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  1. ac6000cw

    Running round at Cowes

    Agreed - as already mentioned in post #23 above :-) The fatal (for the crew) runaway on Kicking Horse Pass (Field Hill) in Western Canada in 2019 was also basically the same cause, compounded by high air leakage levels in below -25C temperatures - see...
  2. ac6000cw

    GBRF confirms conversion of Class 56s to Class 69s

    Agreed, but I was at Peterborough for most of Friday afternoon and the state of some of the 'named' GBRF 66s passing through wasn't good (see 66773 below). Is this really meant to be the "Pride of GB Railfreight" - I don't see a lot of pride in evidence there, and I don't think it reflects well...
  3. ac6000cw

    GBRF confirms conversion of Class 56s to Class 69s

    :D (Although based on the grimy state of the GBRf locos I've seen recently, they should spend the money on keeping the locos clean instead of more fancy liveries...)
  4. ac6000cw

    Top speed of bi / Tri modal trains on electric

    Yes, but the weight/axle load penalty of carrying around diesel engines and fuel could affect the maximum speeds in electric mode too - that might be why the bi-mode Spanish Renfe Class 730 mentioned above (with an 18t max axle load) are limited to 155mph. But the Americans have 125mph diesel...
  5. ac6000cw

    GBRF confirms conversion of Class 56s to Class 69s

    Gloss black and silver (or white) looks really nice if it's kept clean, but otherwise turns into dirty matt grey brown... as illustrated by the brown patches on the side of this otherwise reasonably clean US loco (but the trailing yellow and black 'Virginian Railway' heritage liveried loco looks...
  6. ac6000cw

    Top speed of bi / Tri modal trains on electric

    Dynamic track forces increase as speed increases, as does energy consumption, so fitting powerful enough engines and carrying enough fuel for a decent range on diesel power becomes a problem due to weight/axle load limits for high speed running.
  7. ac6000cw

    Running round at Cowes

    That's correct, but the force to actually apply the brake shoes (tread brakes) or pads (disc brakes) is compressed air from a reservoir on each vehicle. Because the brake system has rubber seals in it which inevitably leak slightly, the compressed air in the reservoir (and in the brake...
  8. ac6000cw

    GBRF confirms conversion of Class 56s to Class 69s

    Was that ever used on a loco in the past?
  9. ac6000cw

    Question about HSTs seen with Southern (D)EMUs in Youtube video

    It's probably polite/useful to say if a YouTube video is your own content or someone else's. ...or use the 'Quote' tool (the one with the 'double quote' icon) on the toolbar, which gives you a quotation box to type or paste into (as below): It can also be used to turn a piece of existing text...
  10. ac6000cw

    Freightliner 70012

    AFAIK in the US the 'draft gear' is the shock absorbing mechanism behind the centre coupler ('draw gear' in the UK?). It fits in a space in the vehicle underframe (I think this space is sometimes called a 'coupler pocket'). So I guess the 'draft center' is the centre line of the draft gear i.e...
  11. ac6000cw

    Running round at Cowes

    Traditional automatic air brakes don't leak on, they leak OFF if the vehicle/train is isolated from the source of compressed air. That's been the cause of countless runaway accidents around the world over the 150+ years since it was invented, where insufficient handbrakes have been applied and...
  12. ac6000cw

    Freightliner 70012

    I thought that too - a version is still listed on the Wabtec website (as the PH37Ai)
  13. ac6000cw

    Running round at Cowes

    Another way of doing it could be - before the loco uncouples, apply the handbrake on the brake coach, release the air brakes from the loco i.e. a normal release, then close the isolating valve at the buffer-beam end of the flexible pipe on the carriage next to the loco (the valve at the other...
  14. ac6000cw

    Freightliner 70012

    Re. the extra handrails - I think FRA rules require outside walkways on US locos to be fitted with handrails. Whether that applies to locos used exclusively within a private site I don't know (but it's a sensible thing to do anyway). I wonder what updates those might be?
  15. ac6000cw

    Youtube links and Video sites

    A fairly fast-paced selection of the action at Peterborough station on Friday afternoon 8th March 2024 - 32 trains spread over 4 hours of real time. Lots of variety, covering classes 60, 66, 91, 158, 170, 180, 221, 755, 800, 801, 802 plus a ballast regulator and a tamper. On the way home, at...
  16. ac6000cw

    Running round at Cowes

    AFAIK, assuming it's the same as on freight vehicles, there is a valve on each vehicle to dump the compressed air out of the vehicle reservoir and brake cylinders, thus fully releasing the brakes. After the loose shunting is done and the train coupled up, the air compressor on the loco charges...
  17. ac6000cw

    Detailed London map of all lines including freight

    Also the open-source OpenRailwayMap can be quite useful - https://www.openrailwaymap.org
  18. ac6000cw

    Pre-nationalisation schemes that never happened

    The LNER intended to double the line between Ely and Soham - it got as far as replacing the river bridge at the Ely end with double-track one, but WW2 intervened and then BR never progressed the doubling. The bridge has been replaced again in recent years (due to derailment accident damage) with...
  19. ac6000cw

    Worst examples of BR era "vandalism"?

    It had also suffered in WW2, so I agree it needed a total rebuild. I think the 1960s-rebuild concourse area was actually OK, as was the shopping centre above it for the most part. The geography of the area and all the rail approach routes being in tunnels means the platforms are inevitably 'in a...
  20. ac6000cw

    Abellio Greater Anglia Class 755s (Regional Trains)

    I think the 25kV step-down transformers are also in that area i.e. one per bogie, with a 25kV bus line at roof level to feed them. Keeps it all modular.

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