5 MORE of the WORST TRAINS EVER (AGAIN!) 🚂 History in the Dark 🚂

[@buildingblock1518]

Fun fact: Derek from Thomas the Tank Engine, was based on the Class 17. And on his debut episode, he was prone to “Teething trouble.” Poor guy just wanted to do his best

[@stinkyroadhog1347]

In a deleted scene in Calling all engines, Derek is seen climbing Gordon's hill, seemingly with no issue which could be a reference to the sole remaining Class 17 which had most of its problems properly fixed in preservation

[@hussarzwei6223]

Derek was such a chill dude. It's a shame we never saw him again.

[@dynamic5763]

Surprised you didn’t talk about Derek (Class 17) because even in the show even failed a lot so you could say he was realistic

[@McAttack21574]

British Railways problem with locomotives was mainly the fact that they were ordering classes that had only begun in the testing of them, it also doesn’t help that they wanted purely British built diesel locomotives to run on the network. Most repairs or modifications done to the various classes were done on the cheep.

[@McAttack21574]

It also doesn’t help that they wanted to replace ALL steam traction within a certain timeframe, many of the classes were built and withdrawn before proper texting on the engines happened, in TTTE lore BoCo had a complete engine rebuild. Ya gotta love cost cutting measures.

[@mariobest93]

"Coughing and spluttering, the diesel stopped."

[@davidchambers7508]

If British Rail had their way they would have bought JT22CW and other EMD locos. However they were hamstrung by politics which meant that the government told them to buy homegrown locos rather than whatever suited from the USA. It would have been interesting to see what impact EMD locos would have had on BR in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

[@JosipRadnik1]

@@davidchambers7508 I think politics were the main issue here. But I would not say the decision to buy them within british producers was the main problem but the decision to replace all (many of the quite new) steam engines within such a short timeframe. It was similar to those decisions to close down all those branch lines within such a short period. Those were political decisions aimed to show off leadership rather than to carefully go the evolutionary way and learn from all the chain reactions that would eventually result from any change. You might be right though that - once the decision was made - they should probably have imported some tried and tested products rather than overburden their domestic industy with a task they were not suited to fullfill. But the orignal sin lies within the decision to retire their whole fleet of steam engines in such a short time only for the symbolic benefit of "modernisation" without thinking all the consequences through - of which having their railway network flooded with a lot of untested and unreliable engines operated by a lot of (in that context) unexperienced staff was just one of many.

[@alan6832]

They were government, so in tech, were a bit like the Russians in some ways, bureaucracies. They have no president, executive power lies with the prime minister, Johnson, who is a conservative privatizer, who I think has sold off most, if not all of British Railways; partly for this reason.

[@mlp-hot-rod5824]

Yeah, BR were infamous for scrapping steamers in record time and belching out very undercooked diesels most of which were rushed out like there was no tomorrow. Of course some engines were good, but most in the 1960s were real lemons. The real tragedy is that their Standard range could've lasted until the 1980s and some as late as 2000. But nope. They had to be seen as the future. So no dirty steam engines anymore. Not to mention steamers were heavily neglected in the 1960s seeing how filthy they became in archive footage and photos. Curse BR and Dr Beeching to the pit!

[@evandavies5906]

I agree. They should have moved the standard steam locomotives to one corner of the country, and let them work out their economic lives. They could even have had a steam redoubt in somewhere like the Isle of Wight, which would have slowly morphed into a tourist attraction.

[@ZeldaTheSwordsman]

For BR, dieselising was about cutting staff costs and trying to improve operational efficiency (and they were under a lot of pressure there, not all of it in good faith - including a lot of the "run it like a business" crap). Steam engines are wonderful, but they can have some definite versatility issues. Plus the bigger they are the longer they take to be warm and ready, and they're more manpower-intensive to maintain and prep, let alone keep clean (save for the Q1s, whose boxy shape let them just be hosed off in a carriage wash). In BR's case it's that last part about manpower that was probably the biggest killer, especially with the "run it like a business" pressure (You know, of the "We want those costs slashed and we want them slashed yesterday" flavor). Of course, that didn't exactly go smoothly in practice because it caused a lot of rush work. And the nationalistic insistence they be British-developed also didn't help, since that meant that they couldn't just adapt already-proven designs from someone else. It's hard for me to be fully "Curse BR" tho since it's a messy situation, plus plenty of officials tried to push back against the tide and help spare steamers where they could. Definitely curse Dr. Beeching though. Fuck him and his artificially classifying branch lines as separate entities instead of symbiotic feeders (which is what they actually were) to rationalize their closure and pretty much every idea he brought to the table.

[@TheTrueAdept]

Beeching was the messenger who worked for someone that was screwing him over behind his back. His _boss_ was secretly tearing up the track behind his back and turning them into roads, despite the fact that he slated them for _later_ reopening. He was told 'fix British Rails', he _tried_ his best with that. He was just set up to fail.

[@rainierbagatsing1073]

It's like Alfred perlman scraping steam locomotives on the NYC all over again

[@J.R.in_WV]

To be fair the Britts kept steamers in regular service for not only short line, shunting and specialty work but main line freight and passenger trains well into the 60’s when the USA had abandoned hauling passenger trains with steamers a decade before that and by 1960 had very little steam power still active on any standard gauge railroads longer than a few miles. I’m pretty sure by 1970 even the logging camp, coal mine and other special use short line and / or narrow gauge railroads had given up steam power. Granted in the case of the coal mines it wasn’t diesel that replaced their short haul steam locomotives, it was electric belt lines becoming commonplace. It’s still sad though.

[@RiflemanMoore]

"You're tearing me apart British Railways!"

[@kommandantgalileo]

If the S2 had a conventional piston that can switch with the turbine at different speeds, I think the S2 would have been successful.

[@Kishanth.J]

I believe their is a British phrase for why the UK seems to have some of the worst engines, “Like many things we were the first, and now we are the worst”.

[@railmastergaming]

nice

[@SirTophamHakurei]

Isn't this a map men quote?

[@the_autism_express]

I will proudly admit that the two locomotives I like here are the EMD SDP40F and the BR class 28, despite their flaws

[@billydoidge7661]

Fun fact - one of the Class 17's has also survived into preservation!

[@lukeslocomotives]

And a Class 15

[@MRTransportVideos]

I videoed it last year (on the Severn Valley Railway).

[@billydoidge7661]

@@MRTransportVideos ooh yoo nice! I saw it at the south devon years ago!

[@EtBEF_02]

Actually the class 17 was also a Thomas character who’s efficiency was similar to the real life counterpart

[@staticsoul]

Derek was the name right?

[@fanofeverything30465]

@@staticsoul Yes

[@laserhawk64]

Today, a lesson in "less bad" vs "better" courtesy of British Rail. Also, am I the only one who suddenly wants a series JUST on British Rail engines that were kind of awful? :D

[@abrr2000]

to be fair to BR, they were attempting to utalize an emerging technology that was far from perfected, and were pumping out a LOT of experimental units as a result. Becaue it's better to try and fail, than to not try at all.

[@AutismTakesOn]

I know that the SDP40F de-railed a lot, but the flexcoil trucks had nothing to do with it. The ATSF had a similar passenger diesel, the FP45, with the same carbody and trucks as the SDP40F, and there are no accounts of the FP45 de-railing. Also, flexcoil trucks were common on the highly successful EMD SD40 and SD40-2, which are considered some of the best. The problems with the SDP40F were down to a combination of its high weight, deteriorating trackage, and imbalance due to the steam generators. I should also state that MANY US trains in passenger service were FAR WORSE than the SDP40F. Here is a list: The GE U30CG, the GE P30CH, the GE E60CH/E60CP, the Budd SPV-2000, the Budd Metroliner, and the Bombardier-Alstom HHP-8.

[@ninyaninjabrifsanovichthes45]

Ahhhh the Hippos. Diet-Acelas, as they were.

[@jordonfreeman166]

@Autism Takes On: the flexicoil was used on the SD40, not the SD40-2, which had HT-C trucks, except an order of SD40-2’s for Conrail, who ordered their SD40-2’s with flexicoil trucks in response to the SDP40F’s problems with their modified ‘hollow bolster’ HT-C trucks. The FP45 was also equipped with flexicoil trucks. The difference between the three-axle flexicoil and the HT-C was that the traction motor on the innermost axle on the flexicoil truck was revered, facing the opposite way from the other traction motors on the flexicoil truck. This resulted in a ‘twisting’ motion being put on the frames of the trucks as the trains went down the tracks. The HT-C had the traction motors facing all the same direction, eliminating the ‘twisting’ motion of the flexicoil, but this resulted in a metal support that wrapped around the end of the frame at the end towards the fuel tank, which resulted in a longer frame, resulting in the SD40-2’s iconic front and back ‘porches’.

[@haroldbenton979]

@@jordonfreeman166 Part of the problem with the SDPF40 goes into the state of the trackwork in the 70's companies that had good tracks like the Santa Fe BN UP N&W had no problems with them however companies like Conrail Chessie System SCL MP and others that had less than perfect tracks did have major issues with them. This engine was heavy had 2 steam generators on pallets that carried 2 water tanks in the car body above the level of the steam generator to have a gravity feed into it that each carried IIRC something like 400 gallons that was used first then the water from the tank in the underframes was used. So you have 800 gallons of water sloshing around at around 12 feet in the air. I have pulled tanker trailers before that kind of surging will flip a truck over let alone something trying to stay upright on bad tracks.

[@jordonfreeman166]

@@haroldbenton979 agreed. I wanted to correct Autism Takes On’s claim that the flexicoil trucks were used on both SD40 and SD40-2, which they weren’t; they were only used on the SD40, and his other claim that the FP45 and SDP40F are similar, which they are not. The FP45 is a Passenger (P), full-carbody (F) variant of the SD45, which featured flexicoil trucks. The SDP40F is a Passenger (P), full-carbody (F), an extended frame (I believe) based on the SD40-2, which features HT-C trucks. A more appropriate comparison of the SDP40F to another model is comparing it to the F40C, an SD40-2 equipped with a full-carbody (F), and features a second generator to produce Head End Power (HEP) for the commuter cars.

[@93greenstrat]

@@jordonfreeman166 Chessie System actually banned the SDP40F's from its lines. Conrail's aversion to the HT-C trucks even extended to its first order of SD50:s. It wasn't until their chief mechanical guy finally retired that Conrail joined the herd and ordered their remaining SD50's and 60's with HT-C's.

[@ChrisMemphisBoy]

“The problem with British rail is they keep trying to make shortcuts to success” doesn’t that sound like a certain generation living in a certain society that we live in? That statement Hella reminds me on the fact how now everyone wants to be a business owner everyone wants to be rich and have money but what I’ve noticed ever since the pandemic they want to take shortcuts to success.. Excellent connection man

[@s.p.d.magentaranger1822]

To be fair, I think that comes down to not only laziness and greed but also the general state of the economy because of the pandemic and Ukraine situation.

[@dr.toxicgamingmadscientist]

Guy: mentions British Rail HitD: *cries in steam engine*

[@PeterApps]

In British Railway/Rail's defence, diesels were seen as an interim between steam and electrification, so maybe they were not meant to last long. However, it's worth mentioning the Deltic class diesels and the Intercity 125s. Deltics saw service for twenty years were rated for 100mph and when built were the most powerful diesels in the world. Intercities were introduced to replace Deltics in 1982, are still in service, were rated for 125mph, but could exceed 140mph and all this on tracks shared by the rest of the traffic. I guess if you want to get it right, you have to learn how not to do it.

[@megapowerchannelsunc]

The class 37 came out in 1960 and are still in limited service today. It is considered to be very successful and has quite a following amongst enthusiasts.

[@calebcrosswhite2723]

Wonder if the efficiency of the S2 could of been increased at lower speeds with a supplemental traditional steam piston for use at lower speeds and when the locomotive got up to speed the turbine took over.

[@Luziferratus]

The thing is, a piston when not powered with steam acts as a break. You would introduce more weigh and technical problems.then you actually solve with it. The Reichsbahn had experimental Turbine engines to with a condensation tank behind. It was able to go with a 99% water recovery and a good efficient. Bit all turbines habe the problem they are designed for a steady rpm, and locomotion is the opposite of it. Sadly.

[@bocahdongo7769]

It defeat the purpose of using the turbine. Just go with proven piston anyway for that matter. It already mature enough for high speed run anyway. And sure they did

[@flickcentergaming680]

Poor BoCo and Derek. They had to be based on some of the worst diesel engines ever made.

[@FM60260]

The engines in the 17s were completely different to the ones in 15s, the 15s (and 16s) had a single V16 engine whereas the 17s had two horizontally mounted inline 6 engines. There is also a single class 17 surviving today.

[@genoobtlp4424]

One good reason to get a Co‘Bo‘ for traction research is probably that they have a Co bogie and a Bo bogie hooked up to the exact same conditions, thus you can compare how things affect traction like leaves and shit or hills or a heavy train or whatever, usually you‘d have to find a Co‘Co‘ and a Bo‘Bo that are comparable enough to run tests where only the traction is the difference, but with a Co‘Bo‘, you can simply turn off the Co‘ bogie for Bo‘ data and the other way around, and even if the engine is shit, it’s probably easier to get it running than to find comparable locos where you know everything is the same except for the bogies…

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

The 10800 was ordered by the LMS not BR and was built by Brush of Loughborough not BR.

[@chrishartley1210]

Built by North British. After being taken out of service it went to Brush for trials with AC power generation and traction.

[@nataliegardner3122]

Cie had two fleets of Crossley engined locos..they were all re-engined with GM units, however the Metrovik side was a success.

[@NYCS19339]

I heard the coal and oil industries blocked the PRR from developing it further because of the perpetual motion capabilities

[@RailsOfTheMidwest]

There is at least 1 or 2 Amtrak SDP40Fs out there that have been owned privately by a museum and kept a secret. If the steam generator was removed then it could be fit for service.

[@mortensen1961]

Santa Fe did remove the steam generators, and used them in regular service.

[@pastaweasel5088]

The energy you put into these videos is truly something special lol. Keep up the work man! 👍

[@FM60260]

I can't wait to ride the 15 and 28 when they are up and running, I have seen them both in person at their current home

[@ChrisMemphisBoy]

Did the 28 look happy that it was being preserved or did it look like it had already been through enough and just wish it was scrapped instead of being preserved

[@FM60260]

@@ChrisMemphisBoy Why would the C15PS decide to scrap the 28?

[@karaokebackgroundplaylists9878]

7:33 LOL that crying reaction while looking at the BR lion 🤣😂😭😆😅

[@rogerbond2244]

Have you looked at the BR class 21 yet? So bad, several self-immolated. Heard a story of BR Western Region requesting a visit from German mechanics to address issues with the German designed diesels in their class 42 Warships, and the local fitters' reaction as the visitors cleared and sheeted over a bench, unpacked gleaming spanners and generally treated their work with almost surgical cleanliness... The plethora of truly awful BR diesel locomotives around that time is compounded by the fact that they'd just built 999 'Standard' steam locomotives of various classes, many of which lasted under 10 years, some barely 6, because of the Modernization Plan. And built massive marshalling yards for the wrong type of future. Basically, it was a s***fest. Maybe I'm still sore from riding Pacers 15-20 years back.

[@lightningwingdragon]

Windows falling out...trains aspiring to be a battleship. You gotta lower the windows so they don't shatter from the backblast

[@emilioi.valdez6680]

If you want steam turbine locos that actually worked, the LMS Turbomotive comes to mind and the Swedes have a history of very successful steam turbine loco designs and still have one in operation. I'm not kidding about that last bit.

[@AJsBusVideos]

The class 28 belched fuel because it ran 2-STROKE crossly engines

[@retrocd7991]

Once upon a time in Ireland….almost 1/4 of our locos were crossly engined locos……..legendary for all the wrong reasons

[@theq4602]

almost every EMD locomotive for many decades was powered by a 2 stroke diesel

[@TheLazyFusspot_3428]

Those being Bill and Ben lol

[@AJsBusVideos]

Ye. And they sound amazing

[@Dill_Pickle1997]

I have no idea what you just said

[@MOHAWKL4A3124]

Fun fact about the SDP40F. Amtrak made an attempt to fix their SDP40F to reduce the amount of swaying. But by the time Amtrak was almost finished with the sway reduction, C&O out right banned Amtrak's "Rail-breakers" from their mainline cause of damage to the rails (separation) due the P40F's swaying.

[@ahirschfeld1974]

At one point Amtrak had to bring some former Southern Railway E8’s from the East Coast to run the Portland to Seattle segment of the Coast Starlight since Burlington Northern banned the SDP40F’s from their lines like the C&O.

[@tylergreen4843]

2:59 the only thing good about the s2 😆 *Lionel PLEASE make a lionchief o27 671 turbine*

[@CC-Cobalt-1043]

I actually quite like the class 28s despite their many problems, at least there's one preserved and in working order

[@ChrisMemphisBoy]

Not in working order yet

[@jimihendrix991]

...well, it would work if it had an engine fitted...

[@dragonheatgaming5005]

As someone upto 2 years had to suffer Pacers on my daily commute I wouldn't wish them on my worse enemy

[@oliverweitkemper9679]

The first class 28 in the first picture with them is actually D5702 which is BoCo

[@Alpha-oo8]

But the UK doesn’t have a president! Plus, Britain seems to enjoy complaining about itself. Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy refers to it as “self loathing”

[@catboyandwolfgirl4545]

If the Class 17 looks familiar to anyone, it's because it was the basis for Derek from the Thomas episode "Double Teething Troubles" Also when you say "trucks" you mean the bogies, right

[@Xalerdane]

Yes, we call bogies ‘trucks’ in America.

[@robthecatwillshire7429]

I will say that the Class 28 which is preserved is being restored at the East Lancashire Railway in Bury, Manchester. they are scrapping the original V12 engine and placing a all new different engine in its place. As for the Class 17. Their is only one of those left in the country aswell. I can't remember where that is atm.

[@FM60260]

They originally had V8s, the V12 was only for spare parts

[@mrsaturngamingandstories]

Rip Pennsylvania S2 1944-1952

[@jsgaming3248]

also PRR S2 was the largest, heaviest and fastest direct-drive turbine locomotive design ever built.

[@daylightman8459]

Yes, it a title that only it and the LMS Stanier 4-6-2 Turbomotive share.

[@jsgaming3248]

@@daylightman8459 right

[@rdsledge]

I Thoroughly enjoyed these posts about the worst locomotives. Again this is a case of the commentary is more Entertaining than the continent.thank you I really I joyed myself, gave me a good chuckle😂

[@LMS5935]

Britain has some of the most famous and best Railways but somehow has some of the worst and terrible railways

[@bennickss]

You should do a “best trains ever” and reserve a spot for the Class 37. 60 years on and they’re still going strong.

[@fluffnose3386]

I love these. Never stop making them 😂

[@alhasanbeitelmal6218]

I saw a p40 once. Never thought of it till now. Surprised it failed to kill.

[@LtMtn4-8-2]

The SDP40F were meant to replace the F7 and E8 of Amtrak

[@williamgeorgefraser]

We had all the Class 17s in Scotland once the NE kicked them out. The engines had aluminium cylinder heads that used to warp, producing more black smoke that the worst coal-fired steam engine. They mostly ran in pairs so the "good" one could get the broken one home. Still, I feel a bit of nostalgia for them as they were part of my everyday life.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

The Class 15 and 16 had the same engines, the Paxman 16YHXL. Whilst the Class 17 used either the Paxma 6ZHXL or the Rolls-Royce D type engine.

[@gchampi2]

Why did a Class 28 make it into preservation? Easily explained. In engineering, you can learn a heckuvalot from failure, not so much from success. Having an example of a failed design in preservation helps future train designers, as they can be taken to see the train, and forcefully told "DON'T DO THIS!!!"

[@TheSudrianTerrier653]

surprisingly , one of the class 17s have been preserved, and it probably doesn't have that many problems anymore because its got lighter loads so less chance of overheating

[@carribob1992]

D5705 was one of several locomotives to work the Tribology trains. The other locomotive used was D5901 which was a Class 23 Baby Deltic (A class of 10 diesels which lasted until 1971 and like the Class 28, weren't that successful). By the mid 70s, both these locos were replaced by Class 24 no 24061. Whilst the Class 28 was used in carriage heating and preserved, the Baby Deltic was scrapped at Doncaster thus rendering the Class 23 extinct (A Baby Deltic engine does survive and is to be used in the new build Class 23 at Barrow Hill Roundhouse).

[@ZeldaTheSwordsman]

The S2 was a big favorite of the track gangs, if nothing else - next to zero hammerblow on the tracks. Something very appreciated given the Pennsy struggled to keep its track in good repair as it was.

[@alfa1134]

I was wondering when you'd cover the CoBo. For the sake of your sanity, I hope you stay clear of the LMS? Diesel/Steam turbine?--- the hybrid engine.

[@pastaweasel5088]

That one wasn’t good, but it wasn’t awful. Unlike the fury, it never killed anyone and it was slightly more successful than the S2.

[@jamesthompson215]

4:00 I can’t get over the size of the S2 compared to workmen on the ground. Its so goddamn biggggg!!!

[@NYCS19339]

Technically these are locomotives, not trains but...

[@FoxtrotYouniform]

The months long BR related mental breakdown has been exquisite

[@AndrewTheRocketCityRailfan4014]

The 15s look like High Hood Geeps

[@BrentSudric]

To be fair, British Railways were made shortly after WWII and were pretty short on funds because of it.

[@FoxtrotYouniform]

I accept I will never know as much about anything as train people know about trains. The true OGs

[@BocoProductions189]

keep up the amazing work I love these videos, railfanning is not the easiest but boy its fun!

[@Wambleeman]

In defense of the SDP40f there was the condition of the tacks at that time. They were just plain terrible, period and the SDP40f were big engines. I loved the SDP40F and the pooch s. The tacks just couldn't handle all that weight and stress.

[@Tom-Lahaye]

I'm actually involved in preservation of two of the failures shown in the video, the Class 15 and the Class 28 CoBo. There was a railway in western Australia. the WAGR, which used the same engines in their X and XA class. They managed to iron out most of the issues with these engines, but that took more than 200 changes in their design, even up to casting new improved engine blocks. The CoBo in preservation takes profit from some of these changes, incorporated while the loco was in use by the Crewe Technical centre. The engine is a 2 stroke diesel like the EMD engines, but one major difference is the absence of exhaust valves, it uses ports for intake and exhaust, like your dirtbike 2 stroke. And that's the reason for the belching black smoke when powering up. The class 15 was not that bad in technical hindsight, but having a V16 engine for just 900hp made maintenance expensive, the engine was just too complicated. The 1000hp English Eelectric class 20 which was very succesful (some still in use) had a V8, so just half of the amount of cylinders. Also a lot of work for classes 15, 16 and 17 dried up a few years after their introduction, the small freight yards were closed and BR ended being a common carrier for all sorts of goods. Only full wagon loads or block trains were accepted from then on, nowadays even wagon loads aren't carried anymore, all trains are block trains now. This made most of the type 1 locomotives redundant (400hp up to 1000hp) except the class 20 which were in the largest numbers and also most reliable type 1, and could be used in multiple to haul main line freights

[@MOHAWKL4A3124]

Dark. I fully agree with you about the PRR S2 it's an astonishing locomotive especially with the smoke deflecters. I love how it's a unique experimental locomotive with a 6-8-6 wheel configuration. While it's performance was sad it's design is amazing. I really wish it was preserved or at least a part of it was.

[@kevinwynott7755]

There was a second version of the SDP-40-F, The F-40-C,that lacked the Steam Generator/Water Tanks, instead using HEP Alternators like the F-40-PH. They ran on the former Milwaukee Road Commuter trains in Chicago and ha reasonably long and trouble free careers.

[@mortenschjetne4516]

came for the trains, stayed for the commentary... hilarious !

[@r.srailfilms2559]

I used to have to ride on the pacers and we used to enjoy them because they were an absoloute joke of a train and you just have to look at the amount of them on preserved railways to support my claim

[@michaelt9639]

There is a class 17 still in existence now running on heritage railways in the UK

[@robthecatwillshire7429]

If there are any UK railfans here. You may want to head to the East Lancashire Railway in Bury, Manchester on the 30th june to the 2nd July. For their diesel gala, they have announced that the surviving Class 28 will be on display at Bury Bolton street station. So if you want to see how the loco is coming along, this is pretty much your best chance of seeing it.

[@kevinwynott7755]

The Baldwin RP210 was a special case. It was designed to power Pullman-Standard's Train X,a priority high-speed train built in the late 1950s Only the Two My we Haven units were set up for third rail operation.This was because of New York State law, mandating that all trains operating into the city had to be electrically powered.This was due to a fatal collision of two steam trains in the approach tunnels to Grand Central Station. The RP210 was a diesel hydraulic, powered by a Maybach prime mover,with Head End Power provided by a separate small Maybach diesel. They did figure a way to make them operate on Third rail, though as you mentioned,their public debut was a SHOCKING (pun intended) event The pantograph on the roof was ment to contact ceiling mounted sections of third rail over long crossovers.. because the locomotives we're so short,they purchased the pantographs from the Boston MTA's Blue Line rapid transit lines,and they did work out. The locomotives were so unreliable, they only lasted a bit longer than a year The one you show in your video was the New York Central's only example. .It Was diesel only and didn't last long either.. . partly because of the oddball German drive,and partly because the Train X consist was designed to be operated with TWO locomotives.....NYC cut corners and only bought ONE,(NYC20) and there were severe ride quality problems with only one locomotive. Both Train X sets and all three locomotives were sold to the Pickens Railroad for tourist service. The New Haven's set had a last moment of glory....it was borrowed for a series of high speed tests that resulted in the production of the United Aircraft Turbo Train,before eventually being scrapped along with the NYC set in the early 1970s

[@davidredfearn664]

The front of the Santa Fe looks so much like a school bus that they could put a fold out stop signs and red flashing lights.

[@evandavies5906]

The Co Bo holds the dubious honor, of arguably being the worst diesel ordered by British Rail. I am am afraid that I frequently commuted by Pacer back in the late 90s. It was like being on the deck of a ship, pitching around in a stormy sea. Whatever you can say about British Rail, the chaos following privatization was worse. In the North West of England, the service had collapsed to the point, that minor stations were unmanned and vandalized, and ticket fares were not even collected, except at the major city stations like Liverpool. On top of all that, you had to travel by Pacer!

[@theq4602]

10:19 Aluminum expands a lot when it heats up, which is something wires do when you put a lot of electricity through them, and contracts a lot when it cools down, this is bad for electrical connections because they need to stay in place and that is hard to do when your wires are moving around more than they should. If some connections get loose fires can happen. Not only that but due to aluminums higher electrical resistance (think of electricity needing to climb a hill and resistance is the steepness of that hill) it means you LOSE POWER compared to copper wire of the same length. Where does that power go? Well its turned into heat that makes your wires hot and makes them expand! Basically if you want to use aluminum wiring you have to follow particular rules to cope with its issues, back when people started trying to replace copper wiring with aluminum they ignorantly didnt know of this issue and it was almost always a headache.

[@davidchambers7508]

The A class MetroVicks of CIÉ - Córas Iompair Éireann - Irish Transport System and the X class of WAGR - Western Australian Government Railways had the same engine (and problems) as the BR Co-Bo. The C class MetroVicks of CIÉ also had Crossley engines of 550 hp which were also junk. In the late 1960s CIÉ decided to re-engine the A and C class MetroVicks with GM-EMD engines and from then on these locos became very reliable. In the case of the Australian locomotives over 600 modifications were made to the Crossley HST V8 engine which then became reliable. Regarding Irish steam locos the Great Southern Railways J15b and Belfast and County Down Baltic tank locos were poor performers.

[@MrOlgrumpy]

OH,the Crosley diesel,same as an Australian X class,this engine was rumored to be a modified submarine diesel.

[@trevorthefilthyrat3742]

When you were talking about reliability, you basically explained Alfa Romeo ownership, or a FIAT.

[@TheElectra91002]

1. The br diesels are so inconsistent since br was ordering various classes from different manufacturing company's and put them into service before some had not even past testing (also there are other flaws). There are actually good designs like the 08 or 40, 45. 2. So about BoCo being actually good in ttte. Well this is most likely due to the fat controler giving him a big ( costly ) overhaul, as the fat controler probably wanted to keep BoCo as he was a good engine but the class was known for there problems.

[@seanwhitman8353]

There is a fan animation that explains that Boco was overhauled with a new engine when he was purchased by Sir Topham Hat, and he was having problems before his purchase, but he actually helps out Edward while hauling his own goods train. And Boco evolves as a character into the kind diesel we know him from in the show. I like this sort of aligned fanon, which fills in blanks left by canon without contradicting it.

[@YukariAkiyamaTanks]

I've always thought of the sdp40fs as smug engines. Mainly due the changes at the front of the loco.

[@jasonlitz2907]

Is there a video of this series with the AS16?

[@gaz170]

NSWGR 41 Class says "hold my beer".

[@chompette_]

The 15/16 engines were more suited to marine work than stop-start locomotives, but had way too many cylinders for its power. They were also designed to replace low power steam locomotives but the work that those engines covered dried up as road traffic took away smaller workings. The only successful 'type 1' was the bulletproof class 20, (some still in service on engineer and nuclear flask trains,) that was run in pairs practically all the time, with their good visibility from one end, unlike the 15/16 which were bad at both ends. And why over 100 class 17s were ordered completely untested is a testament to how rushed the phasing out of steam by 1968 was. The class 28s were planned to be re-engined with english electric units because the rest of the locomotive was really solid, especially when they got more specialised care by the Barrow men, but it never came to anything as the re-engined 31s and british railways' own sulzer powered locomotives were the choice going forward. The preservation work on the 15/28 is very impressive but the projects have now been going longer than the locomotives were actually in service =D

[@paulj6756]

The SDP40Fs were designed with the idea that if Amtrak failed, the units could be converted to freight locomotives. Ergo their sale to Santa Fe. Some railroads had no issues with them such as Santa Fe and Seaboard Coast Line. The F40C was a slightly smaller version of the SDP40F. They were successful with Milwaukee Road and later Metra. One other key difference was that the F40Cs were built with Head End Power.

[@poundeclipse]

I thought that big boy had a weird wheel configuration but a 6-8-6 that's just strange Also lots of British rail diesels were bad but we do have the 66 and the 46,55,08 to name a few but its steam engines were good as well as the engines from the big 4 were great

[@SDW_97]

At least the SDP40F was able to be modified into a good freight diesel.

[@BNSF_SoCal_Productions]

Some of the SDP40F’s were actually rebuilt into F40PH’s know as the F40PHR with R meaning rebuilt

[@bigtinasoup2927]

I liked riding the Pacers. They were like angry busses.

[@ViggoLindgren7bFörslövsskolaF]

15:13 GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD

[@ZakuInATopHat]

17:45 I always thought that Rev. Awdry made the diesels fail in his books because he hated them. Turns out that they where just legit bad 😂

[@lyokianhitchhiker]

I think he was more criticizing BR's implementation of dieselization.

[@michaelosgood9876]

LOVE the 2 UP steam turbines that appeared earlièr in video

[@therealawgm]

I think the Lord that I found this channel when I did because I have a lot of train knowledge as well because I watch Thomas the tank engine when I was little

[@philrisbridger919]

We actually have a fully restored Co-Bo in working condition in the UK.

[@johngarner3681]

The problem with steam turbines like the PRR S-2 was that it wasn't as powerful in reverse as it was going forward. This made it difficult to "double back" into another track full of cars. That, plus the 3 axle 6 wheel that the leading and trailing trucks that the S-2 and the S-1 both had were prone to derail in yard tracks with smaller radius curves. Especially in the smaller yards who tended to have such tracks more often. This was one of the main problems with the single PRR S-1, also. The thing the S-1 was famous for was it had been clocked (unoffically) at 156 mph between two control towers in Northern Indiana pulling a passenger train pulling the Broadway Limited, the famous PRR train that ran the route between New York and Chicago. Some actually believed it would go faster. Tracks such as this were straight, level and mostly had grade separation. This was back when the world record was around 120mph. The S-2 pulled primarily freight. It was rumored to have pulled a 250 car train. Although it couldn't back up, which made it miserable, if not impossible, to use in a car set off. Oh, yes, if memory serves. The S-1, S-2 and the T-1 all ran 300lb boilers. The S-1 and the T-1 which followed it were both Duplex locomotives with a special type of reversing mechanism. The T-1 also had a high rate of speed similar to the S-1. But the T-1 had only 2 axle 4 wheel leading and trailing trucks so it never had a problem negotiating small radius curves like the S-1 and the S-2. It was for this reason a whole fleet of T-1s were made. Unfortunately, all of these unique PRR Art-Deco designed by Raymond Lowry a famous Art-Deco artist were scrapped in the 1950's. Raymond Lowry streamline locomotives were also made for many other railroads off the day. They are scattered around in museums around the country, although I know of 1 that was running a few years ago. There's also a new T-1 being made by the T-1 Trust with public donations. The FRA has mandated tough new boiler specifications on boiler wall thickness. Boiler steam locomotives must have boiler thickness tests by ultrasound equipment before being allowed to operate. Steam boiler explosions can be very serious and very destructive and dangerous. If you are interested Google. "The T-1 Trust" Ang get involved. I understand that they have had a "centepede" type tender donated to them that's saving them a lot of money and allowing them to speed up the date for the completion of the actual T-1 steam locomotive.

[@N2444h]

The f40phr failed because it had a fuel tank that was too big. Find out more in the silver springs train collision

[@rmgilyard]

TBH, at least they tried to make them as reliable as can be. Dependent and hastily, they made the wrong choices for engines. But hey, at least 2 examples of the failed classes are still in use to this day. Plus, the Metrovicks in Zealnad got rebuilt into EMDS.

[@LMS5935]

Every thomasfan when you said the class 28: stop you're making me giddy- BoCo 1965

[@thatonetrainguy864]

Make a video called "Top 5 Worst British Railways Locomotives".

[@garyolsen3409]

That class 28 "CoBo" looks like a loaf of Wonder Bread.

[@flickcentergaming680]

OMG I can't unsee it now

[@LMS5935]

LMAO the windows fell out? It was worse than I thought

[@SouRwy4501Productions]

Why does the British Railways class 10800 and class 15 look like a generic ALCo or Fairbanks-Morse locomotive