Class 45 Peaks - and an apology

[Anonymous]

Ladies and Gents,

Sorry for the grief caused by my last and I promise to stay on topic[:)]


michaelstevens asked for more on my namesake loco which he correctly identified as a Sulzer-engined 1-CoCo-1.

There are a couple of reasons for my choice - firstly I grew up in Nuneaton (Near to Birmingham) and the Midland Main Line from St Pancras to Sheffield is not so far away. This was the main stamping ground for class 45 in the late 70's. Their other main axis was the North East - South West passenger service through Birmingham. I have a lot of happy miles behind them.

They were quite an early design and a little underpowered (2500hp/138tons)for their weight but very impressive. There were 2 subclasses 45/0 (Steam heat fitted) and 45/1 (Hence 45144) which carried ETH equipment (Head End Power). the 50 45/1 were converted from the standard 45 in the early 70's. 45/0 in particular also spent a lot of time dragging heavy freight for which they were admirably suited despite having a fine turn of speed on passenger work.

The final nail in the coffin for the class was 'Sprinterisation' where we, or at least our political masters, took the crazy decision to replace 8 coac loco-hauled trains with 2 coach Sprinter units (Modern DMUs) The MML workings were lost to the superb HST which beleive it or not has been running 125mph services for 27 years now.

On to the other reason for my choice of loco, the first 10 Peaks (Class 44) were named after English mountains - pretty much what you guys would call molehills but...

The 45 and the later 46 classes inherited the nickname but the named examples carried Regimental names taken from LMS steam locos. I spent 15 years serving the Queen so, if I tell you that 45144 was called Royal Signals, I guess you can work out which branch of the military that was.

There were some stirring names 5th Royal Inniskilling dragoon Guards being the first named example I saw and that was one hefty nameplate. The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment (TA) wasn't small either.

46026 (The only named 46) was known to all and sundry as LADY as her name was' The Leicestershire and Derbyshire Yeomanry'. Nicknames for the class were Peaks, if you liked them, or Wagons if you didn't.

I liked them and try to ride behind the preserved examples as often as I can.

All the best - firmly on topic this time

'

[dharmon]

I don't think an apology is required. Sometimes a minute, seemingly unimportant statement will set off a member or two then thestart at it then the relevance of the whole post id destroyed...sort of what happened in the great US vs Canada war of '03. Whatever...we all get thin skin once in awhile...just some more than others.

That was an interesting piece of info on the UK locos. I don't think very many US roads named thier locos....The there were a few, particularly in the very early days ..the Rocket, the General etc. But post say 1900, the only road I know of (and I'm going to corrected... so I say once again..that I know of) was the Maine Central. They named a class of thier deisels after Maine state persona..Joshua Chamberlain, etc. I personally think it add a bit of ownership and flair to the equipment.

[michaelstevens]

Well said "Royal Signaller" -- and thanks for the info.

Say -- how many Peaks have been preserved ? I occasionally see reports on Pete Waterman's specimen -- in The Railway Magazine.

Mike in Philly.

[jchnhtfd]

dharmon -- not a correction!!! just an addition -- D&H named some of their steam engines in the first part of the 20th century, too, and I have a faint (like: very faint) memory that maybe the Southern did... it's a nice touch, as you say. So was the habit some lines had (again, the Southern, I think) of assigning one crew to one engine, and letting them 'customize' it a little; those engines were always spotless! But like a lot of other things, all that went with what surely seems a more leisurely and gracious time...

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jchnhtfd

dharmon -- not a correction!!! just an addition -- D&H named some of their steam engines in the first part of the 20th century, too, and I have a faint (like: very faint) memory that maybe the Southern did... it's a nice touch, as you say. So was the habit some lines had (again, the Southern, I think) of assigning one crew to one engine, and letting them 'customize' it a little; those engines were always spotless! But like a lot of other things, all that went with what surely seems a more leisurely and gracious time...

Sorry, I've been posting recently over on the MR forums and lately oneupsmanship and condescending posting has been the name of the game.....

Giving ownership so to speak of a loco or any piece of equipment is alway a good idea. Maintenance, appearance and cleanliness always seem to improve when a crew has a vested interest in it.

[Anonymous]

There are 2 class 44 - Great gable and Penyghent
11 class 45
and 3 class 46

Pete Waterman's is D172 or 46045 (Depends how old you are) and carries the name Ixion from its time in Departmental service (Not sure how that translates - non-revenue earning stock used for internal testing/engineering purposes) I know Ixion comes from the Greek but I'm not sure of the eact derivation. She is fully main line registered as is 45112.

My current favourite loco on the main line is 40145 - it took 18 years to get her running again and every tour is superb. She dates from 1961 and sounds absolutely awesome. 40's were also 1Co-Co1 locos but a mere 2000HP and used an English electric engine.

Interesting to hear that US locos didn't carry names - a shame in my opinion although I notice that they always have the definite article - 'the 261', the 1234 and so on whereas we would say 261 or 1234. Most of ours are she even if they have a male name. Two countries divided by a common language?

[edblysard]

The Katy, (MKT) named some of their passenger train locomotives after famous racehorses.
And 45144, no need to say your sorry.
One of the best parts of our constitution says you have the right to say whatever you want.
If some here dont get the joke, or have a little thinner skin that day, well,
ya cant please everybody all the time.

Off topic, ...
Whats you opinion of David Atkinson, MP?
He will be the host of the student ambassador program my daughter is part of.
From his corspondence to the students, he seems rather middle of the road on most issues.
Just nosey...
Stay Frosty,
Ed

[Anonymous]

No need to apologize. We are all friends here and debate is good.

Nice info on your tag line.

[espeefoamer]

I seem to recall the Rock Island named some of its locos in the 70's.One was named"American Railfan."

[michaelstevens]

[8D]
Yes R.S. -- I remember the EEClass40's from when my Gran lived near the WCML at Rugby.
Being from GWR country (near Swindon), I was always impressed by how long the trains were -- not fast (like the 52's) -- but long !! [:p]

[:D] Now I'm getting homesick !! [:D]