Re: [NSW] Pocket Rocket (was 8 car C set)

["Hubert" <hubert@imap4.com>]

I do find that they like playing around with the marshalling in sector 2. Often I
see 3 Goninan (S/R) cars attached to a Comeng (S/R) car to make an S set. Never seen
one where it's all Goninan or all Comengs making up a set.

any reasons for this?

Bill McNiven <wmcniven@gunzel.ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
hzJS3.3954$YE2.7762@ozemail.com.au">news:hzJS3.3954$YE2.7762@ozemail.com.au...
Hubert wrote in message <7vdv0l$5in$1@news1.mpx.com.au>...
>Speaking of CTCCTC (6-car "pocket rockets"), it seems that R32 is the
remanining one
>in sector 3. all the others have had Tulloch cars fitted back on to them.
>>Ashley Wright wrote:
>>>   You will probably find that any 6 car "s" sets are really made up of
>>> an S set (4 cars) and an L set (2 cars).
>>>
>  As somewhere else asked are 6 car 'S' sets a Hornsby thing. In the
>few years I lived in Sydney commuting on the Illawarra line I never
>once seen a 6 car 'S' set. All 6 car sets were either R's or S+L
>combo's.
OK, in theory the Sydney set compositions are:
* 'C' - Goninan cars with chopper control - generally six cars C-T-T-C-T-C
but sometimes eight cars (because a total of 56 cars exist).
* 'G' - four car outer suburban Tangara D-N-N-D
* 'K' - Goninan cars with heating or air-conditioning
* sets K1 - K4:  C-D
* the rest: C-T-T-C
* 'L' - two car sets C-D
* 'R' - six car sets C-T-T-C-T-C
* 'S' - four car sets C-T-T-C
* 'T' - four car Tangara D-N-N-D
* 'V' - two, four or six-car Intercity sets

The 'C' and 'K' sets are theoretically never used on Illawarra (Sector 1)
services.

Just to confuse, the meaning of the letters has changed over the years ...
'T' used to be Comeng C+D, 'R' used to be a six-car heated Goninan set.

But in practice, since the pre-Chopper cars are all interchangeable, cars
get removed for maintenance and cars get added to make up timetable
requirements.  The set numbers are on 'target plates' which can be removed
and replaced in most cases.

Oddities I've seen this week include
* A seven car Illawarra train targetted as a four-car 'S' plus a three-car
'S'
* A six-car Illawarra train targetted as four-car 'S' plus two-car 'L' (this
is standard on the Illawarra as the Wollongong 'L' sets are maintained at
Mortdale - I seem to see L1 - L4 come and go at Wollongong and at Kogarah)
* A six-car 'K' set targetted as four-car 'K' plus two-car 'K' (no driving
trailer, marshalling C-T-T-C-T-C)
* The inevitable six-car 'R' with four power cars (C-T-C-C-T-C).
* Eight car Wollongong train composed four-car 'G' + four-car 'T'

Stranger compositions at the time of the Rugby League finals (when eight car
trains were in demand)
6-car R (CTTCTC) + 2-car K (this was timetabled and ran)
6-car R (CTCCTC) + 2-car K
4-car S + 4-car K
4-car S + 4-car R (!)
4-car S containing C-T-D-C

There was an STN for the Wollongong L sets to be used to build up the
Sydenham - Bankstown - Lidcombe shuttle to 6-car R + 2-car L but I didn't
see it happen.

In practice, if you see a six-car set with 'S' on each end, it's probably
1-1/2 4-car 'S' sets.

Rgds

Bill :)