Mid Hants Railway Operational Matters

There is always the chance that one day finances can be sorted. (There is a long thread to discuss this).

The 150 is currently in original Northern livery, looks smart, and may be in demand for galas when the Thumper is refurbished. Eventually could be repainted in a South West or Network South East livery.
Did 150s or 455s ever get to Alton or Winchester?

 

That would be a great shame as your posts are usually well though out and informative.

 

Not in regular service, though I know that Bournemouth has done work on the 455s.

 

Whilst steam finished on the mainline some 57 years ago, amazingly people still want to travel behind steam.
Why?
This is for a totally different thread.
Our experience at Swanage is that people are happy to wait and stand to travel behind steam, whilst a heritage diesel unit (our 117) built before Evening Star was introduced into traffic they turn their back on.
I would love a couple of 150's operationally.
Unfortunately the public vote with their feet.

 

It's a clever move. Get one now that's in decent condition, rather than scraping the barrel in a couple of years time for the remaining rot boxes. Look at the preserved Thumpers. The Hastings units were withdrawn due to being surplus to requirements rather than being run into the ground. Hastings Diesels have 4 mainline operational motor coaches (plus another which has recently been started up), yet of the far more numerous 205s and 207s, only 3 motor coaches are currently fully operational. Similar with 101s, the majority of the ones that worked till the end are now out of traffic, yet earlier withdrawals are still going strong as they weren't completely knackered.

Anything that takes the pressure off much older and more historic stock has got to be a good thing. If it means the MHR can run two train services more often and not hammer their 205 into the ground (once it's been overhauled), then surely that's a benefit to the railway? Relying on just one unit to provide half of your service isn't ideal.

 

Having half got over the shock of hearing this, I can hope the Mid Hants wil make sure the 150 will appear on their loco roster when its working, with an idea of which trains it will be on (with the usual caveats). So, unless there are particular steam activities on those days I'd like to see, I can avoid it.

Bryan

 

Absolutely. It means I will only be going if all trains are booked steam. I would accept a thumper but not a 150 which only worked regularly on one route which was mainly not on the Southern and were dreadful things anyway.

 

From the press release
https://watercressline.co.uk/heritage-train-first-for-the-watercress-line/

So (until the 1125 Class 205 DEMU Hampshire Unit ‘Thumper’ is restored) will not replace replace any steam trains but will be an addition to the timetable.

 

I will be much more likely to visit the MHR on days the 150 is working. I would love a driving experience on it too.
Heartiest congratulations to the railway for recognising that the units of my early adult years deserve a home in Hampshire!

 

I can understand why Don, and Bryan feel as they do and it's their right to feel like that, but its 2025, and times change, as does the reality of ensuring our heritage railways are still here in years to come, Personally thinking, I would rather see an M7, or Ivatt tank on a three coach set, but that's not affordable right now, everyone is having to make unpopular choices, one train, out, where you once ran 2, or having an steam/ DMU service, reducing the running hours on coaches, also reduces the costs, as inspections, will come less often, and possibly allow fitters more scope to overhaul coaches, rather than be doing exams, quite so often, the railway, is still struggling coach wise, and everything has a cost, if a railway is to continue to exist, then it needs to control those costs at a manageable level, but also increase its income, to compensate for ever rising costs, oil, coal, electricity, staff wages, and in fact everything, that gets used, now costs far more, than it did a few years ago.

 

Has the Class 205 been out of service since 2004? When I visited the railway about 10 years ago it was in service that day, unless it was a visiting DEMU? The MHR also had a conventional first generation DMU as well, but that has gone. If that was still at the railway they probably would not have needed the 150.

If they are going to use it to operate the first departure of the day from Alton, it might be an idea to offer a slightly reduced fare for passengers who want to use that train? That could encourage more visitors to arrive early and could increase revenue because the 150 has lower operating costs than a steam hauled train.

The Bluebell now has a DEMU so they are now moving with the times (in thier own way).

 

It's badly worded - they were withdrawn from mainline service in 2004. It was in traffic on the MHR until about 2019.

 

While sprinters are not really to my taste, I don't mind that the MHR has got one, especially if it allows the railway to put on a few more trains fairly cheaply. The fact 150231 has been put back into it's late - 1980s livery is another bonus. Granted I wouldn't make a special trip to the MHR to go on it, but if it was running when I visited I would still have a ride on it, and it's livery means I would take a few photos for my collection.

In a way, I do hope a few more sprinters get preserved, as they are still part of our railway heritage in their own way. Yes sprinters are tricky to fit in with the MHR because they didn't really run in Hampshire much, but there are other lines where a sprinter would fit in a bit better than what those lines actually have in the way of DMUs. Take the West Somerset Railway. Their class 115 DMU is nice to ride on, but it's completely out of place on that line, because class 115s never ran on the Western Region never mind in Somerset, whereas sprinters used to run only a couple of miles away on a daily basis.

Preservation has to make allowances for financial and operational reasons, and we do usually accept that. Taking the coaches on the MHR, if we wanted to strictly obey historical accuracy, out of the MK1s only RMB 1851, FOs 3067, 3070 and BSK 34947 can accurately wear Southern Region green because they are the only ones that wore that livery when they were in service on BR. The other MK1s either never ran on the Southern Region, or (like 3738, 4910) were transferred in later on in life (blue & grey era).

 

The last photo I've got of 1125 on a service train is October 27th 2019

Hampshire Unit heading for Alresford by Stephen Morley, on Flickr

It has appeared at Alresford to celebrate special events since then though...

 

Although wasn't "Thumper" 1125 in occasional use on the MHR rather than regular use?

If the 150 can run the early morning train, then the "Thumper" replaces the 150 after restoration, (and the 150 then becomes backup), means The Thumper 1125 can "earn" some revenue to help keep it in good order?

 

Funnily enough, yours is one of the photos I used to check! Couldn't find anything more recent with passengers on board.

 

It will never make sense to run a commuter service at 25mph. If that restriction was ever removed it might make sense to run a 2 hourly seasonal service to/from Poole rather than Wareham but it would need to be a Big Railway operation for obvious reasons.

 

"Dreadful" in helping to keep our few remaining branch lines open. They are basic, modular and economical. They were not built to please enthusiasts but to serve a travelling public making relatively short journeys. They were highly successful and I'll be glad to see the railway celebrate their existence.

 

Test running in Ropley Yard today

 

My understanding, having just caught up on the last few pages, is that the MHR hasn't acquired the Sprinter for the purpose of preserving it as part of the history of railways but for the specific purpose of allowing an early service from Alton, which in turn can be expected to bring more customers. Depending on the terms under which Porterbrook have donated it, the Railway may not even need to keep it indefinitely if they need the siding or shed space for something more important. Certainly the timetable should make clear to prospective passengers what they will get for the first train of the day from Alton, but why would it not?