Class 37s in France (Train content)

[PRTVR]

Came across this YouTube video of class 37s Peaks working in france.
https://youtu.be/H2mq_GzNRak

[PRTVR]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Thanks for the link very interesting , always presumed we ran everything into the ground before replacing them, but it would appear the ground is located differently in different countries when needs must.

[Dogwatch]

Thanks to the Channel Tunnel rolling stock comes and goes internationally.

I notice that: Sometime we go on ze right, sometimes on ze left, but 'oo care?

Shrug!

[2xChevrons]

PRTVR said:

Came across this YouTube video of class 37s Peaks working in france.
https://youtu.be/H2mq_GzNRak

Glorious. Can't beat the sound of a Class 37 at full chat! I didn't know they worked in France. Funny to think that one of the world's finest high-speed networks was built by 50-year old British pig iron...

I feel I'd be letting down the long tradition of trainspotting pedantry if I didn't point out that 37s aren't 'Peaks' - they were the similar-looking but very different eight-axle Sulzer-engined Classes 44/45/46.

[loggo]

PRTVR said:

Came across this YouTube video of class 37s Peaks working in france.
https://youtu.be/H2mq_GzNRak

Ate not 37s and Peaks two very different things ?

[PRTVR]

loggo said:

PRTVR said:

Came across this YouTube video of class 37s Peaks working in france.
https://youtu.be/H2mq_GzNRak

Ate not 37s and Peaks two very different things ?

Yes old age has taken its toll, I will solemnly hand in my Ian allan book,
(yes I still have one from the 70s god knows why) ironically in the north east where I live the main locomotive working the coal was type 3s 37s so there is no excuse.

[ukaskew]

Dogwatch said:

Thanks to the Channel Tunnel rolling stock comes and goes internationally.

You'll have to excuse my ignorance, but are they towed through? I always assumed trains would have to run on electric through the tunnel.

[tight5]

PRTVR said:

ironically in the north east where I live the main locomotive working the coal was type 3s 37s so there is no excuse.

I started in '86 and the main loco for coal was 56.

37s, bloody awful things.

[PRTVR]

tight5 said:

PRTVR said:

ironically in the north east where I live the main locomotive working the coal was type 3s 37s so there is no excuse.

I started in '86 and the main loco for coal was 56.

37s, bloody awful things.

What was wrong with the 37s, underpowered or was it just that they were old, I use the word old but here is a picture I snapped of one still operating in 2015 over in Cumbria.

[tight5]

37s, low powered, noisy, draughty, rattly, hand brakes took LOTS of turns to put on and take off, bloody AWS handles (forget to isolate when changing ends, so you have to go back).

56s, lovely.
power, ride quality (compared to a 37), heaters (not radiators), power , turbo sonicing (set car alarms off in stations), powered parking brake.

56s now replaced by the even more lovely 66s.

[DaveyBoyWonder]

As a part time train geek, I absolutely love a class 37, moreso than most/all other classes of diesel.

[P5BNij]

tight5 said:

37s, low powered, noisy, draughty, rattly, hand brakes took LOTS of turns to put on and take off, bloody AWS handles (forget to isolate when changing ends, so you have to go back).

56s, lovely.
power, ride quality (compared to a 37), heaters (not radiators), power , turbo sonicing (set car alarms off in stations), powered parking brake.

56s now replaced by the even more lovely 66s.

66s lovely...? I hate the damned things, ying ying ying all day long, draughty, crap seats... bah humbug!

[TommoAE86]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Apologies for my ignorance but does this applies to alot of railway diesels around that time? When I was a lad my grandfather would take me to watch the trains and so saw 37, 47, 31, 56 and one 58, always wanted to see a 50 but never managed to.

The one I liked best for the 47 and a few times IC Swallowed liveried subbed for the HST's that usually took me North got to see them come past swapping ends at Reading

[davebem]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I guess the 1st gen of diesels replaced steam and at the time were probably a big step up from getting your eyebrows singed off, oily finger nails, achy arms, a nose full of coal dust and soaking wet from an open steam engine cab. By the time the French got them I bet some of them had racked up about 10 million miles and they look like they were in the state BR had them in.. I wonder what the french made of them!?

Edited by davebem on Thursday 11th June 14:11

[P5BNij]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

66s reliable, pretty much yes but I've had three that expired spectacularly when the crankcases blew. I signed 70s in October last year but have yet to drive one in anger on my own, I'm past the point where I'll need a refresher on them now. When learning them we did trip from Crewe to Trafford Park with a 'liner train, once on the move I was very impressed by the power but the routine for changing ends and isolating bits 'n' bobs in certain situations is a real pain, so much so that I've got all the procedures printed out and laminated which I keep in my kit bag, just in case. There's a lot more to them than a 66 and annoyingly my union rep was involved with their cab design and elected to do away with the cooker hob on our behalf, which hasn't gone down well!

[Europa1]

davebem said:

By the time the French got them I bet some of them had racked up about 10 million miles and they look like they were in the state BR had them in.. I wonder what the french made of them!?

Edited by davebem on Thursday 11th June 14:11

Have you seen the state of some of the locomotives SNCF runs?

[AJB88]

P5BNij said:

66s reliable, pretty much yes but I've had three that expired spectacularly when the crankcases blew. I signed 70s in October last year but have yet to drive one in anger on my own, I'm past the point where I'll need a refresher on them now. When learning them we did trip from Crewe to Trafford Park with a 'liner train, once on the move I was very impressed by the power but the routine for changing ends and isolating bits 'n' bobs in certain situations is a real pain, so much so that I've got all the procedures printed out and laminated which I keep in my kit bag, just in case. There's a lot more to them than a 66 and annoyingly my union rep was involved with their cab design and elected to do away with the cooker hob on our behalf, which hasn't gone down well!

Had a 66 blow its crankcase recently on a possession job.

[AJB88]

While out in Romania I saw a few 92's.

[tight5]

On a T3 you want a 66, great seat for kipping.
My company doesn't have 70s.
We do have 67s tho, bouncy bouncy bouncy.
60s quiet, usually a heavy train, rocking at tick over.
Best of all, 325s, fast and quiet, but cold in the winter and can't see anything, good brakes.

[tight5]

It's the seats in 67s that bounce.
Not good.

I worked a charter train with them top'n'tailed.
Weird things happened with them while changing ends and isolating/deisolating.