The Rail Enthusiast thread

[Andy in Germany]

Many of the longer lasting diesels from that era are truly lovely pieces of kit.

 

[rogerzilla]

There's a EE Type 3 preservation society called the Growler Group, which sounds worringly like a hen party.

I snapped this at the GWSR today. I like green diesels with SYP.

 

[rogerzilla]

This is their flagship loco - I much prefer them in their rebuilt form.

Fall-off-your-chair fact: R G Jarvis, who rebuilt the Bulleid Pacifics to make them essentially trouble-free, also worked on the HST.

 

[Spartak]

Here's another old diesel, taken this morning at Avon Valley Railway, Bitton.

08202

 

[Spartak]

.... and something a bit more modern passing thru' Keynsham station.

 

[ericmark]

The work horse of our local railway, there are three diesel locos, one too small to do much, so this one seems to do most of the work hauling trains when for what ever reason the Steam engines can't be used.

Came from a sugar plantation, and an odd ball, the fuel is used in the torque converter and it is important to keep fuel tanks full to disparate the heat.

Ferret was built in the darkest days of the Second World War, in 1940, for work in an armaments depot. But really too small to do much work, Chattenden does some work, but Diema shown does most the passenger work when steam is not up and running.

One looks at pictures of it working before it came here

and it seems to have had a hard life. Never seen any more than 4 carriages behind it here in Wales. Here it was going to Welshpool to pull first train of the day with the Theatre from the train event 7-7-2019 the steam engines were still getting up steam ready.

Latter in the day hauled by steam as the train had a mock boarding by troops, never before or after have we had an event like this.

 

[ericmark]

It seems we are to have a visiting loco

from ‘sister railway’ relationship with Taiwan’s Alishan Forest Railway (AFR). Seems a powerful loco at 25-ton 520hp for a 2'6" gauge railway expected in Llanfair by the end of the autumn. Seems the idea is the Diema shown in last lost can be taken out of service for an overhaul once it arrives, but Diema is only around 210hp this loco on loan is far bigger.

The other powerful loco Monarch has not been used for some time, it needs an overall, but unlikely to happen as the boiler not really suitable for the inclines, the Welsh Highland railway is so lucky having the Garratt 2-6-2 + 2-6-2 locos

it allows them to haul such large trains, we rarely see more than 4 carriages, don't think our locos have the adhesion required to pull longer trains even if they have the power.

 

[Spartak]

An 'old' HST 43304 passing Ram Hill, between Westerleigh Junction and Bristol Parkway at lunchtime today.

 

[DCBassman]

An 'old' HST 43304 passing Ram Hill, between Westerleigh Junction and Bristol Parkway at lunchtime today.

View attachment 648213

Still the reigning champ for world's fastest diesel trains, and have been since their introduction.

 

[BrumJim]

Many of the longer lasting diesels from that era are truly lovely pieces of kit.

Really? Or is it just nostalgia?

 

[flake99please]

Really? Or is it just nostalgia?

A bit of both I think.

 

[rogerzilla]

Was reading a book about the rebuilding of the Bulleid Pacifics like P&O above. In what must have been the final ignominy for Bulleid, the new valve gear for the middle cylinder was a copy from the Schools Class designed by his predecessor.

Apparently the boiler steamed well (but had a tendency to throw cinders) but the cylinder efficiency of the original "spam cans" was atrocious due to the often random valve events from the oddball chain-driven valve gear. They ate up coal and guzzled water worse than anything else of comparable size.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Really? Or is it just nostalgia?

Hmm, not really, as I'm a child of the 80's and 90's so they were already being superseded by then.

 

[rogerzilla]

On this morning's ride, we saw a few people standing at a bridge over the GWML, so we joined them and this came along:


View: https://youtu.be/U21PjwD3mJw

 

[Sallar55]

The shunting engines at the disused slate quarry outside Angers. It's being returned to nature and a city park