37423 departs Maryport | 19/05/15

[@allan5919]

An excellent departure video Jordan and an interesting comment from the previous poster. Cheers - Allan.

[@60163Jordan]

allan5919 Thanks Allan, much appreciated :-)

[@BlackCombeRunnerKarl]

Nice video. Living in Millom means I can travel on these on my days off work. Yesterday's (19 May) Barrow NW Evening Mail carry's a good report on the opening day of these retro trains (as they call them) with picture of 37609 at Barrow, on page 7, however, their column on page 14 (Our view) gives these trains some unwanted publicity: . Amongst things it says are instead of a 21st century rail service long suffering (Sellafield) commuters need they are given decades old refurbished carriages and locos, longer journey times and longer trains that don't fit at all the stations on the route....it's not rocket science, the conductor just needs to announce that passengers for smaller stations should travel in the first two coaches....that with the loco shouldn't be much longer than a 153 and 156 attached together. Opening the coach window to reach the external door handle is a quirk of rail travel many readers will remember from the 1970s - fond memories perhaps, but that does not mean such standards are acceptable in 2015. Obviously this reporter isn't a train enthusiast, as Barrow station was swamped with them on Monday. The good news (certainly for lovers of locos) is these loco hauled trains are staying on the Cumbrian Coast for the next four years. It went on to say they were replacing the cramped DMUs, but didn't mention these DMUs were needed for services over the re-introduced Todmorden curve...opening on the same day. The new timetable gives the coastal route four loco hauled trains in each direction Mon to Sat with one continuing to Preston on weekdays and Lancaster on Saturday's.

[@60163Jordan]

BlackCombeRunnerKarl Thank you! - Indeed, and in another news paper, they said they had extended the carriages instead of saying they've added two more carriages. I noticed the train was quite full last night (19th), so it's been received quite well by the locals, and enthusiasts alike! The DMUs off the Cumbrian Coast aren't being used to work services over the Todmorden Curve at all, if I recall correctly, the loco hauled services which are now in place have freed up a few Class 156s so that TransPennine Express can use six of them each day to work Blackpool/Barrow - Manchester services. (Due to TPE's class 170 'Turbostars' being sent to Chiltern, which means they don't have anything to work the Manchester - Cleethorpes/Hull services, the addition of the Class 156s means that Class 185s can work those services). Indeed, with the first train starting from Carlisle at 05:15 rather than Maryport at 05:58, and there also being a later Barrow - Carlisle service of an evening which is a good thing!