and he'd brought along a stopwatch and a lookup table of speed versus time from one 1/4-mile post to the next. I quickly worked out that 7 seconds (1/4 mile at 125 mph) was prone to a large measurement error (ever the engineer!) so I timed over 4 posts for greater accuracy and estimated our speed at about 137 mph at one point - certainly a long way in excess of the nominal 125 mph. HSTs have by far the nicest carriages, in terms of ride, seat comfort and matching of seats to windows - all of which the HSTs' replacements don't do as well.
Recorded about 110mph behind Deltic Crepello north of York in 1962, timed using my schoolboy Timex wristwatch! I was in the third coach down from the loco, boy were those two Napiers noisy! Wonderful land by The Shadows number one as well. Halcyon days.
The GWR class 800 and 802 are crap. Terrible build quality and you would be better off sitting in a piece of plywoid than what they call a seat cushion. They have made the Pacer of intercity long distance trans.
Good video, but the camera setup could have been better. The trouble with auto-focus is that if you get raindrops or dirt on the window, as happened not infrequently on the video, the camera will focus on that and the rest will be very blurry. It's better to use a long set focus to avoid that, and encourage the driver to keep the window clear of dirt and water.
Love how you complained about the 30mph junction at Kettering ;) Indeed, rather than throwing money at new (cascaded from another operator) Class 360s, it would have been more beneficial to improve the junction speeds and improve the speed of the slows, especially with the new Corby services having to cross over at one of the slow junctions (25mph at Wellingborough or 30mph at Kettering). The slows are still only 50mph south of Wellingborough!
HST.... Rust in peace... Never drove one in my 40 years service... plenty of 37's, sprinters & pacers though... now happily retired. Anything over 60mph used to give me a nosebleed anyway...
I haven't ridden on the new generation of IET but from what I have heard they represent a backward step from the HST. It was often said that HST saved British Rail but with no thanks from the Government. When introduced the drive to end BR taxpayer subsidy was at it's peak leaving the network in a sorry state. HST was a breath of fresh air but it's success probably helped scupper APT which with a little more development would have been a winner as well but at least the APT tilting design come back via Italy a few years later! Then privatisation...... pass my blood pressure medication. Good luck HS2 (what's left of it).
Hello Train_Paul. Is there any way that i can contact you? I would like to use some parts of that video for an comparrision video which i want to do for the midland mainline addon which DTG released for Train Sim World.
Point of interest..........Trent was one of the few stations where at one time you could depart in both directions on a train bound for London! Exeter St. Davids and Plymouth North Road being others.
Thanks for this most informative journey! At last I get to see Leicester London Road Junction - but no S.B. What a change Leicester Station has had with the demolition of the overall glass roof! I looked out for the 99M.P in the beginning of 'The Tunnel' - but didn't see it. Maybe the replacement Motive Power will be steadier than this venerable HST - or doesn't the camera have 'Steady Shot'?
Very enjoyable, thank you. I lived in Bedford for many years, near the railway, and used to commute from the old station. I have a question though about the constant background chatter I could hear. I'm surprised that's allowed due to the distraction factor. Pilots, for example, are required to avoid unnecessary conversation during takeoff and landing for that reason.
"Pilots, for example, are required to avoid unnecessary conversation _during takeoff and landing_ for that reason." Similarly, unnecessary conversations shouldn't be had while running under the equivalent moments, such as cautionary aspects: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ehBfnKFPW_4.html is an older training video mentioning this (can't speak for rules and right now, but unlikely to have gone backwards!) Note how for example that from 16:37 gets quiet after a double yellow signal!
@@christopherwright8388: Not sure about speed restrictions unfortunately, sorry! I could see the logic for both ways, but someone more informed should hopefully be able to answer that...
I had been on the stretch between the St Pancras - Bedford back in 2016 when EMR was known as EMT (Under Stagecoach). Never had gone past Bedford as I went to catch a pair of Class 387s to Brighton and subsequently hop on a Class 700/1 (700104) to London Bridge.
Very good. Interestingly no mention, when referring to the Corby branch continuing to Oakham, of the original route to Nottingham via Melton Mowbray, which I remember trains taking in the 1960s.
That was the alternative route, not the original route. I used to travel to school on it. Part of it is now the Old Dalby Test Track. Lady Bay Bridge over the Trent in Nottingham was converted to a road.
As you head north from St Pancras the tunnel entrance to Camden tunnel has ornate brickwork. This was to appease the locals, concerned the 'new railway' wouldn't fit in with the area. The tunnel doe snot have ornate brickwork as you approach from the north. Haverstock hill still has a bricked up set of stairs visible, and a short section of platform on the up slow as you exit Belsize Tunnel. Incidentally, I had the pleasure of being the first to drive 43 274 in its short used livery of aubergine, on an ECS from St. Pancras to Cricklewood.
No wonder why they gave some of them to ScotRail. I know how important change is but I do believe that changes should happen at the right time as well.
The Midland Main Line. It was my first intercity experience back in the autumn of 2003. Trains used to terminate where the Eurostar building is before the new location northwards. I went to Sheffield twice, that year and in 2009. I worked for a defunct entertainment chain that was on the brink of collapse due to the recession at about the time regarding the latter year.
The Midland Main Line is my local railway. Would love to see cab rides on either the West Coast or West Anglia Main Lines at some point on either Class 317, 319 or 350 rolling stock
Thank you for all the information. However - 2 mispronunciations just before Kettering. The river pronounced "Neeeen" at Peterborough is pronounced more like "Nenn" in Northamptonshire. See Wiki article. Isham is pronounced "Eye sham" not "Iss sham".
The EMR HST's are also the last trains with slam doors on them while all other trains are sliding or plug. And also the last mainline trains where you can stick your head out the window. Once there gone you won't be able to look out the window on mainline trains anymore not even on rail tours. Also because of the lockdown, there is some talk of possibly extending the HST's beyond May, but we will have to wait and see.
I'm not sure EMR will need to keep any HST's passed May TT change. The 360's will be introduced on the Corby services, releasing the current 222 / 180 units that operate that route back to the Notts / Sheffield's. Although it seems the 360's will enter service in their current state, there should be sufficient in the pool to ensure 1 can be away for refurbishment whilst not affecting the timetables. Sadly with the covid-19 pandemic, it looks like they will slide away without a proper send off, although EMR could still run a special later in the year.
So does that pretty much leave Scotrail and Cross Country as the only operaters still operating the HSTs once EMR retires them. And also what are EMR replacing the HSTs with?
For passenger use there will be GWR, Scot Rail, Cross Country & LSL (Midland Pullman Set), Network Rail will still run HST's for the Measurement Train. The Meridians (222's) that currently run the Corby services will replace the HST's. Corby will then see the new "EMR Electrics" service introduced using Class 360 Desiro units.
The last time I travelled on this train I had a speedometer on my phone I was monitoring its speed and what i can remember of it was by the time we had reached the m1 after leaving London we had hit 100mph
@@tonybramley7649 That sounds typical. Brent Cross M1 junction is about 6 and a half miles out. HSTs took considerably further to reach 125. They could reach it briefly before having to shut off for the 95 over the St Albans curves, then only again after Leagrave and the long stretch to Bedford South.
Very enjoyable and informative. Just before Loughborough, you mention the GCR extension to Nottingham. At 1 hour 15 minutes, that big green bridge is the start of this restoration - it was installed very recently as part of this connection of the two parts.