"The InterCity 125: The Age of the Train" BBC Four 9pm 13/09/2012

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

From the Radio Times:

    Review by:
    Emma Sturgess

As the West Coast franchise fracas continues to sting the interested parties, this is a reminder that rail travel has never been straightforward. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, British Rail was suffering from an image problem, as well as financial and industrial difficulties. The saviour was in the sweeping figure of a new high-speed train, the InterCity 125, which employed new technology and cracking speeds to provide passengers with faster, more comfortable travel.

Of course, 30 years on, it^s the late Jimmy Savile^s advert, announcing the ^Aaaaaaage of the Train^, which sticks in the mind more than the impressive spec of the rolling stock.

About this programme:

The story of the InterCity 125, a fleet of high-speed engines introduced by British Rail in 1976 in a bid to revive its commercial fortunes and make train travel more appealing to the public. With an advertising campaign fronted by Jimmy Savile and new boss Peter Parker in charge, the enterprise set out to modernise the industry - and proved to be a typically British success story.

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

In 1976 a new high-speed train, the Inter-City 125, helped save British Rail, an unfashionable nationalised industry suffering from a financial crisis, industrial relations problems and a poor public image. The train was launched with the help of a memorable advertising campaign, fronted by Sir Jimmy Savile, which announced that the 1980s would be the 'age of the train'. BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) had an energetic new boss, Sir Peter Parker, who was determined to revive the railways. The result was a typically British success story, full of surprises and setbacks, as this documentary shows.

Bearing in mind current discussion here and elsewhere on the future of the HST^▸ (High Speed Train), this should be an interesting watch. And of course, a reminder of how long in the tooth the HST is getting.

[BerkshireBugsy]

Many thanks for posting BNM. Now if only Aunty BEEB would release the new Android version of iPlayer that allows for off-line watching so that I could watch the program on the ....errrr...train!

[IndustryInsider]

Thanks for the heads up on that one.  Should be an interesting watch...

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

I was working in the CM&EE at Paddington when the HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s were introduced in 1976 - the last train, by the way, specified and designed by engineers before "business managers" (degrees in basket weaving etc) came in and came up with wonders such as Pacers (I remember being in the cab of a Pacer leaving Gunnislake, and having to motor down the 1 in 29 because of the flange/rail contact).

My particular job was to do with the trailer cars.  We had a whole host of initial problems including cracked axle boxes (at one time I think all axle boxes were being crack detected every night at OOC^▸ (Old Oak Common (depot)) and other depots), toilet door locks which jammed locked and toilet blow-backs when entering tunnels (so going to the toilet on an early HST could be quite an experience), brush wear on the ventilation motors which caused the air-conditioning to fail, WSP malfunctions, etc etc. 

But still one of the best trains ever built to travel in, at least in First Class.

And if HST's are getting long in the tooth, I don't know what that says about me.  I'll try not to fall asleep in front of the telly, but it is on quite late......

[Phil]

You should worry, Gordon TBE - I've set it to record! Far too late for me. So please don't spoil the ending... really hope it's a happy one...)

[bobm]

We had a whole host of initial problems including cracked axle boxes (at one time I think all axle boxes were being crack detected every night at OOC^▸ (Old Oak Common (depot)) and other depots), toilet door locks which jammed locked and toilet blow-backs when entering tunnels (so going to the toilet on an early HST^▸ (High Speed Train) could be quite an experience), brush wear on the ventilation motors which caused the air-conditioning to fail, WSP malfunctions, etc etc. 

I always remember the smell of the brakes in the early days.  Just occasionally you get it now if harsh breaking is involved but then it was every time.

[JayMac]

and toilet blow-backs when entering tunnels (so going to the toilet on an early HST^▸ (High Speed Train) could be quite an experience),

A suitable punishment for anyone trying to 'eff' it by hiding in the toilets though!

[Umberleigh]

A well deserved tribute to the train that saved long distance rail travel in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) at a time when motoring was cheap, and roads experienced 50% less congestion.

Mind you, how I long for the original seat plan in Standard, with 2+2 and table aligned with every window, would save on First Class fares  (maybe that's the point).

Looking back to the early days, I seem to remember passengers appreciating the buffet being in the same place on every train, unlike loco hauled with the inevitable buffet car ten coaches to the rear...

[Southern Stag]

Mind you, how I long for the original seat plan in Standard, with 2+2 and table aligned with every window, would save on First Class fares  (maybe that's the point).

MK3s never had perfect window alignment. Originally all seats where at tables but the number of windows was designed for perfect alignment in First Class, but Standard Class had one more table per carriage than First Class, so alignment was always out. Stock before MK3s used to have more, smaller windows in Standard Class carriages to solve that problem.

[broadgage]

Originally all seats where at tables but the number of windows was designed for perfect alignment in First Class, but Standard Class had one more table per carriage than First Class, so alignment was always out. Stock before MK3s used to have more, smaller windows in Standard Class carriages to solve that problem.

"Originaly all seats were at tables"
And people wonder why I whinge so much about both existing and proposed new trains !

[macbrains]

I used to travel up to Paddington from Didcot on 125's in the 1970s.  The comment above about the smell of the brakes has brought it all back...

We used to know exactly where to stand on the platform to be close to the door of an arriving train.  The trouble was, so did everybody else!

As the train moved away from the station, the ride and acceleration were so smooth, you had to check out of the window to confirm you were moving - not something I had experienced before.

rgds
Rob

[Electric train]

I was working in the CM&EE at Paddington when the HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s were introduced in 1976 - the last train, by the way, specified and designed by engineers before "business managers" (degrees in basket weaving etc) came in and came up with wonders such as Pacers (I remember being in the cab of a Pacer leaving Gunnislake, and having to motor down the 1 in 29 because of the flange/rail contact).

My particular job was to do with the trailer cars.  We had a whole host of initial problems including cracked axle boxes (at one time I think all axle boxes were being crack detected every night at OOC^▸ (Old Oak Common (depot)) and other depots), toilet door locks which jammed locked and toilet blow-backs when entering tunnels (so going to the toilet on an early HST could be quite an experience), brush wear on the ventilation motors which caused the air-conditioning to fail, WSP malfunctions, etc etc. 

But still one of the best trains ever built to travel in, at least in First Class.

And if HST's are getting long in the tooth, I don't know what that says about me.  I'll try not to fall asleep in front of the telly, but it is on quite late......

I was an "HSDT^▸ (Original name for High Speed Train)" apprentice when I started in 1975 and destined for OOC's brand new shed, did a couple of training blocks in there but ended up on ODM at Padd (thats whole different story    )

One of the tasks they gave us apprentices to do was go along all the coaches in a rake and measure the commutators on all the vent fan motors and record the results, most where definitely not round     The other problems were the batteries over charging.

The cracking axle boxes if I recall was part of the casting which supported the springs, also there were cracks in the brake disks on the power cars

Oh and the much loved tables kept falling apart, the screws fell out partly due the passengers pulling on the tables as they climbed in the seats around the arm rests

Oh and lets not forget the turbo chargers that kept failing and the amount of coolant and oil leaks on the engines

Basically the train by the standard it is today was a disaster but it was made to work

[mjones]

So does that mean there is yet hope for the Adelantes...?

[IndustryInsider]

So does that mean there is yet hope for the Adelantes...?

There's a few signs of an upturn in their reliability over the past couple of weeks.  It seems more cancellations/Turbotutions have been caused by a lack of trained staff rather than faults with the units.  Now the Olympics/Paralympics are over proper training can resume.

[Electric train]

So does that mean there is yet hope for the Adelantes...?

Give them another 15 years and they should have all the wrinkles ironed out 

Reliability has a lot to do with the maintenance teams learning and understanding which bits need more attention than others.