Train Drivers Eye View. Freight Cab Ride, class 59 Acton to Purley. Part 2 Herne Hill to Purley

[@blueglass8082]

Thank you richard for the lengthy process of making these videos for our entertainment!

[@DadRail]

You are very welcome.

[@maxwellwynne-shepherd7852]

Keep up the great work Richard. Also, it would be nice if you made some timelapses of routes in TS or TSW.

[@NoahTheGamer1212]

I'm blown away with map on the right how well it matches amazing keep up the great work

[@TheBritishAce]

Nice start to the morning! 😁We need that 455 on TSW asap lol

[@WCML730]

Yes we do!!

[@Pjs75]

I recently stumbled on this video. Though I’ve watched other ‘cab rides’, elsewhere, (since spare time during ‘lockdown’,) I found your delivery, maps & pace excellent. So I’ve subscribed now.

[@Dave-r4u]

I was a box boy (train recorder) at Streatham that controlled that area (pre these ROC's). Prior to that I was a box boy at Gloucester road Jnc (both in the early 1960's)......Became a Signalman in 1966, starting at Crystal Palace "C" Box, then onto Leigham Junction....a brief stint at Hayes (kent), ending my days at Twickenham West Junction box.

[@brianburns7211]

Nice video! My favourite are cab rides. It was really nice getting a ride on a Class 59. It’s a derivative of the North American SD40-2, which I learned on. Many still consider them the best locomotives ever made.

[@britishfilmguy]

Best way to enjoy lunchtime brillant video 👍

[@alanmolyneux5957]

Excellent and very informative video. South London and has a maze of railway lines.

[@ACELog]

A fascinating and informative video, featuring many locations I've travelled through on passenger services, and cycled nearby also. When was the video recorded? The publishing date says 2023, but a few times, first at 11:40, I see older stock Suthern units, which I thought were all retired around 2020 or earlier.

[@RichardFelstead1949]

Thanks for sharing from an Australian railfan.

[@colinhodgkinson2161]

really enjoyed the trip I specialylike the mapn the right of the screen very helpful I usually use the railway Atlas of gREAT BRITIAN Ihave booked you page and willuse it again WELL DONE

[@TheDaf95xf]

Really interesting 👍🏻

[@nathanstrainsandroblox5336]

Very good Richard

[@rafethetrainspotter]

amazing video Richard i enjoyed your videos

[@DadRail]

Thanks 👍Rafe

[@martyn6792]

At 3:38 it looks like opposite track third rail is in ballast, or it an optical illusion ?

[@dandillinger-belcher9745]

9:31 the signaller is called three bridges (because there are 3 bridges?) 😂

[@John2Ward]

The Dad_Rail cab-ride videos are I think the best of the commentary-based ones, as distinct from those with captions only. It is just a pity that we haven't had any at all after this two-parter.

[@DadRail]

Thanks for the kind words John the problem is getting the footage. I’m not allowed to simply record it without authority and safety protocols being in place for using electronic devices in the cab. I’d really love to do some more

[@John2Ward]

@@DadRailYes, I had already guessed at the cause, but thanks for confirming my suspicions. Yet the likes of Don Coffey and Ben Elias continue to add more such journeys regularly, though I note that emmo999 has also dried up in recent months. Ah well...

[@RobinPrice]

Awesome vid bud. Can I ask. What 59 was it. I have watched both parts. Awesome vids. Highly recommended 👌

[@thebonsaiprojectkernow]

This would be a dream job for me but my closest railway is okehampton

[@geoffbarry9540]

For as long as the Capitalists of Croydon, the Gods of Gatwick, the Burghers of Brighton and the Titans of Thameslink continue to grab for greater shares in and priority from the available train paths through East Croydon, it will continue to be a bottleneck. Further changes to the Croydon Tangle will do little to change this, which is probably why they've been put aside. You said yourself that peak hour traffic on the Victoria lines through the Norbury corridor can reach pretty much saturation levels. Get to the Tangle and you've got another four track main line throwing similar levels of traffic onto the lines into East Croydon. Eight into four...through six platforms of coure, but still... Arguably Gatwick's the real problem. Once it grew to the point of not only requiring a dedicated service from central London but also similar homage from everywhere feasible (e.g. Reading via Redhill) then basically the entire Brighton line from Croydon to Brighton became gridlock territory and every operating problem became an instant catastrophe. Even 50 years ago in 1973 this was obvious. My wife and I flew into Gatwick from Australia (our choice, we were being met by relatives from Croydon - including my gran, who lived right down beside the station in Oval Road) just before Christmas 1972. Torrential rains had been followed by hard frost. The Brighton line and most of BR(S) as it then was, was in chaos from a not too severe winter weather event. Nothing changes really...

[@noooo_safechat2589]

What’s the difference between a class 59 and 66? Some 59s have the same headlights as a 66, and it’s so confusing until you see the number

[@DadRail]

The 59s are an older and more powerful locomotive. The design of the 66 was based on the 59, which is why they are so similar.

[@zepheryowl9772]

Moreover, the Class 59 features an EMD 16-645E3C, while the Class 66 (originally) featured an EMD 12N-710 but has changed with emission regulations over the years. You can find all the different variants on the Wikipedia page for the 66. Also worth mentioning from my observation, the Class 66 locomotives tend to make a "ying-ying-ying-ying-ying" sound at idle, while the 59s don't. ^^ I'm not quite familiar with British freight as I'm from the U.S. and haven't quite taken the time to research British freight in-depth, but all the different trains are really fun to watch! As a fun bit of trivia, even if obvious, variants of these prime movers were used in U.S. freight trains! The EMD 645 was used in our SD40s and the EMD 710 was used in our SD70s :)

[@Daytona2]

Great stuff, Richard 👍 From the rolling green West Country landscapes to threading their way through London. 59s are my local train on the Berks & Hants - I hadn't realised that they went further than Acton & Wimbledon. Great workhorses to replace the ridiculous 56s, of the time. Any idea why they've started double heading them with 66s ? The path saving, 2 trains in one, consists back down from Wimbledon, are a novelty.

[@TrainDriver1953]

Richard do you know your left from your right

[@DadRail]

I do when I’m not narrating videos :-)

[@jujuUK68]

Odd you mention Bromley South albeit briefly. One of the only places where you can catch a direct train to both Herne Hill, and Herne Bay. Which is a mistake more easily made drunk after a night out than you would imagine.

[@DadRail]

I stated my railways career as platform staff at Tonbridge. People often confused Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells. Ashford and Ashford was always another one

[@TrainDriver1953]

It's on the down local, not down main

[@DadRail]

At what time?

[@joshuaritchie3836]

Why don't they convert the wall of death and some south London lines to ETCS with OLE?

[@paulfaulkner6299]

£60 grand a year to drive a train...