Speed!

"Cé hé sin" (michael-m-mouse) 12/05/2016 at 15:00 • Filed to: Trainlopnik

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Here’s a little choo-choo train.

Actually it’s a diesel locomotive, but it is little.

Note the cute con rods which provide six wheel drive without having to use shafts and bevel gears, things which were alien in the days of steam which had only just ended.

Thing is though, how fast can it go, foot to the floor? (yes, I know it doesn’t have pedals. Never mind.)

Is it:

(a) 15 mph

(b) 45 mph

(c) 75 mph

By way of a clue, it has about 300 bhp which is quite a lot. It’s more than my car. My car will do more than (c).

Jcarr > Cé hé sin 12/05/2016 at 15:02

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Isn’t it a shunting engine? I’d wager it’s set up more for grunt than speed.

Mercedes Streeter > Cé hé sin 12/05/2016 at 15:03

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75 mph baby

Out, but with a W - has found the answer > Cé hé sin 12/05/2016 at 15:11

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15 probably. Awful visibility for a shunting engine though.

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > Out, but with a W - has found the answer 12/05/2016 at 15:25

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They had to start somewhere.

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > Cé hé sin 12/05/2016 at 15:27

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Have a 512.

Also, 15MPH.

Cé hé sin > Out, but with a W - has found the answer 12/05/2016 at 15:48

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Ah, but this was designed in Britain in the late 1950s. They were still using (and still building) steam locos at the time and they had about the same visibility. Anyway they used manual coupling with hooks and chains so they had helpers on the track to guide the driver.

bwp240 > Cé hé sin 12/05/2016 at 16:18

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Well bust my buffers!

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Cé hé sin 12/05/2016 at 16:37

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Shunters are so cute

Cé hé sin > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 12/05/2016 at 17:27

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Yes, that’s the one. Class 08 shunter, early 1960s and some still in use. Due to changes in how trains are organised they haven’t had to buy any since.

Cé hé sin > Jcarr 12/05/2016 at 17:32

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It is indeed. That’s a Class 08. Subsequently they made Class 09s (and converted some 08s to 09s) which would reach a death-defying 28 mph at the cost of some tractive effort.

Out, but with a W - has found the answer > Cé hé sin 12/06/2016 at 13:05

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Any idea whether the engine actually fills all that space, or did they just take a steam loco’s design and adapted it?

The coupling mechanism appears to have been upgraded in all those years, luckily.

Cé hé sin > Out, but with a W - has found the answer 12/06/2016 at 14:18

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350 bhp non-turbo diesel and generator seems to fill most of the space. It weighs about 50 tonnes so maybe they have ballast as well.

Out, but with a W - has found the answer > Cé hé sin 12/06/2016 at 14:33

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Great pictures! Not the most efficient use of space, but par for the course as far as locomotives go. Weight seems right on target for the length as well, though part of it might be ballast indeed.

Cé hé sin > Out, but with a W - has found the answer 12/06/2016 at 15:49

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British Rail bought more than 1,000 of these locos in the late 50s and early 60s (there were three different but similar types).......and none have been bought since. Of the 1,000 odd, about 100 are used by train companies and industrial users and about 70 have been sold to preservation societies who still need them for shunting their preserved stock around. The rest have been scrapped or are sitting abandoned in sidings. Most trains are of a fixed length and composition nowadays and shunting isn’t needed very often.

eftalanquest > Cé hé sin 12/09/2016 at 11:18

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my employer (deutsche bahn, if anyone is interested) is still using alot of these:

and these:

both built during the 50's and 60's and both not very fast but powerful.

Out, but with a W - has found the answer > Cé hé sin 12/12/2016 at 12:43

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Talking about antiquated rail equipment: we’re still using our Type 62s on main lines (for ballast and technical trains):

Built in 1961-66, currently being overhauled and slated to stay in service for at least another 10-20 years.