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London Underground S7/S8 Stock: First week on Circle/District Lines (warning, lots of items)


superdrive1

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Think times just flies regardless of fun or not! But yes the landscape of trains is changing once again, convinced that the further we go through time the less time trains seem to be designed to last for, I can't see the S Stocks lasting as long as the A, C and D Stocks have, likewise with the 09 Stock on the Victoria Line I can't see them getting anywhere near as long running as the 67TS did. Now I've said that I'm bound to be proved wrong...

 

Only time will tell. The A Stock out lasted all of the cars it replaced between 1961-1963, including the locomotive hauled trains on the Metropolitan line and many 1920s era stock including some Q Stock. The A Stock had no replacements available by the 1990s, so they were refurbished. As long as the computer programming can be updated without being too costly and the trains are well built, the S and 2009 Stock should last about 40 years. Though I did hear that when it snows, there is service cancellations for the surface stock. 

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Only time will tell. The A Stock out lasted all of the cars it replaced between 1961-1963, including the locomotive hauled trains on the Metropolitan line and many 1920s era stock including some Q Stock. The A Stock had no replacements available by the 1990s, so they were refurbished. As long as the computer programming can be updated without being too costly and the trains are well built, the S and 2009 Stock should last about 40 years. Though I did hear that when it snows, there is service cancellations for the surface stock. 

 

I think that's TFLs idea yes that they will last 30-40 years, but I think their whole build quality just looks a bit too 'plastic' to be able to last a long time, all the previous trains made for the Tube made looked a bit more solid construction-wise, the newer trains just look like they'll fall apart after 10-15 years! Yes we do have problems with snow and ice, not just a Tube related problem as that can be related across the national railway network in this country! Problems normally involve either snow falling enough to cover the tracks, snow getting into the trains electrical systems effectively 'killing' them electrically with the water contact and of course the weather preventing drivers being able to get to work by road/rail/bike and so on, so it could be said that snow affects all trains regardless of whether they run on the surface or underground, as if the drivers can't get in then they can't go anywhere!

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I think that's TFLs idea yes that they will last 30-40 years, but I think their whole build quality just looks a bit too 'plastic' to be able to last a long time, all the previous trains made for the Tube made looked a bit more solid construction-wise, the newer trains just look like they'll fall apart after 10-15 years! Yes we do have problems with snow and ice, not just a Tube related problem as that can be related across the national railway network in this country! Problems normally involve either snow falling enough to cover the tracks, snow getting into the trains electrical systems effectively 'killing' them electrically with the water contact and of course the weather preventing drivers being able to get to work by road/rail/bike and so on, so it could be said that snow affects all trains regardless of whether they run on the surface or underground, as if the drivers can't get in then they can't go anywhere!

 

I've noticed past trains across the world made of steel (and in some cases wood bodies), have had long life spans. Many surpassed 40 years of service. As for whether today's new technology trains could do the same is up for debate and time will tell. As for the national railway network, that must be very hard for people. It reminds me of the various videos I saw that took place during the British Rail era in the early 1990s. Most of the trains were late, but at least a large number of them weren't cancelled from what I saw. 

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I've noticed past trains across the world made of steel (and in some cases wood bodies), have had long life spans. Many surpassed 40 years of service. As for whether today's new technology trains could do the same is up for debate and time will tell. As for the national railway network, that must be very hard for people. It reminds me of the various videos I saw that took place during the British Rail era in the early 1990s. Most of the trains were late, but at least a large number of them weren't cancelled from what I saw. 

 

Give it 10 years or so and we might have a reasonable idea on new tech train lifespans! Yes BR and LU in older times did used to run to that system of keeping running as many trains as possible in whatever given circumstances, while British Rail were bad with a lot of things the art of keeping trains running no matter what was something they were quite reasonable at doing!

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I've noticed past trains across the world made of steel (and in some cases wood bodies), have had long life spans. Many surpassed 40 years of service. As for whether today's new technology trains could do the same is up for debate and time will tell. As for the national railway network, that must be very hard for people. It reminds me of the various videos I saw that took place during the British Rail era in the early 1990s. Most of the trains were late, but at least a large number of them weren't cancelled from what I saw. 

 

It's hard to tell, because so many of these materials being used in all vehicles didn't exist in their current forms even a decade ago. You can say that a material will last X amount of time in the lab, but the real world is far more punishing than lab testing over a long period of time.

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Give it 10 years or so and we might have a reasonable idea on new tech train lifespans! Yes BR and LU in older times did used to run to that system of keeping running as many trains as possible in whatever given circumstances, while British Rail were bad with a lot of things the art of keeping trains running no matter what was something they were quite reasonable at doing!

 

Yeah they did pretty good job at keeping things going despite the age of the equipment they were running at the time. 

It's hard to tell, because so many of these materials being used in all vehicles didn't exist in their current forms even a decade ago. You can say that a material will last X amount of time in the lab, but the real world is far more punishing than lab testing over a long period of time.

 

That's very much true.

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  • 2 weeks later...

People may wish to know that if they don't wish to watch every S7 clip separately (which I could understand!) I've taken the time to make a full 30 minute video covering all clips, images and a few other bits and pieces, you know I think I might start using this Youtube video editor a bit more often!

 

 

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London's subway system is very interesting. It intrigues me how the cars are very circular-shaped, and how it manages to handle large crowds every day!

 

Nice photo superdrive1, thanks a bunch for the wonderful view of a ride on a London train.

 

Haha, it manages but just not terribly well! Glad you enjoyed them though!

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