OTD in 1976, the Intercity 125 entered passenger service, with the 0805 journey from London Paddington to Bristol.
The first ever 125mph service left on time, and arrived three minutes early.
4th October
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the green mile
- Posts: 143
- Joined: Tue Sep 24, 2019 10:00 am
- Location: Ferndown, Dorset
Re: 4th October
At that time I was at St Philips Marsh snagging all the new plant and liaising with contractors as they completed the building work. The first sets were a 2+7 formation with both a buffet and restaurant car. The guard travelled in the back end of the rear power car which was apparently quite a lively ride. This led to the later development of the TGS (Trailer Guard Standard) offering more comfortable accommodation. In those early days there was a bit of conflict with the operator wanting the sets for crew training and the depot wanting them for maintenance staff experience, having gone through a lot of off the job training in the classroom. I recall a set used to arrive on the depot late morning for servicing. One of the stewards would come into the foreman's office with a tray of freshly cooked chips for us.
A bit of an own goal on a few occasions occurred when the early afternoon departure was waiting to go off shed. While standing on the outside fuelling road, which became the covered road D later on, unbeknown to the drivers, a few of the fitters mates took the opportunity to top up the fuel tanks resulting in the pipes being pulled off their stanchions when the set pulled away. Luckily they were only secured with a heavy duty Jubilee clip otherwise the whole of the pipework could have been ripped out. All part of the learning curve!
Roy
A bit of an own goal on a few occasions occurred when the early afternoon departure was waiting to go off shed. While standing on the outside fuelling road, which became the covered road D later on, unbeknown to the drivers, a few of the fitters mates took the opportunity to top up the fuel tanks resulting in the pipes being pulled off their stanchions when the set pulled away. Luckily they were only secured with a heavy duty Jubilee clip otherwise the whole of the pipework could have been ripped out. All part of the learning curve!
Roy