Here in Sweden, we get our trains delivered by track. ;-) I saw a set of new subway cars being delivered on the national rail network. Although they had a diesel-electric locomotive pulling them as they couldn't drive on their own power on the track network they were delivered on.
Wonderful bit of filming, all British, for a change, great loco, great truck and magnificent driving, a credit to everyone involved, all captured on a brilliant video, well done. Truly, best of British.Dave
Class 50s used to double-head my Glasgow-Birmingham "Midland Scot" in 1972. Coach door windows used to open back then, so being right behind the rear engine over Shap was really something. You learned why they were called Hoovers!
I worked on the railways over here in Britain for nearly 50 years . I do not think people realise how trick and dangerous that move was . I do not know that weight of one of these class 50 locos is , but it must be at least 40 or 45 tons . If that engine had gone over on it's side , it would have taken most of the people standing around out with it ! Well done and very highly skilled work !
I remember seeing the Hoovers thundering through Surbiton at 75MPH!! The station destination board would say "Stand Clear, Fast Train Approaching", They weren't kidding!!!
STGO stands for Special Types General Order. STGO is the abbreviation that appears on the plate on the front of Heavy Haulage tractor units, to indicate what weight Category they are licensed for operation at. There are three "Categories"; Cat 1, Cat 2 and Cat 3. Cat 3 is 150 ton gross weight limit, 16 ton axle limit. 30MPH Limit on the motorway.
No, in fact the driver was a half Mongolian Inuit nomad of Sino/Irish extraction. Just thank God there was no Dutch or German ancestry, otherwise there would be no room for anyone else in the comments section.
seems like a pretty labour intensive way to get a train delivered considering it could just, you know, get to its destination by driving on the tracks...
Hahaha! I don't see anyone wearing a Hard hat. Any heavy job requires the people working around to have hard hat, safety glasses, gloves and safety shoes. Moreover the area need to be cordoned off with atleast traffic cones, which were removed in the beginning, although they were there in the beginning.
With such a slashed post-Beeching railway Network, there are not enough paths for everyday schedules, let alone space for a light loco to run from one preserved line to another. And maybe where it came from did not have a mainline connection.
This particular locomotive, being preserved is not passed fit to run on the national network. Preserved locomotives have to pass very strict safety tests and examinations to run on the national network and this example would not pass them without thousands of pounds worth of expenditure!
