DTG Matt I’ve got a question for you as the expert having had the wonderful experience of many a happy hour on the class 395 hitachi javelin can you tell me is there much if any difference between driving the javelins and the upcoming 801 in east coast mainline ?
That isn’t a answer as your pictures don’t show anything of them if you bothered to read post properly you would see the word DRIVING NOT asthetic looks
Well the 801's don't have tvm430 in cab signaling, they have an Etcs screen instead so the front desk would look different from a driver's perspective. The 801's also have the more typical clock like speedometer (the circle shaped one) instead of the digital one that the 395's have. Front end cab window view is very similar.
Short of Matt giving you the lowdown, you'll have to look up specs of both and compare notes, I don't think there'll be much difference. The 801/1 is lighter (2712kw, 5 cars), but acceleration is about the same as the 395 (3360kw), and the deceleration is slightly better, though on the EMCL the max speed limit is 125 vs HS1's 140mph. Apparently due to be increased to 140 sometime with infrastructure upgrades in the future. They probably won't, but I would hope they model the galley, for detail intrigue and to switch ends without leaving the unit.
800s have actually gone faster than that. TPE had an incident a few years ago where the driver forgot to use the speed set, and it reached 145mph between Thirsk and Northallerton. When you consider that it was an unprepared service train, fully loaded with passengers and on level track, it makes you wonder how fast one could go if they really let one fly down Stoke. I've been on enough 800s to get a feel for their performance characteristics, and when they stop accelerating at 125mph it feels like they've only just got going. You can tell they're being held back quite a bit. I've no doubt they're as quick as a 395, maybe quicker.
Have never been on a Javelin in real life but I reckon the 801s have much more beef in them than the 395s. What I do know is how nippy the 80xs are and before the technology boffins at Hitachi HQ worked their 'magic' it was way too easy to go over the 125 especially on places like Stoke Bank and the Racetrack. This is actually something I was planning on finding out, although with the TSW versions so there will be a pinch of salt with the results.
I've been on Javelins a few times in real life, and I've always been a little underwhelmed by their performance. They don't feel like Britain's fastest domestic train. I don't think they even need to reach 140mph to keep time, so the drivers are content to let them cruise at lower speeds. The 80x family meanwhile can apparently break 140mph without much special effort, just if the driver has a lapse in concentration. I too would like to let it fly down Stoke bank, it's one of the first things I'll do in TSW4, along with trying to break Papyrus' record in the Scotsman (Mallard's is too ambitious I think).
No, it has the screen because the southern section of the Ecml is being upgraded to ETCS later this decade. Saying that though, I think all the class 800 series trains have ETCS screens for future proofing purposes.
Like I say not sure on they Javelins but I can more than believe what you're saying about them. If an Azuma was let loose on Stoke bank like other ECML legends in the past it would be fast, how fast I don't actually know, but it would be fast. They really do have some proper grunt do the Azumas.
According to railforums, an 800 could easily break 155 if given the space to do it, in fact I can make an assumption that if it ran down stoke bank it would easily crush the 91s record. But it wouldn’t be a sight at all as the OHLE would get ripped off before you could say Jack Robinson
