Does anyone else miss the NOISY old HSTs?

[whole diary]

[Not from Brighton]

Is it a bit soon to get nostalgic about the pre-upgrade HST^▸ (High Speed Train) engines?
In no particular order, experiences it is no longer possible to experience:

• Being slightly awestruck by an everyday machine.
• Trying to make a mobile call at Reading station and giving up as each departing train obliterates anything else that dares to call itself sound.
• The eruption of impenetrable black smoke produced as one coughed into life, almost as if some enormous squid has filled the station with airborne ink.
• The distant whine of the 0730 to Paddington reminding me that I really should have gotten out of bed some time ago.

[devon_metro]

Might I suggest a trip to Sunderland on Grand Central who still use the noisy powercars with the collosal turbo.

[welshman]

I thought everyone preferred the deafening screams of Paxman Valentas at full chat to these new-fangled MTU^▸ (Motor Traction Unit) things.

There are some good clips on YouTube to help you feel nostalgic including a few full-chat through Didcot jobs.

The MTUs don't produce the same amount of clag either but I suppose we are not allowed to complain about that on environmental grounds.

[chrisoates]

Something like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1ICcOu0NkM&playnext_from=PL&feature=PlayList&p=AEE85EAB076A34B2&playnext=1&index=44

I used to work about a mile from St Erth, the HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) used to sprint out Hayle and notch down opposite me - the diesel noise faded out leaving you with the gradual wind down of the turbo scream - marvellous.


 

[Tim]

I'm in my thirties and I've got this strange feeling that HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) will be the first train that I feel nostalgic about.  I hope we get some painted back to the yellow and blue livery before they are withdrawn

[eightf48544]

I'm in my thirties and I've got this strange feeling that HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) will be the first train that I feel nostalgic about.  I hope we get some painted back to the yellow and blue livery before they are withdrawn

And back to the original seating configuration! That would really show up the Pendelinos  Vomiters et al!

I don't hold hold out much hope for the IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) either.

Perhaps we should have a vote, HST the finiest train BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) ever built? Although I liked the post war loco hauled Pullmans used on the West and East Coast in the late 60s.

Of course even the HST pales compared with a DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about) ICE2. 

[thetrout]

What I think is amazing about the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) is that it has 2 Power Cars that are over 70 Tonnes. It then has 8 Carriages, Passengers, Luggage etc. The HST is capable of 125MPH. For a design in the 70's to achieve that speed with the shear weight of all the power cars and carriages, I think, is Pretty Impressive

On Topic, Yes I missed the noise of a good old Paxman Valenta. Although it's bad for the enviornment, I think the thick black smoke really showed just how hard these magnificant trains work

[Electric train]

What I think is amazing about the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) is that it has 2 Power Cars that are over 70 Tonnes. It then has 8 Carriages, Passengers, Luggage etc. The HST is capable of 125MPH. For a design in the 70's to achieve that speed with the shear weight of all the power cars and carriages, I think, is Pretty Impressive

On Topic, Yes I missed the noise of a good old Paxman Valenta. Although it's bad for the enviornment, I think the thick black smoke really showed just how hard these magnificant trains work

They were in essance a 1960's design the prototype being run in the early 1970's.

The Valenta engine was not designed for a traction loading hence many of its problems in the early days.  The traction power system was a break from previous diesel electrics using an alternator and not a DC^▸ (Direct Current) generator although the traction motors are still a DC series wound motor they do not use field diverts and the power control is electronic

[eightf48544]

What I think is amazing about the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) is that it has 2 Power Cars that are over 70 Tonnes. It then has 8 Carriages, Passengers, Luggage etc. The HST is capable of 125MPH. For a design in the 70's to achieve that speed with the shear weight of all the power cars and carriages, I think, is Pretty Impressive

On Topic, Yes I missed the noise of a good old Paxman Valenta. Although it's bad for the enviornment, I think the thick black smoke really showed just how hard these magnificant trains work

Agreed 70 tonnes seems heavy for a power car but it's less than a 20 ton axle load.

Remember their contempories like the 40 and 45 weighed in at well over 100 tonnes but the 40s were about the same horsepower and the 45 around 500 hp more and both classes had to be carried on 4 axle bogies and were pushed to get to 90.

[Don]

Yes I missed the noise of a good old Paxman Valenta. Although it's bad for the enviornment, I think the thick black smoke really showed just how hard these magnificant trains work

Off topic but, if you like thick black smoke and noise - something foreign......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEETEOcQW90

Watch it loud, and watch all 2min 35sec of it.

[Not from Brighton]

It's not the same!

[thetrout]

Off topic but, if you like thick black smoke and noise - something foreign......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEETEOcQW90

Watch it loud, and watch all 2min 35sec of it.

Thats rather impressive

Still prefer a Class 37, 47 and HST^▸ (High Speed Train) though

I see a 67 at Taunton Station most mornings, Just watching ticking over is rather awe inspiring

[inspector_blakey]

Have you ever stood next to a deltic (class 55)? They make the ground shake when they're idling, and enough noise to wake the dead at full chat - now that's impressive!

Thinking about it though I don't suppose many platform staff miss the old Valentas...can't have done much for your hearing having those Napiers whistling past you umpteen times every shift. I was chatting to a bus driver who used to work for Thames Trains at Slough station before the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) were re-engined and he was telling me what a fright he got on his first day when an HST close to 125 went zinging past a few feet away!

[Not from Brighton]

I think the poor people who worked on platform 4 at reading must have had it the worst! As another thread pointed out it is very busy handling every single westbound train on the main lines.  Also, there's nowhere to hide!

[tramway]

What I think is amazing about the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) is that it has 2 Power Cars that are over 70 Tonnes. It then has 8 Carriages, Passengers, Luggage etc. The HST is capable of 125MPH. For a design in the 70's to achieve that speed with the shear weight of all the power cars and carriages, I think, is Pretty Impressive

On Topic, Yes I missed the noise of a good old Paxman Valenta. Although it's bad for the enviornment, I think the thick black smoke really showed just how hard these magnificant trains work

IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) they are capable of 140+ and still the holder of the world speed record for diesel powered passenger train.