best train.......
- Thread starter tangerinedream
- Start date
beesonthewhatnow said:
Seconded. with due respect to the Bulleid Pacific and Britannia class.
As for diesels, look no further than their replacements:
http://www.preserved-diesels.co.uk/engines/55009.27_htm
Over the Settle - Carlisle line of course. Thats a trip i could never get tired of.
Worldwide, can't really suggest the Bullet or Trans-siberian Express cos i've never had the privilege to travel on them, but I have travelled by TGV and that was quite a hellfire ride.
The Duke of Gloucester
Like a Britannia, but even more impressive.
It was meant to be the prototype for a new class of 3-cylinder pacifics in the 1950s, but by then BR had decided to phase out steam engines, and anyway, the Duke was a failure in service and went for scrap. During the restoration, which was completed in 1986, some of the faults in the original design - a poor chimney, dodgy firebox ventilation and so on - were rectified, and now it's reckoned one of the best steam engines out there.
http://www.dukeofgloucester.cwc.net/
Like a Britannia, but even more impressive.
It was meant to be the prototype for a new class of 3-cylinder pacifics in the 1950s, but by then BR had decided to phase out steam engines, and anyway, the Duke was a failure in service and went for scrap. During the restoration, which was completed in 1986, some of the faults in the original design - a poor chimney, dodgy firebox ventilation and so on - were rectified, and now it's reckoned one of the best steam engines out there.
http://www.dukeofgloucester.cwc.net/
Harold Hill
Jay Emm forgot his p/word
Nine Bob Note said:No 6: Percy.
*Nods, to confirm his own views as correct*
Nah the one is editors pic is Duck.
Christ knows how I remembered that.
The SNCF 241P class 4-8-2 express engine.
A compound engine designed by Andre Chapelon, this thing had two completely separate gear-sets and needed a fully trained engineer to handle it. But it was immensely powerful (20-coach loads were no problem at all), extremely economical for its size, very fast and it looks magnificent.
Chapelon was about the only person to produce compound engines that were good enough to justify the extra expense and complication. One or two British designers got somewhere near, but most didn't - such as F.W. Webb of the LNWR, whose compound engines sometimes managed the remarkable feat of spinning their two (uncoupled) driving axles in opposite directions!
IIRC one of the 241Ps has just been restored to working order. I'd love to see it.
<edit> Yes I know i'm very sad, before anyone reminds me!
A compound engine designed by Andre Chapelon, this thing had two completely separate gear-sets and needed a fully trained engineer to handle it. But it was immensely powerful (20-coach loads were no problem at all), extremely economical for its size, very fast and it looks magnificent.
Chapelon was about the only person to produce compound engines that were good enough to justify the extra expense and complication. One or two British designers got somewhere near, but most didn't - such as F.W. Webb of the LNWR, whose compound engines sometimes managed the remarkable feat of spinning their two (uncoupled) driving axles in opposite directions!
IIRC one of the 241Ps has just been restored to working order. I'd love to see it.
<edit> Yes I know i'm very sad, before anyone reminds me!
franklin1777
Time marches on
Roadkill said:
The 125's are getting old though and they have their own problems.
I am hoping HST2 is the 126 for the next century, which will then crush the voyagers and all those other puny wannabes to dust.
Mwahhh ha ha.
franklin1777 said:
Oh definitely the 125s are old, and AFAIK they're all due to be withdrawn in the next couple of years but they're much nicer to ride on than the pathetic Voyagers. Last time I was on one of said shitheaps a member of staff even told me (I was grumbling mildly to her about the train) that the 125s were easier to work on and generated fewer complaints. New trains were needed, but they could have been so much better designed than the Voyagers.
bfg said:
I didn't know that. I assumed the problems with the 125s ran a bit deeper than the engines. If they can be re-engined and given another lease of life then that's excellent news as far as i'm concerned. They're miles better to travel on than either the hopeless Voyagers or the nearly-as-nasty 'Adelante' things that First have introduced.
Gratuitous 125 pic:
Tbh i think they look great as well, in a '70s sort of way.
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
bigbry said:
Ensure you get the 14 day visitors railcard for Swiss trains before you get to the country, once there, they won't sell it to you. Utterly splendid value & valid on just about all the small mountain railways as well
For locos - Delitcs
Innit wonderful what you can do with a passed-over aircraft engine design?
DaveCinzano
WATCH OUT, GEORGE, HE'S GOT A SCREWDRIVER!
a text from isambard:
"live report for the eurorail thread [can't find that, this seemed nearest]: ace slovak beer, retro trains that spank virgin and the odd hunky station master!"
"live report for the eurorail thread [can't find that, this seemed nearest]: ace slovak beer, retro trains that spank virgin and the odd hunky station master!"
Sigmund Fraud
893 all the way.
so good they wrote a song about it.
In 1977 I was a 6 year old waiting on the platform at St Raphael station in the south of france for the Paris sleeper with my family...then this mutherfucker rolled in. Words and pictures don't do justice to this train, it was techno in a way that no British train will ever be, fast and bulbous on the outside, glam eye searingly red and whiter than white interior - like the blokes toilets in The Shining. It was achingly cool, once intended as the way for people to get around Europe (before cars were good enough to drive long distance and flying was within reach for ordinary people).
The mk1 TGV, Intercity 125 and Eurostar are all cool express trains but nothing matches this for sheer balls.
Lisarocket
In bed with me dinner
maldwyn said:
Now that's a train i'd really like to catch at least once in my life
From a style point of view, I always liked the Santa Fe Warbonnet livery. My ex had a thing about (mainly american) model trains (is that more anorak-y than ACTUAL train spotters?) and this was my favourite. Don't know a thing about the engine itself, but like to look at it. Probably something to do with my fixation on Art Deco and all things even remotely 1930s looking.
Santa Fe Warbonnet
I do think the 125s (in old BR Blue/Yellow livery) have most nostalgic value for me, being a child of the 70s, and since I started reading this thread I have images of Jimmy Saville and can hear the chorister singing "This is the age of the traaaaaiin... this is the aaaaaaaaaaaaaage....."
then, [spoken by Jimmy Saville]
"of the train!"
Great 70s TV moment.
Probably something to do with my fixation on Art Deco and all things even remotely 1930s looking. Santa Fe Warbonnet
I do think the 125s (in old BR Blue/Yellow livery) have most nostalgic value for me, being a child of the 70s, and since I started reading this thread I have images of Jimmy Saville and can hear the chorister singing "This is the age of the traaaaaiin... this is the aaaaaaaaaaaaaage....."
then, [spoken by Jimmy Saville]
"of the train!"
Great 70s TV moment.
miss giggles
an unknown quantity...
For me, it's always the one that comes when it's meant to.
Oh sod it. One more...
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/railpics/picture/80079c.jpg
The British Rail class 4 standard 2-6-4 tank engine.
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/railpics/picture/80079c.jpg
The British Rail class 4 standard 2-6-4 tank engine.
The world's fastest train, the Shanghai Maglev, also deserves a mention. Although it only runs on about 18 miles of track from Shanghai to the airport, it gets up to 180 miles per hour in two minutes and has reached a top speed of 311 miles per hour.
Some bloke turned up on Newsnight a few months ago promoting the possibility of a Maglev network in Britain but it'll never happen.
Some bloke turned up on Newsnight a few months ago promoting the possibility of a Maglev network in Britain but it'll never happen.
oneflewover
Following "The Tigers"
A little bit cranky, but being in enginnering you have to be impressed with any company that would put two of these in a loco
http://www.lexcie.zetnet.co.uk/delticengine.gif
and then run them in 23hr diagrams. I spent some time working on these 20 years ago.
Up The Tigers
http://www.lexcie.zetnet.co.uk/delticengine.gif
and then run them in 23hr diagrams. I spent some time working on these 20 years ago.
Up The Tigers
Johnny Canuck3
Well-Known Member
Johnny Canuck3
Well-Known Member
The City of New Orleans
onemonkey said:1st class on the eurostar was a slight disappointment.. hadn't been expecting airline food
it was a good journey otherwise
you're better off getting your own packed lunch on the eurostar. the food on 2nd class is expensive is expensive and not worth eating. bring back the old BR sarnies!
shandy said:The world's fastest train, the Shanghai Maglev, also deserves a mention. Although it only runs on about 18 miles of track from Shanghai to the airport, it gets up to 180 miles per hour in two minutes and has reached a top speed of 311 miles per hour.
Some bloke turned up on Newsnight a few months ago promoting the possibility of a Maglev network in Britain but it'll never happen.
and then you have to crawl the last few miles into shanghai itself because it stops outside the city. what's the point
Mrs Magpie
On a bit of break...
Just got this email...this seemed an appropriate thread to bung it on...
Similar threads
