Heathrow Express Class 332 fleet grounded

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Tim Hall

Class 442 at PaddingtonPhoto by Peter Scuse/Wikimedia Commons

Bad news ffor Heathrow Express with their class 323 fleet withdrawn indefinitely due to safety concerns.

THE premium fare train service to Heathrow Airport will be operated by substitute rolling stock until further notice, after depot staff carrying out routine maintenance on Sunday reportedly discovered a crack in an underframe which the operator has described as a ‘structural defect’.

The Class 332 fleet has operated Heathrow Express since the service began in 1998. The units were supplied to BAA after a contract had been agreed with a joint venture between Siemens and CAF, and built by CAF at Zaragoza in Spain. Engineers from both companies have arrived at Old Oak Common depot to help investigate the fault.

As a temporary measure the all-stations Heathrow Connect service has been suspended and their class 360 units reassigned to cover the non-stop Heathrow Express. With one report using the words “withdrawn for the foreseeable future” it doesn’t sound as though any repairs tothe 332s will be either quick or cheap, One even wonders if early retirement for the 18-year old trains is a possibility.

If the 332s do end up requiring either substantial rebuilds or complete replacement, what other AC rolling stock might be available in the medium term? Any trains would nred to be both certified to use the underground station at the airport and be fitted with ATP (Automatic Train Protection) for the Great Western Main line, which may well rule out superannunated class 313s or 317s. But perhaps some of the new Crossrail trains, originally slated to make their passenger début on the Great Eastern line prior to the opening of Crossrail might instead begin running out of Paddington?

There have been no reports of problems with the very similar class 333 units used in West Yorkshire; possibly the higher speeds of Heathrow Express have meant the problems have come to light earlier.

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Graham Farish 2016 Programme

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Tim Hall

Class 319Photo by John Armitstead

Bachmann have announced the 2016 programme of new models for the Graham Farish range. It’s again a year of consolidation, with many models originally announced two or three years ago still to appear, though today’s announcement does give progress on these; some, like the GWR “Castle” are not fat off. I suspect the age when we three or four major new models every year may be behind us now.

The one big announcement is the class 319 EMU, something I don’t think anybody saw coming. It’s an interesting choice. Built as a dual-voltage train for the initial opening of Thameslink, they’re the one type of multiple unit seen on both the third-rail DC network south of the Thames and the overhead AC network north of London. They’re now being displaced from their original duties by a newer generation of trains and redeployed in other parts of the country. So far they’ve seen use in the north-west of England, and will see service in other routes as electrification spreads.

Aside from that, the rest is all reliveries and reissues. The Mk1 coaches in the red, white and blue Network South East livery are very welcome. The Mk1 BG in Royal Mail Red is useful as well to match the existing TPO stock. The major new loco livery is the class 70 in the colourful Colas livery.

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Sandy Beaches and the Clickbait Media

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Tim Hall

It turns out that a couple of “XYZ is problematic” clickbait pieces on a popular feminist culture website by the pseudonymous “Sandy Beaches” were actually the work of a troll, in an affair that sounds like a cross between The Sokal Hoax and Naked Came The Stranger.

Quite simply, I wanted to see how ridiculous and flagrantly wrong/untruthful I could be and get away with it. I’d had the FFVII/sexism article written well over a year ago, yet I didn’t pull the trigger. I thought, at the time, that it would be far too stupid and misinformed for any publication to run. However, as the articles regarding feminist complaints on…well everything…began to pile up, each one getting progressively less logical and more poorly argued, I decided it was time.

It is the most successful article I’ve ever written. More comments, more views, more shares, more threads, more responses, than anything I’ve ever done before. As of now, the FFVII/sexism article sits at around 1000 FB shares and 700+ comments, not including the multiple threads and video and article responses I’ve seen.

When you take into consideration I wrote this piece in about 30 minutes (35–40 including some editing I’ll get into later), the energy to reward ratio is unbelievable.

As I’ve said before, if your rhetoric is so predictable and formulaic that an outsider who is opposed to everything you stand for can fake it without being caught, you need to raise your game.

The usual suspects are predictably declaring the whole thing as a judgement on the current state of feminism. But I think the real villain here is the dubious outrage-for-clicks business model of so much of the online media. It’s become a race to the bottom to see who can push people’s buttons for profit, and damn the longer term cultural consquences. Even Guardian Music has started to publish pieces like “Is Opera the most misogynistic of all artforms?, which I refused to read on principle. And no, this is not just a “Social Justice Warrior” thing; the right has its own outrage-sheets which are every bit as rancid.

It’s poisoning our cultural conversations, polarising our online communities into petty warring tribes, and sucking up energy thar could be better spent in enthusing about things.

Online journalism and cultural criticism needs a better business model, one that supports well-written and informed cultural analysis rather than cheap and nasty clickbait that preaches to partisan choirs. At the moment I don’t believe the ad-supported model can do this.

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Rebecca Downes – The 100 Club

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Tim Hall

Singer-songwriter Rebecca Downes came to London’s legendary 100 Club on a Tuesday night for the launch of her excellent second album “Believe”. Despite it being a school night still drew an appreciably-sized crowd., and you could tell this was going to be a blues gig by the number of Nord Electro keyboards on the stage. Blues-rockers love these distinctive red instruments, and there were no fewer that three of them at the beginning of the evening. Only one belonged to Rebecca Downes’ band; the other two were for the two support bands.

The first of those supports, Bruce Lok, had an interesting sound. On the slower numbers his voice had something of the late Ian Curtis, not what you normally expect from a blues band. There were moments that suggested what Joy Division might have sounded like had they played lounge jazz rather than post-punk, though he sang in more of a rock style on the up-tempo numbers. It did leave the impression of an artist who undoubtedly has some talent, but has yet to find a musical identity.

The second support, Greg Coulson, was far more old-school rock’n'roll musically, and had a sense of showmanship the first act lacked. Greg doubled up on keys and guitar, alternatively working up a blur of notes on that Nord Electro, sometimes playing it with his knee, or swapping solos with the band’s other guitarist. All high-energy and huggely entertaining, it set things up nicely for the headliner.

Launching into the blues-rock boogie of album opener “Never Gonna Learn”, Rebecca Downes proved to be as dynamic a live performer as she is an excellent singer on record, and her tight band proved an superb foil, going from hard rock to soul to funk. The set included most but not quite all of the new album interspersed with highlights from her début, plus a cover of Janis Joplin’s “Piece of my Heart”. Everything from the new album came across powerfully live’ these were songs built to be performed on stage. “Night Train” was an early highlight, featuring some delightful Ray Manzerek style electric piano and an appropriately locomotive-like rhythm.

For much of the set the band played as a five piece with Steve Birkett handling all the guitar parts, but for the last couple of songs Rick Sandford joined them for a spectacular guitar-shredding “Sailing on a Pool of Tears” and the hard-rocking finale of the album’s title track. Unfortunately the strict curfew meant there was no time for an encore.

Rebecca Downes’s music exemplifies the old adage that your favourite genre didn’t just stop as soon as popular fashion moved on. She plays the blues in the style of the classic rock era of the sixties and seventies, and makes few concessions to contemporary musical fashion. But as this gig showed she’s very good at what she does. She will be on tour across much of Britain over the course of the year, playing a number of festivals including the Cambridge Rock Festival in August.

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Fantasise to Realise

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Tim Hall

Former Touchstone singer Kim Seviour is releasing a single “Fantasise to Realise” om Marth 7th, with the album to follow in the summer.

It’s co-written and produced by the incredibly prolific John Mitchell, who I’m sure is in about seventeen dfferent bands because nobody else can keep up with him.

You can pre-order a signed copy of the limited-edition CD from White Star Records.

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Gloryhammer to support Blind Guardian in May

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Tim Hall

What better than the band who made a concept album about undead uncorns touring in support of the band who once set Tolkien’s Silmarillion to music?

The tour take in Glasgow, Manchester, Dublin and Nottingham, finishing at The Forum in Kentish town on May 22nd.

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The Night Train

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Tim Hall

A rather appropriate photo taken on the way home from Rebecca Downes‘ album launch gig. The23:45 Paddington to Penzance, The Night Riviera, hauled by 57603 “Tintagel Castle”.

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Let Justice Be Done Though The Liberal Heavens Fall

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Tim Hall

Nick Cohen is on form again in Standpoint over the events in Rotherham and Cologne, and the apparent divide-by-zero error sufffered by some parts of the left.

My colleague David Paxton looked at these and other examples of fear of the far-Right and aptly described them as a “noble lies, told to prevent us idiot yokels from becoming a mob. People are stepping out from their job descriptions and moonlighting as censors.” He might have gone further. The refusal of the police and public authorities to follow the law they are meant to uphold demeans the societies they are meant to serve.

They see Britain as a 21st-century Weimar Republic where the smallest incitement could lead to pogroms and tyranny. The white men and women around them are not fellow citizens but closet fascists, who must be kept in ignorance for fear that they will dress up in black leather and attend torchlight parades. In these circumstances, abused girls aren’t victims, but inconveniences who must be suppressed for the greater good.

He again stresses how the current incarnation of identity politics which puts communities and their sometimes self-appointed leaders ahead of individuals is not fir for purpose for today’s highly diverse society.

We should stop playing shabby games of ethnic favouritism with the victims of crime, which should never have been played in the first place. Whether a child is abused by a white celebrity or Pakistani thug, or a migrant taking advantage of unknown freedoms, says nothing about whites or Pakistanis or asylum seekers, and everything about them. We should do what we should always have done and insist that equality before the law is the best way of integrating newcomers as well as being a blessing in itself.

Nick Cohen is sounding more and more like a stuck record on this subject. But that doesn’t mean he’s wrong.

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Ramblin’ Man Fair – More bands announced

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Tim Hall

The most significant is the announcement of Family as the Sunday night headliner on the Prog stage.

It’s a rather disappointing bill compared with last year. With the exception of Von Hertzen Brothers, a band whose appeal has always rather escaped me, the top three on the prog stage on both nights are all legacy acts. It’s true that Uriah Heep continue to release albums and aren’t guaranteed to play a set they could have played in 1974, but it’s unlikely to be as focussed on newer material as Marilion’s superb set last year. It doesn’t do much to suggest progressive rock is a living form of music, rather it’s a nostalgia-fest for the middle-aged who want to relive their youth. The younger and more interesting bands are too few in number and too low down the bill.

Uriah Heep, Purson and The Fierce and the Dead are worth seeing, but their will be other opportunities to pay far less money to see see them play longer sets.

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#NowPlaying: Chrissie – Carriageworks – An instrumental albim of effects-laden violin and electronica, streaming from the artist’s website.

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Tim Hall | Comments Off