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Author Topic: Just a thought on what's wrong these days...  (Read 3329 times)
old original
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« on: June 17, 2019, 15:17:43 »

When looking at the power car with the silhouettes of all the various trains which have run on the GWML (Great Western Main Line) over the decades, all I can think of is....
British, British, British, British, British, British,........French,  Japanese
😕
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Red Squirrel
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« Reply #1 on: June 17, 2019, 16:41:30 »

Which do you lament: The fact that they're Japanese, or the fact that some people think that's a problem?

Actually IETs (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) aren't very Japanese - aside from the fact that they're built in Newton Aycliffe, they have major components designed and manufactured in Germany, Britain, Sweden and Italy...
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grahame
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« Reply #2 on: June 17, 2019, 16:47:45 »

Which do you lament: The fact that they're Japanese, or the fact that some people think that's a problem?

Actually IETs (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) aren't very Japanese - aside from the fact that they're built in Newton Aycliffe, they have major components designed and manufactured in Germany, Britain, Sweden and Italy...

Brake systems from Melksham ... pantographs from Chard ...
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« Reply #3 on: June 17, 2019, 16:52:30 »

Which do you lament: The fact that they're Japanese, or the fact that some people think that's a problem?

Actually IETs (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) aren't very Japanese - aside from the fact that they're built in Newton Aycliffe, they have major components designed and manufactured in Germany, Britain, Sweden and Italy...

Brake systems from Melksham ... pantographs from Chard ...

Windscreen wipers from France
« Last Edit: June 17, 2019, 17:01:38 by Red Squirrel » Logged
jamestheredengine
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« Reply #4 on: June 18, 2019, 07:20:44 »

I think there may be a case of short memories here: the Warships and Westerns were German!
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« Reply #5 on: June 18, 2019, 09:48:04 »

And going back even further Churchward imported the de Glehn compound La France to evaluate compounding in 1903/4. While he didn't take compounding any further, a number of features of the French locomotive were adopted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GWR_102_La_France
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« Reply #6 on: June 18, 2019, 11:31:31 »

I thought many of the Warships were NBL Glasgow
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Red Squirrel
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« Reply #7 on: June 18, 2019, 12:30:32 »

I thought many of the Warships were NBL Glasgow

Yes, the Class 43's (D833-8650, not to be confused with HST (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) locos!) were built by North British and used completely different German engines and transmissions to their Swindon-built siblings...

Rather cleverly, the British engineers decided to use cheaper materials (e.g. mild steel in the exhaust manifolds) and introduced bigger tolerances when they rendered the drawings into pounds shillings and inches; consequently these locos were never as reliable as the DB» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about) class V 200 on which they were based.

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