Class 158 And Class 159 Express Sprinter

Discussion in 'Suggestions' started by Olaf the Snowman, Apr 10, 2020.

  1. Olaf the Snowman

    Olaf the Snowman Well-Known Member

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    Note: I’m taking threads which have very little information and expanding on them. I’m making a new thread so more people are able to see it.
    https://forums.dovetailgames.com/th...0-turbostar-br-class-158-156-sprinters.20841/


    Class 158/159 Sprinter

    Introduction
    The sprinter family (Class 15x) are often asked for on this forum. Today I’m going to focus on the Class 158 and Class 159 “Express” Sprinter which tend to get used on longer distances due to the higher speed and coach/seating layout/separate vestibule area.

    General information
    They are a Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) that have been in operation since the 1990s.

    Class 158/159s are used by several TOCs up and down the country including GWR, SWR, Northern, TfW, ScotRail, EMR and possibly a couple others that I’m forgetting.

    I’m going to focus on the SWR route.

    Routes and maintenance depot on SWR
    On SWR, Class 158/159s are used for the London Waterloo to Salisbury and West of England services including Yeovil, Bristol and Exeter. Principle stations from London Waterloo to Salisbury include Clapham Junction, Woking and Basingstoke before it leaves the mainline (towards Southampton, Bournemouth and Weymouth) at Worting junction to head towards Salisbury.

    There is a train maintenance depot at Salisbury that looks after the Class 158s/159s.

    Features
    1. The cab is a very simple one as you can imagine being 20+ years old so not much technology and screens compared to modern trains. Not far off the turbo actually with a huge speedometer right in front of you so no excuse for over speeding haha. I’m sure SWT sprinters have been clocked doing 100mph by accident because there is a brief stretch where line speed goes from 90mph to 100mph between Farnborough and Basingstoke and the driver has forgotten that they are on a sprinter not Desiro (will do desiros Class 450/444/350 on a different thread).
    2. It has separate power and brake controllers which are not very common for multiple units particularly nowadays as it is often a combined power-brake controller
    3. Top speed of 90mph which is enough for commuter express routes
    4. Opportunities for coupling/uncoupling and variable unit formations as you can get anything from 2 coach-9 coaches so there is variety
    5. As common with DMUs compared to DEMUs, they are reasonably quiet when idling (e.g. sat in a station), but will scream out of stations.
    6. Slight quirk with the brakes- it’s a three step brake (well, the Class 158s) but there is a quirk where if you put it into step 2 and then back to step 1, you essentially get step 1.5 and thus it isn’t the same as going straight from release to step 1
    7. For any SWR drivers, it definitely does seem the ‘superior’ units to operate because of the high speed/long distance nature of the routes and traction especially when you consider how intense most of their services are in terms of stopping patterns so going to Salisbury would be a breath of fresh air. I know back in the day, Waterloo drivers never signed the sprinters (and therefore didn’t go Salisbury).
    8. From a driver’s point of view, without getting into the politics of DOO/DCO (not that it matters on a game), it is nice that the guard has complete responsibility of the doors. On a lot of units now, the driver has to release the doors but as the guard does it on the sprinters, it is one less opportunity to screw up (I.e. wrong side door release or stop short)
    9. Certainly from a passenger point of view (again, not that it matters on a game) but the SWT/SWR sprinters are extremely comfortable and cosy and I enjoy travelling on them because they have a nice interior which is not something I can say about most trains! They have that intercityish feel because of the doors at the end of the coach and vestibule area separated by an internal sliding door

    The difference between Class 158 and Class 159 are the following:
    1. Class 159 has an extra coach added so are 3 coaches instead of 2 (bit like Class 165 and Class 165/1 or Class 166)
    2. Class 159 has an extra brake step for the driver
    3. Class 159 has SDO for the guard
    Other than that, they are almost identical.

    SWR Route
    Won’t discuss too much about the route as I might make a new thread in the Routes section but like I said in another thread about Crewe being a nice ‘hub’ where you can expand routes and traction, the SWML would be just as fantastic if not more so. An extremely busy network with just under 100million users of London Waterloo station last year, it is by far the busiest London terminal. Mostly a metro network so heavy and intense stopping patterns including Waterloo to Windsor, Reading, Woking, Guildford, Strawberry Hill, Hampton Court, Dorking, Shepperton and Farnham/Alton. Traction include Class 458s, 450s, 455s, 456s, 707s. And then you’ve got the commuter express routes (longer distance, higher speed routes with less stops) which include Portsmouth, Basingstoke, Salisbury and West of England as discussed, Southampton Bournemouth and Weymouth. Traction include Class 444s and Class 158/159s.

    London Waterloo to Basingstoke is about 47 miles and Basingstoke to Salisbury is about a further 35 miles. There are also GWR sprinters that operate from Portsmouth towards Southampton which I’ve highlighted on the map below.

    Thanks for reading.

    Pictures
    Picture 1: Class 158 sprinter in SWR livery

    Picture 2: Cab of Class 158

    Picture 3: interior in Class 158

    Picture 4: Salisbury Train Maintenance Depot

    Picture 5: Map of SWR routes. I have highlighted all the routes applicable to sprinters. This includes GWR routes that operate from Portsmouth.


    Abbreviations:

    DOO: Driver Only Operation

    DCO: Driver Controlled Operation

    SWR: South Western Railway, current franchise operated by First Group and MTR)

    SWT: South West Trains, previous franchise operated by Stagecoach

    GWR: Great Western Railway

    SDO: (manual) Selective Door Opening

    SWML: South Western Mainline

    TOC: Train Operating Company

    BBC6E2A2-41D9-40A9-A8A2-EB7ABBE910F1.jpeg F90E88DC-E336-4470-B6F9-3BD16FD8DAAC.jpeg AF5ADE19-C779-4048-B787-91D7C3DAA04B.jpeg C41AC83E-759C-4264-ADE0-DE09A7E983CD.jpeg 8DB7FE59-D294-4E89-AECB-FFB55920F95F.jpeg
     
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  2. Vanhalen1

    Vanhalen1 Member

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    Yes, wonderful idea, I would love to see both class 158 & 9 on TSW. As for a route. London Waterloo...Exeter St David’s would be nice.
     
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  3. Ballantyne

    Ballantyne Member

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    I agree
     
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  4. Southwest159

    Southwest159 Member

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    Great! I’d love to see SWR on TSW
     
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  5. southwest444

    southwest444 New Member

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    yeah i hope they at least add a class 158
     
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  6. Southwest159

    Southwest159 Member

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    Here’s a picture of a class 159s first class part 159005 DMCO First Class Interior - British Rail Class 159 - Wikipedia.png
     
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  7. Ballantyne

    Ballantyne Member

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    Beautiful, such a wonderful class; is the 158/159.
     
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  8. sophieclarke1983

    sophieclarke1983 Well-Known Member

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    I’d love to see these ideas sprinters are simply awesome
     
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  9. chris-penny

    chris-penny Active Member

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    I would really like to see these in the game!
     
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  10. railway12

    railway12 Well-Known Member

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    would like seeing them on GWR as well
     
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  11. chris-penny

    chris-penny Active Member

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    Me too
     
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