The Rail Enthusiast thread

[rogerzilla]

Flying Scotsman was passing through half a mile from here at 6.30 last Saturday, so we walked up to the footbridge over the GWML to see it. It was dusk, but we saw the headlights from far away, then the firebox glow, then we were surrounded by steam. Quite exciting, really.

 

[HumpTdumpty]

87009, that was City of Birmingham wasn't it? I quite liked the different names they had, so with the '87s my favourites were Patriot, City Of Glasgow, Coeur De Lion, John O' Gaunt, The Knight of The Thistle, Iron Duke, The Lord Of The Isles, Wolf Of Badenoch, Hal O'The Wynd and Thane Of Fife. I'd have to consult one of the old platform 5 books to remember them all.

With the '86s it was more the freight machines I liked such as Wulfruna, Aldaniti, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Airey Neave (which was a truly ridiculous name to a young spotter like me. If I'd known who he was in relation to Margaret Thatcher, I might not have liked his name so much!). That said, some of the other '86s had nice names too, such as Comet, Meteor, Planet, Phoenix, (Vesta, Fury, and Hector also), Crown Point, Starlight Express and Josiah Wedgewood Master Potter 1736 - 1795, always a nice one as it had the Wedewood blue nameplate which contrasted well with the Intercity livery, and then of course, there were the George Cross names such as Driver James Kennedy G.C. and Driver John Axon G.C.

The class '90s had those wonderful foreign 'Freight Connection' names such as Frachtverbindungen, although my favourite of the Intercity ones was 90004 The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. The '91s never really did very much for me for some reason (they worked through to Glasgow), and as for the '92s, they helped me learn who certain obscure historical people were such as Sweelink, who I'd never heard of before.

As a kid @ Bescot or New St I prided myself on identifying electrics via there number of windows 87 VS 86 etc 81s etc upwards were more of a challenge to me - happy days !

 

[Andy in Germany]

As a kid @ Bescot or New St I prided myself on identifying electrics via there number of windows 87 VS 86 etc 81s etc upwards were more of a challenge to me - happy days !

Crikey, I remember many hours platform ending with my dad at Bescot, although that was in the days of 86's and 90's. My Grandad used to come on occasion and tell stories of working as a goods guard there. Invariably he'd inveigle his way into a signal box or locomotive cab...

 

[Andy in Germany]

Slightly faded memorial to the locomotive crews of Offenburg last week...

 

[Andy in Germany]

The German language news bulletin about the railway scene in Germany, Austria and Switzerland has just made a report of the upcoming revolution in digitalised shunting, which I suppose was inevitable.

The plan, apparently, is to make Scharfenberg couplers standard on all freight wagons and locomotives and replace the screw couplers used at the moment. The reason for this is that screw couplers require someone to hook them up and connect brakes and electrical connections too, which takes time and is very dangerous, whereas a Scharfenberg coupler theoretically can do all this at once and also report back to confirm everything works. On European railways we still use lots of marshalling yards, and apparently a shunter can couple or uncouple wagons up to 300 times a shift.

The project aims are:

Refit about 490 000 freight wagons in the EU, Switzerland, Norway and the UK, and 17 000 locomotives
The projected cost is expected to be 15000 - 17000 € per wagon.
The cost throughout Europe should be 6.4 -8.6 billion euro.
Savings are reputed to be in the region of 760m euro per year.

Added to this is the massive improvement in safety, as many shunters are injured in their work, and the Scharfenberg coupler will allow for longer trains.

There is currently a demonstrator train being tried out in various conditions. If the test go to plan the project should begin in 2024 and end by 2030.

 

[BrumJim]

The German language news bulletin about the railway scene in Germany, Austria and Switzerland has just made a report of the upcoming revolution in digitalised shunting, which I suppose was inevitable.

The plan, apparently, is to make Scharfenberg couplers standard on all freight wagons and locomotives and replace the screw couplers used at the moment. The reason for this is that screw couplers require someone to hook them up and connect brakes and electrical connections too, which takes time and is very dangerous, whereas a Scharfenberg coupler theoretically can do all this at once and also report back to confirm everything works. On European railways we still use lots of marshalling yards, and apparently a shunter can couple or uncouple wagons up to 300 times a shift.

The project aims are:

Refit about 490 000 freight wagons in the EU, Switzerland, Norway and the UK, and 17 000 locomotives
The projected cost is expected to be 15000 - 17000 € per wagon.
The cost throughout Europe should be 6.4 -8.6 billion euro.
Savings are reputed to be in the region of 760m euro per year.

Added to this is the massive improvement in safety, as many shunters are injured in their work, and the Scharfenberg coupler will allow for longer trains.

There is currently a demonstrator train being tried out in various conditions. If the test go to plan the project should begin in 2024 and end by 2030.

That is massive. Can't believe it will actually happen, but if it does, it will mean a lot of money for Voith and Dellner? And a lot of companies making standard buffers, screw couplers and hooks loosing a lot of business.

 

[Andy in Germany]

That is massive. Can't believe it will actually happen, but if it does, it will mean a lot of money for Voith and Dellner? And a lot of companies making standard buffers, screw couplers and hooks loosing a lot of business.

It is, probably one of the biggest changes since the end of steam; and yet it will probably go unnoticed by the vast majority of people.

I don't know how they'll do it though: it means not only coordinating the wagons being taken out of service to refit them, but also means for several years there'll be two incompatible fleets of locos and wagons running about.

I'm also sceptical about all the delicate electronics they want to fit on each wagon, bearing in mind the conditions most freight wagons have to work in.

 

[BrumJim]

It is, probably one of the biggest changes since the end of steam; and yet it will probably go unnoticed by the vast majority of people.

I don't know how they'll do it though: it means not only coordinating the wagons being taken out of service to refit them, but also means for several years there'll be two incompatible fleets of locos and wagons running about.

I'm also sceptical about all the delicate electronics they want to fit on each wagon, bearing in mind the conditions most freight wagons have to work in.

And the fact that the couplers will have to be maintained better, with a much greater risk of trains splitting if bits aren't greased or replaced in time. Works for passenger trains, but they have a much better focus on performance rather than cost.

 

[rogerzilla]

Presumably the electronics are potted to protect them from the impact of careless/enthusiastic shunting?

 

[BrumJim]

Presumably the electronics are potted to protect them from the impact of careless/enthusiastic shunting?

If they implement the electrical head option. Usually freight just passes air from wagon to wagon. Although it might be exciting to transfer some signals too, there are a number of issues on compatibility, modification costs, maintenance and reliability that might make such an idea uneconomic and unrealistic.

The advantage of the Sharfenberg (Type 12) head are that the joint is a lot more secure, and hence is the favoured option for multiple units were frequent coupling and uncoupling requirements coincide with the need to pass a vast amount of information and train wires between the two units so that they can operate effectively and in compliance with disability regs and commercial requirements.

Although traditionally the UK and presumably other countries have gone down the "tightlock" option which is compatible with the buckeye system favoured in US freight, but ironically isn't as tight as the Scharfenberg. Buckeye never really took off in Europe, with hook and buffers remaining the prefered option for general usage vehicles (wagons and coaches).

 

[Andy in Germany]

And the fact that the couplers will have to be maintained better, with a much greater risk of trains splitting if bits aren't greased or replaced in time. Works for passenger trains, but they have a much better focus on performance rather than cost.

That's my thinking too, and they're talking about a computer on every wagon to report if everything is working, which sounds like a lot of potential software glitches in each train, especially if there's a rough shunt or the weather gets in, or some graffiti artist desides to spray it...

 

[BrumJim]

That's my thinking too, and they're talking about a computer on every wagon to report if everything is working, which sounds like a lot of potential software glitches in each train, especially if there's a rough shunt or the weather gets in, or some graffiti artist desides to spray it...

Sounds like an ivory towers idea.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Sounds like an ivory towers idea.

I think some kind of coupler change is likely but the details seem optimistic: the simplicity of the screw coupling is a great advantage on a freight wagon; even if its possible to run all the other extras through a coupling, putting all the extra reporting equipment in a wagon seems an expensive way to add points of failure into the system.

On the other hand, not killing and injuring shunters is a good thing...

 

[robjh]

Some Fenland finds from a ride yesterday :

first, the site of Postland station on the GN&GER joint line from Spalding to March, near the village of Crowland. This station closed around 1960 but the line was once a major freight route and survived until 1982.

then a short way further on I found a GER 6-wheel coach body in a garden. The paintwork is no doubt not original as this vehicle must have been retired for around 100 years, but is probably an accurate rendition of later GER coach livery.

 

[sheddy]

Kings Cross Model https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/see-a-large-scale-model-of-kings-cross-52884/?