A Most Impractical Preserved Diesel

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Wed Sep 25, 2013 9:09 am

You gotta admire them.....

http://www.nottinghampost.com/Record-br ... story.html

Quote:

The star will be the only surviving prototype High Speed Train (HST) Power Car – which arrived at Ruddington from York on Wednesday.

The move follows an agreement between GCR and the National Railway Museum that the carriage will be housed permanently at Ruddington while it is restored to full working order by Group 125.

Commercial director Phil Stanway said: "We are hoping the new addition will attract people who might not normally come down to the diesel gala so we are expecting a big turnout – between 300 and 500 people.

"It has been referred to as the Tornado equivalent of the diesel world so it really is quite a coup for us to have it here. We are very pleased the National Railway Museum chose us."

Ruddington was chosen as the train's new home due to the engineering and operational capabilities the site can offer.

It is expected the HST will be fully operational once again by next year.

The car made history when it was first produced and underwent a number of runs on the East Coast Main Line between York and Darlington.

The tests started on May 5, 1973, and on June 12 the train attained a speed of 143.2mph – a world speed record for diesel traction.

The prototype power cars were withdrawn from service in late 1976. While this power car, No. 41001, was preserved by the National Railway Museum, the others were scrapped in 1990.

filmteknik · **Posted:** Wed Sep 25, 2013 9:36 am

The preserved Deltics would also qualify as impractical though I understand those crazy engines come out easily enough as they were designed for swapping out for maintenance.

Steve

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Wed Sep 25, 2013 9:54 am

filmteknik wrote:

The preserved Deltics would also qualify as impractical though I understand those crazy engines come out easily enough as they were designed for swapping out for maintenance.

And you can operate them on one engine only (1650hp) to save fuel on a heritage railway, unlike a lot of the alternatives...... :)

Overmod · **Joined:** Thu May 24, 2012 1:37 pm **Posts:** 2230

And you can't throttle an 18-cylinder Paxman Valenta to well below 1600 hp?

Why is an HST power car any more 'impractical' than, say, the Flying Yankee?

... and beside, what a glorious noise those things make when you throttle them up!

Now, if you had said the APT-E, with its turbines, hydrokinetic brake, and active tilt, you might have me agreeing on 'impractical' -- a bit like trying to restore and fly a Concorde; you might do it, but where's the possible return to scale on costs? But I don't see anything irrationally expensive in restoring a HPT power car to occasional operation. What do you see that I don't?

J3a-614 · **Posted:** Wed Sep 25, 2013 6:57 pm

Overmod wrote:

Now, if you had said the APT-E, with its turbines, hydrokinetic brake, and active tilt, you might have me agreeing on 'impractical' -- a bit like trying to restore and fly a Concorde; you might do it, but where's the possible return to scale on costs? But I don't see anything irrationally expensive in restoring a HPT power car to occasional operation. What do you see that I don't?

Interestingly, the APT-E has been preserved--remarkable, partially because this prototype was never intended for revenue service:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_APT-E

Overmod · **Joined:** Thu May 24, 2012 1:37 pm **Posts:** 2230

APT-E is not only preserved, it is actively being restored by some of its original developers. Interestingly enough, it would not be *that* difficult to get the thing to running condition (albeit not high-speed operability) -- the principal problems being where to run it, and would there be enough people wanting to ride it to justify the added expense.

There is an Advanced Passenger Train Yahoo group, which I highly recommend to anyone interested in the history and status of this train. The personal stories, in particular, deserve reading...

A Most Impractical Preserved Diesel

Who is online