This is so rarely seen and yet amazing video of 'Oliver Cromwell' and Black 5 '44932' racing each other on a 4 track mainline in the UK, gives you goosebumps watching a steam engine really being thrashed yet alone two side by side.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niR9TwUglXI

Enjoy the best of British mainline steam.

Mike Pannell

(HOLY F***.)

Goose bumps, tears, and upraised fists, doing all I can not to bellow "MYYYYY LOOORRRRRDDDS!" at them! (The Brits will get the reference, dinnae worry.) Headphones on, sound cranked all the way up, and full-screen!

This brings me back to another "right place, right time" race I experienced over there in September 1991. On the way back to London from a big British Rail open house at Plymouth's Laira MPD, my HST (a.k.a InterCity 125) and another train of carriages and a Class 50 departed Reading headed east for Paddington almost simultaneously. Both drivers obviously decided to engage in a race, and I was enjoying it exactly as this chap was (except from an open vestibule door window, not the carriage-side window), mile after mile of hard acceleration, with the 50 on my right and my train on the left as these two were doing, shortly after sunset. At somewhere between 90 and 100, halfway to Paddington, the superior power of the two Paxman Valentas finally overtook the maxed-out "Hoover", and he tootled his horns in salute as we drew away.

Too dark for film photography, which is probably why I have the memories.

Here's the trackside view of this steam race:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=t__zpwemTdA

Mike Foxtrot........how much would some one pay to have, say 4449 and 844 racing against each other on the three track main in Nebraska? Beautiful!

Amazing! Simply amazing!

Impressions. . .Belpaire fireboxes, red cars with gold stripes, multi-track main line, track in beautiful condition, electrification, multiple trains around, including an MU (which actually looked like a diesel set), an elaborate junction, lots of grade separation. . .could this be a glimpse of what the Pennsy looked like in what is now the Northeast Corridor? Oh, I sure live in the wrong time. . .

Let's see, suppose you wanted to make a movie about American class I railroading, but between the expenses of insurance here, lack of multiple main line engines in some places, and a general unwillingness (perhaps justified) by railroads to cooperate for something like this, leave one with only two alternatives--special effects work with models, either real or digital, or doctoring up something in Europe or elsewhere to look like an American road, like Italian directors did with spaghetti westerns in the 1960s and early 1970s.

That might not be too crazy. We have an engine here that, in terms of proportion, including a Belpaire firebox, could look like something from the PRR. The tender isn't quite right for an American one, but it's still a good looker, so I wouldn't worry about it. What we would need to change would include a bolted smokebox door, headlight, bell, pilot, and some way to change out the link and buffer couplings for what the British call Buckeyes, which are of course our knuckle couplings. Finally, a chime whistle. . .

Now, what to do about cars, particularly freight cars? Four-wheelers were rare here, can we find enough bogie types there to represent an American road? And British passenger cars are beauties, but again, what looked like that here, except for some cars on the Canadian Pacific?

I'll ask for thoughts, but first, excuse me while I find my fire-proof underwear. . .

I live in the wrong time. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJQfbeVGzFA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY87_flBpFg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-BJm2Ei ... ure=relmfu

The "Tornado" on a test run, with cars and a diesel locomotive for loading; what's interesting is how the steamer's exhaust makes the wires for the electric trains bounce:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ahtisNF ... re=related

Have fun.

[Edit: Phooey, the "Tornado" clip is dead, remind me to check links previously posted to make sure they're still good.]

I think it's so great how, (I'm assuming) since there's so much straight level track on England, at times the engineers, while doing 70+ mph will just take their hands off the throttle and just chill for a little while

Anyway, here's a video of 5972 Hogwarts Castle (5972 Olton Hall)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJyRTHvW ... re=related

.

I saw this other angle of the "race" between Oliver Cromwell and the Black 5.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t__zpwem ... re=related

The Frisco and Missouri Pacific through Pacific, MO to Eureka, MO used to have some interesting races. A friend of mine was riding the eastbound Eagle and was watching a Frisco disc drivered 4300 with an oil train slowly passing them at speed. I even briefly took on a UP freight with the 1522 on one of our trips.
I like those Black Fives. They look like down in the dirt hard workers. No frills, just what you see is what you get.
Another race track was near Granite City, IL where the Wabash,C&EI,Alton and Big Four where side by side for a while.

The speed limits along that section would probably vary from 90-125mph being on the east coast mainline.

The locos are limited to 75mph for 70013 Oliver Cromwell and the black five would be limited to 60mph. In the UK steam locos are usually restricted to 45mph, 50mph, 60mph and 75mph depending on the driving wheel size when out on the national network. There was and still is hope that Tornado will be passed for 90mph running with it being a new build.



Some info here:-

http://www.uksteam.info/tours/locos.htm

I hope that is some help, Neil.

Fiddling around on YouTube, and came across some other interesting bits from our island friends to the east:

They have troubles, too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeiUEH8eLEA

More steam at speed--and of course, all hand-fired:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYtjMP4t ... ature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OkViN01 ... ature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr4ENK8d ... ature=plcp

Where these were all from:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Linesider1?feature=watch

Have fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41ZAv7aU ... ature=plcp