Imaginary Locomotives

[Compound2632]

21 minutes ago, AlfaZagato said:

surprisingly vast parts of the Pennsy, all wired.

 

A classic view:

 

 

Class GG1 No. 4868 on 'The Congressional', October 1965. That really is the sort of locomotive one couldn't imagine, if it wasn't real.

 

[Embedded link to Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.]

[AlfaZagato]

They're massive in person, too.   There's one over in Union at the Illinois Railway Museum.    IRM can't run it, sadly.  They're strung for 600vDC IIRC.

[Mike 84C]

My pen friends father was an engineer on the Penn Central and I got to ride a GG1 a couple of times from Perth Amboy into Penn Sta NY. They were amazing machines only thing better would have been to go on a K4 Pacific, 10years to late for that!

[Flying Pig]

27 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

Class GG1 No. 4868 on 'The Congressional', October 1965. That really is the sort of locomotive one couldn't imagine, if it wasn't real.

 

 

Frankly, most pre-WW2 electric locos look pretty strange to anyone raised on they typical late 20th Century Bo-Bo.  I almost suggested electrification and a Midland Krokodil for the Lickey.

[Northmoor]

On 02/08/2024 at 15:36, Flying Pig said:

 

Frankly, most pre-WW2 electric locos look pretty strange to anyone raised on they typical late 20th Century Bo-Bo.  I almost suggested electrification and a Midland Krokodil for the Lickey.

Why not, to avoid the cost of whole-route electrification, just electrify Bromsgrove-Barnt Green, purely for the "banker"?  After all the MS&L was electrified primarily to solve the problem of Worsborough incline.

[Flying Pig]

8 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

Why not, to avoid the cost of whole-route electrification, just electrify Bromsgrove-Barnt Green, purely for the "banker"?  After all the MS&L was electrified primarily to solve the problem of Worsborough incline.

 

That was pretty much my thinking, though the wires would probably only need to go as far as Blackwell where the bankers came off.

[Michael Edge]

9 hours ago, Northmoor said:

Why not, to avoid the cost of whole-route electrification, just electrify Bromsgrove-Barnt Green, purely for the "banker"?  After all the MS&L was electrified primarily to solve the problem of Worsborough incline.

The Worsborough branch was the first part switched on but the scheme was a lot more ambitious than that, the initial order was for 27 EM2s - the main line scheme was cut back a lot very quickly.

[dave75]

Wasn't there an earlier GC proposal to electrify just the bank, based on a visit by Robinson to the states, I'm sure SR Batty mentions it. Would love to see a GC electric loco on Michaels layout alongside EB1 :-)

[62613]

On 05/08/2024 at 07:56, Michael Edge said:

The Worsborough branch was the first part switched on but the scheme was a lot more ambitious than that, the initial order was for 27 EM2s - the main line scheme was cut back a lot very quickly.

Think I've mentioned this before, I've seen a diagram which showed electrification round the Fallowfield Loop and into Central and also the chord towards Trafford Park.

 

I can well imagine the GC directors considering electrification of the Woodhead line, given the atmosphere inside the tunnels themselves. 

[Michael Edge]

Yes, that was definitely in the original scheme.

[DenysW]

11 hours ago, 62613 said:

I can well imagine the GC directors considering electrification of the Woodhead line, given the atmosphere inside the tunnels themselves. 

I can also imagine them either chickening out when they found out the scheme would have needed a new tunnel, or going third rail. BR put in the extra tunnel.

 

But I thought it was Worsborough that had legendarily bad air in its tunnels. Woodhead as well?

[Michael Edge]

The old Woodhead tunnels were truly awful, the south tunnel was falling in (still is) and they weren't big enough to put wires in. At one time there was an intermediate block signal box in the middle, serving both tunnels but it was abandoned due to appalling conditions in there. The Silkstone tunnels on the Worsborough branch are considerably bigger (double track), the bad conditions were caused by trains traveling at about 4mph with up to five locos on each.

[62613]

2 hours ago, DenysW said:

I can also imagine them either chickening out when they found out the scheme would have needed a new tunnel, or going third rail. BR put in the extra tunnel.

 

But I thought it was Worsborough that had legendarily bad air in its tunnels. Woodhead as well?

The tunnels were on a gradient, weren't they; not sure which way, but locos would obviously have had to keep steam on in the uphill, which wouldn't have been fun.

[Flying Fox 34F]

Somebody mentioned this on another thread recently.  Going from memory, a Premium Apprentice, (or Trainee Manager), recalled travelling east on the footplate of a Goods Train.  The Fireman banked the firebox right to the bottom of the fire hole, the three men covered their heads with wet towels and dropped to the floor on entering the tunnel.  A very unpleasant three miles in the dark!

 

Paul

[rockershovel]

3 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

The old Woodhead tunnels were truly awful, the south tunnel was falling in (still is) and they weren't big enough to put wires in. At one time there was an intermediate block signal box in the middle, serving both tunnels but it was abandoned due to appalling conditions in there. The Silkstone tunnels on the Worsborough branch are considerably bigger (double track), the bad conditions were caused by trains traveling at about 4mph with up to five locos on each.

The tunnels which now form the Thames link at King X / St Pancras had a signal box under the road. It was reached by a flight of spiral stairs from street level. 

 

The signalman would then cross the (unlit) lines to the box....

 

Ventilation was by a single grating in the pavement. It must have been absolutely deaadful. 

[Michael Edge]

2 hours ago, 62613 said:

The tunnels were on a gradient, weren't they; not sure which way, but locos would obviously have had to keep steam on in the uphill, which wouldn't have been fun.

The summit is about two thirds of the way along from the western side, so at least the loads were mostly going downhill.