On This Day, 4 October 1976 - British Rail began its new 125mph High Speed Train (HST) service

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

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

1976: New train speeds into service

British Rail began its new 125mph High Speed Train (HST^▸ (High Speed Train)) service today. The first London-Bristol service arrived three minutes early.

The Inter-City 125 has been introduced to provide a regular high speed service between Cardiff, Bristol and London.

British Rail will extend the HST service to other major cities over the next two years.

Powered by two diesel motors the Inter-City 125 has recorded a top speed of over 140mph in trial runs, making it the fastest diesel-powered train in the world.

Most other countries have developed electrically powered high-speed trains.

The cost of electrification on Britain's network was considered prohibitive so the diesel-powered 125 is a new product from existing technology.

In the absence of an official ceremony by British Rail to mark the occasion, few passengers were aware they were making history this morning as the first 0805 left Paddington on time.

New features

But most travellers did appreciate some improvement in comfort. The carriages feature aircraft-like seating, with sliding electric doors at each end.

Hot food is served quickly from an on-board kitchen with the aid of a state-of-the-art microwave oven.

Rail bosses are hopeful the improved service, which has been introduced without a rise in fares, will bring in more business.

Increased fares over the last two years have been linked to a fall in passenger traffic of 15 to 20%.

37 years young (with a few Mk3s from the prototype set even older). Happy birthday HST. Still doing sterling service across Great Britain.... and in my forum signature. 

Those microwave ovens are state-of-the-ark now. Of course, with the HSTs having gone through many overhauls, engine replacements and refurbishments in the preceding 37 years, little, apart from the frames and bodies, is actually original. Bit like Trigger's broom. Or, if you are of a classical bent, Plutarch's Ship of Theseus.

Also a warning from history. Increasing fares can price people of the railways.

[bobm]

It was the microwaves which prompted me to make my first HST^▸ (High Speed Train) trip.

As a schoolboy in South Oxfordshire I got the bus to Didcot (it wasn't called Parkway in those days) and took the train to Paddington, enjoying a microwaved cheeseburger on the way.  Seemed the height of luxury at the time!!

The interiors have changed over the years (who remembers the card payphones in the buffet area?), they sound different but the iconic shape remains.

Happy Birthday HST!

[JayMac]

Did the buffet, from where you purchased your burger, look like this?



Another BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) item, this time from regional news magazine, Points West, looking back to the inaugural passenger service. It include the broadcast report from 4th October 1976, although it's only available to view with RealPlayer and is almost unwatchable it is so blocky. Nobody still uses RealPlayer do they? I only re-installed it to watch the video. I'm going to have a tinker, see if I can improve the quality and upload to youtube:

High Speed Train: 1976

Points West can lay claim to many achievements, including having British Rail name one of their fleet of 125 High Speed locomotives after the programme. In 1976 they launched the new service and Points West was there to try it out.

On the 4th October 1976, with little ceremony or fuss, British Rail launched its high speed 125 Inter-City service on the line between London and Bristol.

Naturally, and despite the low profile inaugural run, the Points West cameras joined the first few passengers to gauge for themselves just what the new service was like.

What strikes you when watching the film is just how few passengers there are.

Admittedly, it^s an 8am service leaving the capital for Bristol but even in 1976 there must have been reason to visit the West Country.

In the report we hear from the passengers, who, apart from one colonial cousin from the States hasn^t really got anything bad to say about day one of the new service.  But give it time, and things would end up very different!

It is strange the things you forget ^ First Great Western^s fleet of carriages have obviously been much overhauled, but watching this film brings back the colour of the seats and that square knob on top of each aisle-side seat designed to help you steady yourself.

Of course, one of the criticisms levelled at the rail operator today is just how unsteady the ride is nowadays ^ years of poor investment is offered as a reason and it must be said that seeing the first 125 in action, the ride does appear to be a great deal smoother.

Another revelation is the fabulous cooked breakfast being prepared by a full-blown chef ^ even if he is using a microwave oven to produce the goods.

Even greater things are to come ^ such as then witnessing the said breakfasts being served by a neatly turned out waitress ^ oh, as well as the train arriving three minutes head of schedule at Bristol Temple Meads.

Apparently the new service managed to shave of 15 minutes from the timetable, although, as the film tells us (as if it was some big secret), the record time was achieved by having three fewer stops.

Now those were the days, weren^t they?

[bobm]

Did the buffet, from where you purchased your burger, look like this?

Now you are asking!  I remember the colour scheme and I remember the uniforms.  Didn't they experiment with draught beer from the buffet at one point?

[JayMac]

I've done the best I can with the video from the 1976 BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Points West news report. Original quality was terrible and enlarging hasn't helped, but I've smoothed out the worst of the pixelating and visual artifacts. More powerful software than I have at my disposal would be needed to improve further.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySyFzWgLt_4

Not sure what 1st Class passengers had done to deserve orange velour. Looks the same colour as 1970's Kia-Ora before they stopped using tartrazine.

[Timmer]

Not sure what 1st Class passengers had done to deserve orange velour. Looks the same colour as 1970's Kia-Ora before they stopped using tartrazine.

Oh dear, I quite liked the orange velour in First class  Says a lot about my taste I suppose, though the Intercity First class interior of the 80s and early 90s was much better.

[Red Squirrel]

I've done the best I can with the video from the 1976 BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Points West news report. Original quality was terrible and enlarging hasn't helped, but I've smoothed out the worst of the pixelating and visual artifacts. More powerful software than I have at my disposal would be needed to improve further.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySyFzWgLt_4

Not sure what 1st Class passengers had done to deserve orange velour. Looks the same colour as 1970's Kia-Ora before they stopped using tartrazine.

Thanks for that bnm - so much easier to view your version than go through the pain of installing Real Player (if indeed you can on Windows .

I'd forgotten about the funny aluminium grab-knobs (as I suppose you'd call them) on the seats - very modern, very socialist!

Intrigued to see that the service shaved 15 mins off the old schedule whilst dropping three stops - were HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) actually any faster than the old kit?

[JayMac]

Thanks for that bnm - so much easier to view your version than go through the pain of installing Real Player (if indeed you can on Windows .

No problem. I took the hit on behalf of the forum membership.

RealPlayer. What a godawful piece of software. I thought.... install, use, lift the clip, uninstall. Not that straightforward. Other unwanted programs were installed without the option to say no, after uninstalling RealPlayer the other programs were still there and Windows' uninstall wouldn't work on them. So a manual delete.

Then on reboot, I discover that one bit of RealPlayer is still there in my startup programs, hidden in both my Windows System32 and SysWOW64 directories. So those entries needed to be manually deleted, as did other RealPlayer crap from my registry.

It was a job and a half just converting the clip to a format suitable for upload to youtube. I could've done without all the extra hassle of purging all the RealPlayer crap from my system. 

After linking to the Points West item from 1976 I just hope no-one else went ahead and downloaded RealPlayer. If you did then please accept my humble apologies. 


Now, wouldn't it be fitting if the first passenger run of a Class 801 is on 4th October 2016, 40 years to the day after the first InterCity 125 passenger service. It is, after all, the same route that will get these new trains first. A little ahead of squadron service commencing in 2017, but it would be a great piece of publicity. Perhaps with a current HST^▸ (High Speed Train) re-liveried in original BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) colours also running.

Probably I'm waxing lyrical a bit too much seeing as both the new train and the wires would need to be ready.

[Red Squirrel]

...(if indeed you can on Windows .

I feel the need to point out that what I actually typed here was the number '8' followed by a close-parenthesis character - I was questioning whether Real Player would install on Windows 8. The forum software interpreted this combination of characters as an emoticon.

Anyway, very glad I didn't try - sounds like a quite a hassle getting it off again!

[bobm]

It has happened before with Platform 8s and after 8.  Trick is to forget the correct punctuation and leave a space between the 8 and the ) - like so - 8 )  Not so clever these computers sometimes...

[bobm]

A poster from 1977 as on display at the National Railway Museum - some interesting journey times there....

[Timmer]

A poster from 1977 as on display at the National Railway Museum - some interesting journey times there....

Yes, showing just how much backwards timing wise rail travel has become. Bristol may get closer to 85 minutes when IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) comes along with the non-stop after Parkway service, but sadly for us who travel from Bath I doubt 69 minutes will ever been seen again as we are stuck with the two stoppers an hour to London when IEP starts if the draft timetable becomes reality.

Anyone remember the West Country Pullman? That used to run non-stop Paddington-Bath in the morning heading to Paignton before returning in the afternoon again running non-stop between Bath-Paddington. This service started in 1988 but as the years went by stops were added to what we have now leaving Paddington at 10am named as The Torbay Express. Hmmmm not sure about naming it that compared to years that have gone before when the service was quicker once HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) took over the service.

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

High Speed Trains were the last trains conceived and designed by the old BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) CM&EE engineers (ie "old BR" not "old engineers") before "Business Management"  - InterCity, Provincial etc - came along and gave us such gems as Pacers etc.

Still the most successful trains ever built, and still the comfortable trains in the country to travel in.

Gordon
(er... an "old BR" CM&EE engineer)

CM&EE = Chief Mechanical and Electrical Engineer

[Electric train]

High Speed Trains were the last trains conceived and designed by the old BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) CM&EE engineers (ie "old BR" not "old engineers") before "Business Management"  - InterCity, Provincial etc - came along and gave us such gems as Pacers etc.

Still the most successful trains ever built, and still the comfortable trains in the country to travel in.

Gordon
(er... an "old BR" CM&EE engineer)

CM&EE = Chief Mechanical and Electrical Engineer

The CM&EE's were the latest budget holders in BR days much bigger than civils or S & T it was due the the CM&EE "owning" all rolling stock, locomotives and all the fixed plant.

CM&EE's were functionally accountable to the DM&EE (Director of) the DM&EE was disaggregated in the 1990 as part of BR's O for Q (Organisation for Quality) which brought about the business units

[Thatcham Crossing]

Timmer said:

Bristol may get closer to 85 minutes when IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) comes along with the non-stop after Parkway service

May be a bit off topic, but this got me wondering....I assume the above means that some IEP's will be "fast" through Reading?
But how fast? I'm sure I read somewhere that there will be no linespeeds greater than 50mph through the station once all the current work is complete?

Which if correct is not really very fast