Cravens in the New Statesman.

[Broithe]

http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/2014/07/trains-regain-their-prestige-its-time-trip-through-their-chequered-past - via Irish Rail's twitter.

 

[Glenderg]

Superb article, given current grim circumstances. Cheers Bro.

[Blu Bianco]

I was on the Craven's last weekend and it was stepping back in time but in a magical way. Brought back many memories of trips gone by!

 

They are really comfortable (to me anyway) and I wonder if the same people who described them as dirty and past it back in the 90's are happier with their more cramped, hard stiff railcars now?

 

The lighting in the one I was sitting in, was the standard central, fluorescent system up along whole length of the roof the carriage.

 

I was on a carriage years back, passing Avoca, and I remember the lights were not central strip lighting. They were in sets, kind of circular, like a sausage slowly unravelling. Can anyone tell me was that the lighting in the earlier set of the Craven's? Or were they a different carriage?

[Mayner]

I was on the Craven's last weekend and it was stepping back in time but in a magical way. Brought back many memories of trips gone by!

 

They are really comfortable (to me anyway) and I wonder if the same people who described them as dirty and past it back in the 90's are happier with their more cramped, hard stiff railcars now?

 

The lighting in the one I was sitting in, was the standard central, fluorescent system up along whole length of the roof the carriage.

 

I was on a carriage years back, passing Avoca, and I remember the lights were not central strip lighting. They were in sets, kind of circular, like a sausage slowly unravelling. Can anyone tell me was that the lighting in the earlier set of the Craven's? Or were they a different carriage?

 

Cravens originally had a reputation of being very rough riding compared to older stock. The coaches were very light and the B4 bogies used under the Cravens did not ride as well as a Commonwealth. At one sage a Craven was fitted with DB pattern bogies and additional weights to see if it would make ay difference.

 

I like your description sausage slowly unravelling.

 

Circular fluorescents used to up-grade the lighting from traditional light bulbs in a lot of the pre-Craven stock including Park Royals and Laminates.

 

Not sure what lighting the Cravens had at first, had strip lighting when I started exploring the main lines in the mid 70s.

Edited July 25, 2014 by Mayner