external quality of the former EWS Class 66s

[18B]

just noticed 66090 as the first I've seen with a visible poorer exterior, always though it quite remarkable that the Class 66 despite nearing 20 years old, still look pretty good. No idea what their internal qualities are likes, but to be fair for 15-20 year old locos, they don't look too bad.......................?

[Reorte]

just noticed 66090 as the first I've seen with a visible poorer exterior, always though it quite remarkable that the Class 66 despite nearing 20 years old, still look pretty good. No idea what their internal qualities are likes, but to be fair for 15-20 year old locos, they don't look too bad.......................?

The 66s are nearing 20 years old?! That's one of those things that makes me feel old!

[Rugd1022]

Internally they're generally very grubby, with oil stains almost everywhere made worse by dust getting inside and sticking to it. The rain gets in too and often takes ages to drain away through the small holes in the floor, on a cold frosty morning it can be lethal if you have to walk down the passageway at the radiator end. The cabs look very 'lived in' now, a few have had a lick of paint but many have holes worn in the floor covering and the access panels in the control desks and dashboard rattle like buggery no matter what you do with the bolts and twistlocks, the same goes for the sliding side windows which shake about within the outer frames, not pleasant at all at anything above 30mph.

 

All of the above applies to EWS and FLR Sheds... aside from that they're alright...!

[Enterprisingwestern]

Could they be in such a state because American operators would have rebuilt them at least once by now, a sort of IKEA built in obsolence scenario?

 

Mike.

[Swindon 123]

The 66's where pretty bad when new. Noisy cab environment, external doors that never fitted properly and rattled, inadequate cab ventilation in summer, and I even had one that the windscreen gave a "disco" multi light appearance to approaching signals through the windscreen. After a couple of years the front windscreens started to leak and I saw a couple with quite a lot of rust around them because of this. I can't imagine them getting worse, but they must have done!

 

Paul J.