Refurbs

Thanks Dave I thought I was going mental seeing all these refurbs. so by the time the ' Link ' is installed at Upminster ( if it ever happens ) we could well have nearly half the fleet refurbed makes you wonder if thats why they are taking their time doesn't it

Sadly, at least one of our refurbs was covered in external grafitti this evening. In fact almost half the fleet seemed to have been attacked by the low life scum... Every train I passed after about 10pm had grafitti scrawled all over the outside.

Ah now that would explain it! I bumped into Jim the other evening, and it was this train, and still had the 'new train' smell about it, whoich would be right, seeing as it is fairly new back then!

They are certainly looking nice, that new cab seat looks quite comfortable, as is the new Instructors seat!

I hope it wasnt exceeding the line speed for that particular section ?

Blocking back! ;D

It was actually Ealing Common where this happened.

The refurbs are cleared for all District Line diagrams and can be found almost anywhere.

i got one, between Victoria and Westminster, at about 11:50.
the refurbs are quite good IMHO, but the doors are the most amusing bit

When I was last with 'Galvanize', he said they squeaked funny. It sounded like a normal sqeak to me ;D

Absolutely, I've never been a 'refurb' fan of any stock. IMHO given more money to spend on the D stock refurbs It could of been even more drastic, at least the seating arrangement is basically the same and the opening windows have been retained.

Except that the 73ts have become so heavy they're now running their motor bearings......

Q8 has a point, it does seem a waste of money when the S Stock will be coming so soon. Could've just left the trains as they are (with a coat of paint added to bring them in line with the rest of the fleet) and spent the money on the S Stock or something else.

Alas, Final Score:
Bureaucracy 1-0 Common Sense

Stephenk I would disaggree with you also. In the past the public happily rode around in and drivers contentedly pushed along stock that was 40 years old that was giving perfectly adequate service albiet with a bit more attention as they aged.

The public don't give a toss really what sort of train it is as long as one turns up for their journey. It should be dry and warm and reasonably comfortable with good ventilation and windows they can see out of.

A driver wants a cab that he has a decent seat in, that everything he needs is close to hand and he has a a nice heater to keep it warm in winter [preferably one that does not make a bloody noise] and side windows he can open for a cross draught in the summer.

So to spend all this money on fripperies and pretty light displays defies logic to my mind. As for that damn woman clapping on with 'this is....' it would have caused a strike in my time. Do they not realise that a driver has enough to do concentrating on his job properly without the distraction of Gabbling Gertie?

I too think it's worth the time, money and effort.

And I think too that having been done so long into it's service life (and a relatively short time before replacement) it's actually worked to our advantage, in that they haven't done all the technical 'fiddling' that they did with the 73's.

It is of course worth remembering that it was long overdue and should have been done at least five years ago, but the money was spent on the JLE!!

Whilst I take q8's points, I think many of the things he's reservations about (and I do understand those) are now considered the 'norm' - the dot matrix displays, the announcer (which actually on the D's isn't 'cab intrusive' in the way it is on many other stocks) and the disabled areas etc. And of course the floors had to be changed, and the under car condition was not great either; all these did need genuine attention, so the work done is far more than a cosmetic tart up!!