I think some Trains forum readers might be interested in this freight Cab Ride video shot from the cab of a EMD Class 66 locomotive hauling an empty Binliner(trash containers) from Wakefield in Yorkshire to Knowsley(near Liverpool). The videographer, Don Coffey, is very knowledgeable about the railways around Manchester, which the train will pass through on its journey.
Cab Ride Video
Out of habit, I was watching the track ahead and missed many of the comments scrolling across the bottom of the screen...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
I was reaching for the bell as he went past the stations. Do British trains have bells? I'm thinking no?
And holy cow, if we had to do all that stuff to couple cars up, we'd serve one industry a day on a local if we were lucky!
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
zugmann I was reaching for the bell as he went past the stations. Do British trains have bells? I'm thinking no? And holy cow, if we had to do all that stuff to couple cars up, we'd serve one industry a day on a local if we were lucky!
Johnny
Nice video, however it raises a number of questions in their operations.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Normally no bell, but headlights yes.
Also the only thing resembling a local is the remains of the Enterprise network which just runs for the British Ministry of Defence. Distances are too short. With that one exception everything is a trainload. Minimal coal traffic too. Just a little bit for the Cement Works and Steel production. Intermodal and Construction Aggregates dominate. Five big Open Access companies dominate with a couple of small bit players.
beaulieuNormally no bell, but headlights yes.
As I recall, a British steam locomotive that toured the US some time back had a bell fitted to it (rather large and ornate, too). AFAIK, the bell went back to Britain with the locomotive.
I do recall reading that at one time the light on a locomotive wasn't a headlight, it was a "class" light. I have no idea exactly how that worked (the class part, not the light itself...).
tree68As I recall, a British steam locomotive that toured the US some time back had a bell fitted to it (rather large and ornate, too). AFAIK, the bell went back to Britain with the locomotive.
Might be several stories in there together. If anyone has a copy of Pennoyer's Locomotives In Our Lives, I believe there's a story about one of them being given the 'honorary' bell from a locomotive so provided. A very famous one was mounted on the GWR King that went to the B&O centenary in 1927; some years later I presume the streamlined LMS Pacific photographed next to a (shockingly bigger-looking) B&O consist on the Thomas Viaduct would have had a bell installed to be 'legal'...
I find to my horror that I remember nothing about a bell from all the coverage of Flying Scotsman when she (can I call a Scotsman that?) was here in the Sixties...
I dimly remember something about a bell on the James Toleman locomotive that was sent over to Blighty for vacuum-brake tests -- but that locomotive eventually wound pu back in the States at Perdue...
[quote]I do recall reading that at one time the light on a locomotive wasn't a headlight, it was a "class" light. I have no idea exactly how that worked (the class part, not the light itself...)
British railroads were supposed to be completely fenced, enclosed, and grade-separated, so nothing could get on the 'line' that would have to be seen and avoided. So there ws little need for a huge, mandatory, (expensive) light and the fuel to run it so that a crew could see far ahead for danger.
A different manifestation of the same thing comes in descriptions of commuter and passenger trains operating in famous London fog conditions, where credible witnesses report long heavy trains thundering through stations at high speed in a fog so thick as to block view more than about 15' away. These are people with decades of careful thought and working and usually the 'right' attitude toward knowing the road -- rather than the somewhat suicidal air that operation of this kind raises in a nondeterministic later observer,,,
Overmod I dimly remember something about a bell on the James Toleman locomotive that was sent over to Blighty for vacuum-brake tests -- but that locomotive eventually wound pu back in the States at Perdue...
Purdue
My youngest son is a freshman Boilermaker, so... One fun memory from taking him there two years to look over the campus was spotting where the picture on pages 136 -137 was taken from and noting that the house in the background was still there 90 years later.
I, on the other hand, was a Golden Bear from Cal.
Yes, Larry, a bell was provided for the locomotive.
I watched, from an overhead bridge, as the train passed through Tuscaloosa; I was unable to get to Birmingham to see it there. However, I made up for that when my bride and I were in San Francisco in 1972, and we toured the train, even going into the engine.
tree68 beaulieu Normally no bell, but headlights yes. As I recall, a British steam locomotive that toured the US some time back had a bell fitted to it (rather large and ornate, too). AFAIK, the bell went back to Britain with the locomotive. I do recall reading that at one time the light on a locomotive wasn't a headlight, it was a "class" light. I have no idea exactly how that worked (the class part, not the light itself...).
beaulieu Normally no bell, but headlights yes.
King George V class #6000. It's still intact. Trains ran a feature on it many years ago.
Check out"Rail cow girl" on You Tube she is a engineer for the Norwegian railways and has live cams from the cab nice long tunnels on that line also.
Russell
I saw the Flying Scotsman at Penn Station in 1969- it had a bell, a large headlight and an American-style "cow catcher" pilot- all were required in the U.S. I've seen it in the U.K, all of that equipment is gone. In the back of the tender is a knuckle coupler that hinges down out of the way- that was installed for U.S. use also.
I am amazed that they are using 'link & hook' couplings in the 21st Century and by extension consider 1/4 mile train 'big' loaded or empty.
Erik_MagPurdue
Did I actually type the name of the tough man who makes the tender chicken, instead of the right thing, and not notice?
That is a mortifying East Coast thing -- not even a Freudian slip.
And I, having read The Higher Learning in America with such interest in my youth (it does not come off well as an engineering and technical school to rival the likes of MIT then; it's evidently recovered since those days!), have less excuse than most to get it wrong.
BaltACD I am amazed that they are using 'link & hook' couplings in the 21st Century and by extension consider 1/4 mile train 'big' loaded or empty.
I agree it is surprising that the couplings have not been upgraded. The freight car fleet has shrunk to a shadow of what it was during its hayday. Then again passenger stock which now has more modern systems has not necessarily developed compatibility between the different series.
As to the length of train, that is to ensure it will fit the physical plant, things like siding lengths, distances between control points and so on. The density of traffic on many lines does not allow the luxury of tieing up a main line while a train doubles over or the tail end has not cleared the previous control point. Delays do cost money, and in Britain there can be significant fines for non-performance by the train operators. True PSR! I suspect you yourself had to deal occasionally with the dispatching headaches dealing with overlength trains.
cx500 BaltACD I am amazed that they are using 'link & hook' couplings in the 21st Century and by extension consider 1/4 mile train 'big' loaded or empty. I agree it is surprising that the couplings have not been upgraded. The freight car fleet has shrunk to a shadow of what it was during its hayday. Then again passenger stock which now has more modern systems has not necessarily developed compatibility between the different series. As to the length of train, that is to ensure it will fit the physical plant, things like siding lengths, distances between control points and so on. The density of traffic on many lines does not allow the luxury of tieing up a main line while a train doubles over or the tail end has not cleared the previous control point. Delays do cost money, and in Britain there can be significant fines for non-performance by the train operators. True PSR! I suspect you yourself had to deal occasionally with the dispatching headaches dealing with overlength trains.
You mean the only siding that will clear two opposing 'hot shots' is 120 miles from one or the other? Have also had the issue where the train in the siding 'fit' just not between the signals on the siding - opposing train arrived at its departing end of the siding and found the switch fouled by one car, train in the siding was 'neat' with its signal, but had two cars of room between the signal and the actual fouling point with the main. O dark thirty of course.
Words a Dispatcher never wants to utter and no one else ever want to hear - "What do you mean you don't fit!".
I am also surprised with the engineer leaving the locomotive unattended to throw his own hand-throw switches. Didn't hear dynamic brake 'whine' when descending the 1 in 47 grade; guess they are not equipped with dynamics.
No such thing as a non-clearing freight in the UK, and I don't think anywhere else in Europe. Absolute maximum length in the UK is 740 meters including locomotive. It is less in some countries like Italy. There have been attempts by CER the European equivalent to the AAR to get a standardized coupling adopted for freight cars but at the last moment some major country would back out due to cost to retrofit the entire fleet, usually France. In the mean time DB has equipped their Iron Ore hoppers with the C-AKv coupler.
C-AK coupling
The SBB Cargo has equipped a fleet of 75 freight wagons and 6 locomotives which are captive to Swiss domestic traffic with a beefed-up version of the Scharffenberg coupling for durability testing, and if it is successful they will go with that design. SNCF Fret is losing freight traffic by double digit percentages every year due to the constant strikes and it is quite possible that the other countries will adopt a standard of auto coupler with or without SNCF.
The C-AKv 'Willison' may be particularly attractive as it has designed-in compatibility with chain couplings. Here is a Wayback Machine-supplied earlier page on these things.
https://web.archive.org/web/20090519233410/http://www.ba-bautzen.de/wirtschaftssenioren/amk/amkenglish/wabconeu_e.htm
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