Forum | Merseyside Dennis Dart Website

(04/01/2017 07:17)MX12CFE Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks for that. Wonder if either unit will see service again?

Without a doubt,in fact pretty sure 507010 is out and about on the Wirral now

I wonder what the units are on the South Wirral , are these units landlocked from Birkenhead North whilst the first six weeks engineering is taking place.

(04/01/2017 17:40)wirralbus Wrote: [ -> ]I wonder what the units are on the South Wirral , are these units landlocked from Birkenhead North whilst the first six weeks engineering is taking place.

I wouldn't have thought the units currently on that part of the network would be isolated from the depot at Birkenhead North for as long as six weeks. Whilst they could all comfortably be stabled in the sidings at Birkenhead Central and Rock Ferry (as well as one or two units at Chester) overnight where would they be maintained during that time? There's also the question if a unit fails then how would a replacement unit be dispatched to that section to replace the failed unit?

Yesterday three sets of six cars where in operation alongside three cars as well.

The Six cars could be split down if necessary to keep the service running.

If they could / would source a loco, possible route via Chester Wrexham and Bidston to get units to Birkenhead North if desperate, does that still happen these days?

(04/01/2017 18:02)SL64 JDZ Wrote: [ -> ]I wouldn't have thought the units currently on that part of the network would be isolated from the depot at Birkenhead North for as long as six weeks. Whilst they could all comfortably be stabled in the sidings at Birkenhead Central and Rock Ferry (as well as one or two units at Chester) overnight where would they be maintained during that time? There's also the question if a unit fails then how would a replacement unit be dispatched to that section to replace the failed unit?

Don't forget all the Northern line units are also isolated from Birkenhead North maintenance depot during the next 6 weeks as well.
Storage for the South Wirral units is Bhead Central bay, Rock Ferry, Hooton (both bay and mainline) and Chester.
Limited overnight windows are expected to be able to move units around. These however will probably be from around the middle of the 6 weeks...

(04/01/2017 21:27)ls1911 Wrote: [ -> ]Don't forget all the Northern line units are also isolated from Birkenhead North maintenance depot during the next 6 weeks as well.
Storage for the South Wirral units is Bhead Central bay, Rock Ferry, Hooton (both bay and mainline) and Chester.
Limited overnight windows are expected to be able to move units around. These however will probably be from around the middle of the 6 weeks...

Of course - but they will still have access to Kirkdale TMD. Thanks for the clarification though

How many units are actual on the South Wirral . Utilising BC Bay , Rock Ferry pltfm 3 and 4 and Hooton Bay can accomodate 8 units.

Could either Hooton Platform 2 or Rock Ferry platform 1 accomodate an extra unit , stabling on a main line requires a tail light on each end of the unit im led to believe.

The reason i say them platforms is trains can be worked around them if there is a need for engineering trains.

(04/01/2017 21:39)wirralbus Wrote: [ -> ]How many units are actual on the South Wirral . Utilising BC Bay , Rock Ferry pltfm 3 and 4 and Hooton Bay can accomodate 8 units.

Could either Hooton Platform 2 or Rock Ferry platform 1 accomodate an extra unit , stabling on a main line requires a tail light on each end of the unit im led to believe.

The reason i say them platforms is trains can be worked around them if there is a need for engineering trains.

12 units altogether on South Wirral at the mo, 2 generally stored at Rock Ferry as spares.
Overnight 2 are stored at Birkenhead Central siding, 4 at Rock Ferry, 4 at Hooton (tail lights either end of the units stored mainline) and 2 at Chester (again with tail lights).
Another thing that will make it interesting is weekend engineering work between Hooton and Chester over the next few weeks meaning more replacement buses south of Hooton and possibly a few small tweaks to the stabling plan.

The New Brighton and West Kirby service is formed of four inter-working 6 car sets which are split down to 3 car for the evening service. Two of today's formations are 507033 + 508114 and 507026 + 508112.