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European Railroad Discussion > End of an era, Last runs of HST's to the west of England, Wales.Date: 06/03/19 18:06 End of an era, Last runs of HST's to the west of England, Wales. Author: eminence_grise Last week saw the end of an era in the UK as the last runs of full HST trainsets took place out of Paddington station in London, after more than forty years of service. Crowds came out the ride and witness the final runs.
The power cars went through a re-powering and several renumberings. The HST's carry on in shorter consists on various parts of the network. A favourite location to watch HST trains bound for the very west of England was along the sea wall at Dawlish, I include a couple of images from 1987. Severe storms in recent years have badly damaged the sea wall and the railway around Dawlish, and apparently a much higher wall between the ocean and the tracks will render these photo locations impossible in a couple of years. Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/19 18:09 by eminence_grise. Date: 06/03/19 18:46 Re: End of an era, Last runs of HST's to the west of England, Wal Author: atsf121 Great photos, especially that second one!
Nathan Posted from iPhone Date: 06/03/19 22:09 Re: End of an era, Last runs of HST's to the west of England, Wal Author: gbmott The most comfortable trains in the UK. They will be sorely missed. Their successors on GWR are a significant downgrade in comfort and amenities, lacking even a buffet car.
Gordon Date: 06/04/19 07:13 Re: End of an era, Last runs of HST's to the west of England, Wal Author: 86235 gbmott Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > Their successors on GWR are a > significant downgrade in comfort and amenities, > lacking even a buffet car. I'm not sure how often you travel on Great Western and whether you've ridden in the new 800s but to call them 'a significant downgrade' is I think nonsense. Yes, there's no walk up buffet, but the same level of service is provided from the kitchen (they do have cooking facilities) and the trolley service and in any case latterly many HSTs were operating without a traditional walk up buffet, Great Western had been steadily replacing buffet cars with more seats. There's certainly controversy about the hardness of the seats, although I don't find them uncomfortable I know some do. In general I think the ambience is much more welcoming than the claustrophobic atmosphere of the HSTs in their final incarnation, when Great Western crammed 84 seats into a TSO. The lighting is certainly less harsh, I believe the 800s lighting system adapts to the ambient exterior light, the HST interiors were just exceedingly bright. The 800s have more table seating in standard class and there is better alignment between seats and windows except for the four seats at each end of a standard class car which have no view whatsoever. The ride is very good and in electric mode they are extraordinarily speedy. We're expecting to see 10 minutes (about 10%) knocked off the journey time between Newport and Paddington when the new timetables are introduced in December. It's also worth bearing in mind that the HSTs are falling apart, as witnessed by the amount of remedial work Wabco at Doncaster have been doing when converting the remaining Mk 3s for the Scottish and Great Western mini sets, installing disabled bathrooms and sliding doors. Their time is definitely up. It's also worth remembering that much the same sentiments were expressed 40 years ago when the HSTs were the new kids on the block and all and sundry bemoaned the replacement of their beloved Westerns, Warships etc etc. Plus ca change. Here's Saturday's last run between Hereford and Newport, with celebrity power car 43002 Sir Kenneth Grange leading. The train started at Bristol at 05:45 and finished in Plymouth at 22:00. Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/19 07:48 by 86235.   Date: 06/04/19 07:30 Re: End of an era, Last runs of HST's to the west of England, Wal Author: Hartington Your thread title is accurate but your text is misleading. There are still full length HSTs operating on the Midland main line (St Pancras to Leicester and beyond) and East Coast main line (Kings Cross to the north and Scotland). You need to search them out but they still exist. However, it's fair to say that they will be gone by 2020, probably. In the case of the East Coast the class 800 trains have started operating and the HSTs will begin to dwindle there. The Midland is a bit more complex and I have yet to see a definite plan to replace the HSTs but go they will.
As well as the shortened sets on the GWR there will also be some shortened sets in Scotland. Date: 06/04/19 10:24 Re: End of an era, Last runs of HST's to the west of England, Wal Author: prrmpup Just returned from the UK and had a chance to ride a Class 800 on GWR.
The seating is firm, but I realize there is a continuing effort to provide additional seats. All in all, a very open feel and the acceleration is great. They look very smart in the GWR livery, IMHO. I miss the compartment Mk1's used on the Torbay Express in the early 80's, but suspect they will not reappear. My wife remarked on the incredibly smooth ride. Date: 06/05/19 20:28 Re: End of an era, Last runs of HST's to the west of England, Wal Author: prrmpup Farewell at least out of Paddington.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-bristol-48327745/intercity-125-hundreds-bid-farewell-to-high-speed-train Date: 06/05/19 22:59 Re: End of an era, Last runs of HST's to the west of England, Wal Author: SD70M I can remember my first encounter with an HST,passing one at Sydney Gardens in Bath as I travelled on a Bristol-Pompey train.
Posted from Android Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/05/19 23:00 by SD70M. Date: 06/06/19 17:08 Re: End of an era, Last runs of HST's to the west of England, Wal Author: isambard Lots of happy memories of riding InterCity 125s out of and into Paddington. Sad to think they're gone.
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