British Rail Class 375

The British Rail Class 375 is an electric multiple unit train that was built by Bombardier Transportation (previously Adtranz) at Derby Litchurch Lane Works, from 1999 to 2005. The class form part of the Electrostar family of units, which also includes classes 357376377378379 and 387, is the most numerous type of EMU introduced since the privatisation of British Rail.

These trains are owned by Eversholt Rail Group (formerly HSBC Rail) and leased to Southeastern for operation from London to Kent and parts of East Sussex.[3]

The Class 375 is the principal train used by Southeastern, and replaced the slam-door Mark 1 derived stock, which was more than 40 years old and did not meet modern health and safety requirements. All units have been converted from Tightlock to Dellner couplers.[2]

In May 2015, unit 375301 was moved from Ramsgate Depot to Derby Litchurch Lane Works for a full refurbishment. On 16 May 2015, it was returned to the Kent depot wearing a new livery, similar to, but not based on the ‘Highspeed’ livery carried by the high speed Class 395 EMU, with a more vibrant shade of blue on the saloon doors and bolder stripes to highlight First Class and Disabled areas. Internally, the unit has received new carpets and lino flooring, new table top covers and the grab poles, side panels and table legs have been re-powder coated. The existing seat covers have been retained, but were dry cleaned to provide a brighter, cleaner interior. This work will also involve combining the two separate First Class sections on four car units into one section in the end of MOSL coach. It is intended for all class 375 units to receive this refurbishment between 2015 and 2018. The original plan was for the first 50 units (375/3s, 375/6s and 375/7s) to be refurbished at Bombardier in Derby and then the remaining units would be transferred for refurbishment at Bombardier Ilford. This plan did not go ahead and the 375/8s and 375/9s were sent to Derby. On 19 September 2015 the last 375/3 unit no 375310 went to Derby for refurbishment. The following week on 26 September the first 375/6 went to Derby for refurbishment.[4] The final 375 to receive the refurbishment and gain the new blue Southestern livery was 375 920, which was returned to Ramsgate depot on 28 April 2018.

This Blog was made by simon schofield

Being Safe Online

being online can be precarious at best of times but there are basics that have helped me stay safe. I don’t hesitate to take action if i think something is suspicions. Can’t recommend Learn My Way enough for cyber awareness issues. The same goes for Hate Crime and Trolling.

This blog was made by simon schofield

tsw2 West Cornwall 

We are excited to announce the new release date for Rivet Games’ upcoming West Cornwall Local: Penzance – St Austell & St Ives route. On November 4th, all players will be able to tour the beautiful Cornish countryside in the Class 150/2 and BR Class 37/5! In the time taken to address issues (Update notes here), the timetable has also seen some additional work in the form of a new layer which adds over 20 playable services!

These services include:Loco-hauled passenger and mail services between St. Austell and Penzance, combined with light loco moves and BR Class 08 pilot procedures at Penzance. Various sidings and yards have been populated with static rolling stock, and the BR Class 101 is driveable on the existing BR Class 150 services, as a few heritage DMUs were still roaming the Cornish Countryside by the early 1990s.

This bog was made by Simon schofield

British Rail Class 166

The British Rail Class 166 Networker Turbo is a fleet of diesel multiple-unit passenger trains (DMUs), originally specified by and built for British Rail, the then Great Britain state-owned railway operator. They were built by ABB at York Works between 1992 and 1993.[2] The trains were designed as a faster, air-conditioned variant of the Class 165 Turbo, intended for longer-distance services, and, like the 165s, belong to the Networker family of trains. They were originally known as Networker Turbos to distinguish them from the electrically propelled members of that family. Today, the 166s alongside the 165s are normally referred to as Thames Turbos or just simply Turbos.

The Class 166s are still in service today, solely operated by Great Western Railway. Until 2017, they were operating only on express and local services in the Thames Valley area alongside the Class 165 units. In this time, they were based at Reading TMD but since July 2017, the 166 units have been gradually moved over to be based at St Philip’s Marsh depot to operate local and regional services around Bristol. Nowadays, majority of the 166 units are based in Bristol while a lot of 165 units remain in the Thames Valley to operate until they are replaced by Class 769 units.

This blog was made by Simon Schofield

British Rail Class 387

The British Rail Class 387 is a type of electric multiple unit passenger train built by Bombardier Transportation as part of the Electrostar family. A total of 107 units were built, with the first train entering service with Thameslink in December 2014. The trains are currently in service with Great Western RailwayGovia Thameslink Railwayc2c, and Heathrow Express. The Class 387 is a variation of the Class 379 Bombardier Electrostar, albeit with dual-voltage capability (which allows units to run on 750V third rail as well as use 25kV OLE). The class were the final rolling stock orders based on the Bombardier Electrostar family with 2,805 vehicles built over 18 years between 1999 and 2017.

This blog was made by Simon Schofield

CALLING AT: CORNWALL

The Cornish Main Line has long been the backbone for Cornwall. Opened in 1867, the line weaves its way through the landscape linking Cornwall to the rest of the country. Brunel originally built the line to his unique 7ft “broad gauge”, but in 1892 the route was converted to standard gauge. For those areas not reached by the main line, branches sprawl out to serve local communities, such as the St Ives Bay Line, which also sees tourist traffic – holidaymakers keen to make a coastal getaway.

The Cornwall Railway was conceived because of fears that Falmouth would lose out, as a port, to Southampton. Falmouth had for many years had nearly all of the packet trade: dispatches from the Colonies and overseas territories arrived by ship and were conveyed to London by road coach. The primitive roads of those days made this a slow business and Southampton was developing in importance. The completion of the London and Southampton Railway in 1840 meant that dispatches could be taken on to London swiftly by train.[1][page needed][2][page needed]

Controversy over the route

At first the promoters wanted the most direct route to London, even if that meant building a line all the way there, bypassing important towns in Cornwall and Devon. Before the interested parties could raise the money and get parliamentary authority for their line, the Government actually removed the bulk of the packet trade to Southampton,[1][page needed] so that most of the income for any new line was removed. Some interests continued to press for the best line to London, hoping that the packet trade would return; if necessary they would link with another new railway, but the huge cost of this proved impossible to raise. A more practical scheme running to Plymouth gradually took priority, and at first the trains were to cross the Hamoaze, the body of water at the mouth of the River Tamar on a steam ferry. This was shown to be unrealistic, and Isambard Kingdom Brunel was called in to resolve the difficulty. He designed the bridge over the River Tamar at Saltash, the Royal Albert Bridge: when it was built it was the most prodigious engineering feat in the world.[3][page needed] He also improved the details of the route elsewhere. By reaching Plymouth, the company could connect with the South Devon Railway and on to London over the Bristol and Exeter railway and the Great Western Railway. The line was built on the broad gauge.[1][page needed]

Deprived of the lucrative packet trade, the promoters now discovered that it was impossible to raise the money needed to build the line, and there was considerable delay until the economy of the country improved. The object of linking Falmouth to London was quietly dropped, and the line was built from Truro to Plymouth. At Truro another railway, the West Cornwall Railway, fed in, linking Penzance to the network. Falmouth was much later connected too, but only by a branch line

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This blog made made by Simon schofield

313 Train Sim World 2 Release date 28th October 2021

In May 2010 the BR Class 313 EMU took to the tracks for the first time on services with its latest operator, Southern. Cherished by many railfans, Nineteen of the Sixty-four of this aging unit were sent to Wabtec Doncaster to be refurbished. Having undergone additional work at the Wolverton railway works in the same year, they were fully refurbished, had their previously installed pantograph removed, and sporting a new Southern livery, ready for their redeployment on Coastway services out of Brighton. A new look and branding that featured images of local landmarks and destinations integrated this veteran unit into its new home in the county of Sussex. A further unit was also repurposed as a Network Rail test vehicle for European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) and used throughout the network, it currently resides at Eastleigh Works.Although significantly faster than its Great Northern BR Class 313 counterparts while operating on third rail, the Southern BR Class 313 EMU is still only able to achieve a fairly conservative top speed of 75 mph (121 km/h). Compared to the 100 mph (161 km/h) top speed of BR Class 377 EMU that previously served the Coastway routes, it was considered ponderous. Southern made this decision as the increased speed and capacity of the BR Class 377 could be put to better use on the Brighton Main Line, and the slower local services could still be provided efficiently by the dependable BR Class 313 EMU.

The British Rail Class 313 is a dual-voltage electric multiple unit (EMU) train built by British Rail Engineering Limited‘s Holgate Road carriage works between February 1976 and April 1977. They were the first variety of British Rail‘s then-standard 1972 design for suburban EMUs, which eventually encompassed 755 vehicles and five classes (Class 313/314/315/507/508). They were the first second-generation EMUs to be constructed for British Rail and the first British Rail units with both a pantograph for 25 kV AC overhead lines and shoegear for 750 V DC third rail supply.[3][4] They were the first units in Britain to have multi-functional Tightlock couplers, allowing the coupling and the connection of controlled electrical and air supplies to be carried out from the cab.

As of 4th January 2021, with the retirement of the Class 483, they are the oldest EMUs in regular service on National Rail in Britain; the oldest units are now 45 years old.

The Class 313 was developed following extensive trials with the prototype Class 445 “PEP” built in the early 1970s. The 313 is similar to the Class 314 (Glasgow), Class 315 (Anglia suburban — east London), Class 507 (Merseyside) and Class 508 (Merseyside, formerly Southern Region). The Class 313 directly replaced the Class 105 and 106 diesel multiple units previously on the Great Northern Inner Suburban services between London and Hertfordshire.

Since they were designed for use on Great Northern Inner Suburban services from Moorgate to Welwyn Garden CityHertford North, and Letchworth Garden City, which included a section of ‘tube’ line built to take standard size trains between Drayton Park and Moorgate, they are built to a slightly smaller loading gauge than conventional trains. They are standard length and width, but the roof is lower, most noticeable due to the lack of a “well” for the Stone Faiveley AMBR pantograph on the centre coach. They have to comply with regulations for underground trains, such as having doors at each end of the train for evacuation onto the tracks, and when on 750 V DC supply the traction supply for each motor coach is separate, whereas on conventional 750 V DC trains each coach in a unit is linked by a 750 V bus line. Due to this, each motor coach has shoe gear on both bogies, whereas normally it would only be on the leading bogie. They are fitted with trip-cocks that are struck by a raised train-stop arm at red signals and will apply the brakes if the train passes one.

The units were originally numbered 313001-064. Each unit is formed of two outer driving motors and an intermediate trailer with a pantograph. This is a reversal of the practice started in the 1960s, where the motors and pantograph were on an intermediate vehicle, with the outer vehicles being driving trailers. Part of the reason was to simplify the equipment to allow dual-voltage operation, and to keep down weight by spreading the heavy transformer and motors between vehicles. The intermediate trailer carries the pantograph and a transformer and rectifier, which on 25 kV AC provides 750 V DC to the motor coaches, each of which has four 110 horsepower (82 kW) GEC G310AZ traction motors, two per bogie. On 750 V DC each motor coach draws its supply directly through its shoe gear.

313s have series-wound GEC G310AZ direct current traction motors controlled by a camshaft controlled resistance system with series and parallel motor groupings and weak field steps. Originally the heating in the motor coaches was provided by passing air over the hot traction and braking resistors in addition to conventional heaters, but this feature is no longer in use and the pneumatic dampers have been disabled. Great Northern and Southern units have been retro-fitted with cab air conditioning.

313s have rheostatic braking (which was disabled on London Overground) in addition to conventional three-step air-operated disc braking. During braking if wheelslide is detected by the Wheel slide protection (WSP), rheostatic braking is disabled and disc-braking only is used. Great Northern units had sanding equipment. Unlike some other DMU/EMU classes, additional brake force is not available when the emergency brake application is initiated and is the equivalent force of a step 3/full service application. WSP is still active when making an emergency application.

In addition to the primary suspension of rubber chevron spring and oil dampers, secondary suspension is provided by two air bellows per bogie – flow into each bellows is controlled independently by a levelling valve and arm assembly that allows the suspension to inflate/deflate when the weight of the coach is increased or decreased by passenger loading. The air suspension is linked to the braking system via a Variable Load Valve (VLV), which increases air brake pressure when the coach is more heavily loaded to compensate for the additional weight.

This blog was made by Simon Schofield

Brighton Main line

i thought i would update on my tsw2 i am enjoying play on my new route and i like driving the Gatwick Express BR Class 387 EMUs.

LONDON COMMUTER

A hectic commuter route operating out of London’s historic terminus, Victoria Station built to serve Britain’s premier southern main lines. Experience a mix of stopping and express services between Britain’s capital, Gatwick Airport and the South Coast aboard Southern’s BR Class 377/4 and Gatwick Express BR Class 387 EMUs.

Brighton Main line

I look forward to play my new route that comes out at midnight tonight on my PlayStation 4

The Brighton Main Line (also known as the South Central Main Line) is a major railway line in the United Kingdom that links Brighton, on the south coast of England, with central London. In London the line has two branches, out of London Victoria and London Bridge stations respectively, which join up in Croydon and continue towards Brighton as one line.[1] The line is electrified throughout using the third rail system.[1]

Aside from London and Brighton themselves, the line serves multiple large urban areas along its route, including Redhill, eastern Crawley,[a] Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill.[1] It also serves the major London suburbs of south-west Battersea,[b] BalhamStreathamCroydon and Purley, as well as London Gatwick Airport – the second-busiest passenger airport in the country.

In addition, the line operates as a “trunk” route for both mainline and suburban services all across Sussex, east Surrey and the southern boroughs of London. Towns such as SuttonEpsomCaterhamReigateEast GrinsteadEastbourneHorshamHoveWorthingLittlehamptonBognor Regis and Chichester do not lie directly on the line, but are instead linked to London by means of a railway line that connects onto the Brighton Main Line.

this blog was made by Simon schofield

London commuter

Rush Hour- London Commuter is coming to Train Sim World 2 on October 7th. This infamous route is steeped in history, find out more about the unique locations you can experience while on the Brighton Main Line as we take a closer look at the railway’s landmarks.The ever-busy Brighton Main Line that features in the upcoming Rush Hour- London Commuter has so much history and unique features throughout the route, we thought we would show you some of the most interesting stations, viaducts, and architectural landmarks you will see as you hurtle past them in your Electrostar unit of choice.

Opened in 1860, Victoria Station, or London Victoria as its commonly known serves Brighton Main Line services bound for London, Chatham Main Line services also started arriving two years later, giving it easier access to the Kent coast. This was done by creating two separate stations internally, but the appearance of a single station from the main entrance. Its entrance façade is an impressive structure and a wonderful location to start an adventure to the coast. Due to the eclectic mix of railway lines that connect from both the Brighton and Chatham Main Lines, it has developed itself as one of the major transport hubs of central London. Additionally, it connects to numerous London Underground Lines and the Victoria Coach Station giving passengers even more choice of destinations. This access to transport links and central location ensured it was one of the busiest stations during both World Wars, and welcomed the body of The Unknown Warrior to London.Under the ownership of the Southern Railway in the 1920s and 30s the station changed significantly, the wall that separated the two sides was removed, platforms were renumbered into a single station, and major works were completed to install the 3rd rail electric on all Brighton Main Line platforms. It would be around another 30 years and under nationalization before the Chatham side of the station would receive the same upgrade. In more recent years it has earnt itself the title of the second busiest station in Britain handling over 81 million passenger entries and exits in 2015/16, currently, platforms 1 to 7 facilitate Southeastern services, platforms 8-12 & 15-19 facilitate Southern, with 13 & 14 being dedicated to Gatwick Express.

With the Brighton Main Line leaving the busy city behind it encounters the cinematic undulating landscape of the South Downs. Something that is fantastic for passengers, but less so for railway engineers. Deep valleys and steep hills had to be conquered as an easier route didn’t present itself. The Ouse Valley and River were one the biggest challenges. The London and Brighton Railway’s Chief Engineer John Urpeth Rastrick, and Architect David Mocatta stepped up to that challenge and achieved excellence, what they created has been described as the most elegant viaduct in Britain. Located just south of Balcombe it was constructed with approximately 11 million bricks and stretches 1,480 feet/ 450 m across the valley on 37 semi-circular arches, it is framed by four small rectangular Italianate pavilions at either end, and is completed with classically balustraded parapets, string courses, and pier caps. it was opened in July of 1841.

by Simon schofield