Railway vehicle movements by road

[bodmin16]

How many movements of railway vehicles are undertaken by road each day, I realise that there are a few in the West Country at the moment as a result of Dawlish! but how many would normally be taking place? I am prompted to ask this as I have seen odds bits and pieces on the move, e.g. Underground stock, bogies, wagons and a preserved shunter over recent years however on Tuesday I saw an EWS 08 heading north on the A34 between Didcot and Abingdon. Then yesterday I saw an FGW HST coach heading south on the A34 between Didcot and Newbury, I then remarked to my passenger that I had never seen a steam loco being moved by road. However on leaving the A34 at Didcot there was 5322 and tender from GWS preparing to join then A34. I've probably seen more stock on the A34 this week than I normally do in the course of 2 or 3 years!

[PhilJ W]

When I used to commute on the A 13 I often saw locomotives and other rolling stock being moved to and from Shoeburyness.

[Pugsley]

 However on leaving the A34 at Didcot there was 5322 and tender from GWS preparing to join then A34.

I think that's what I saw heading through Taunton this morning.

[Pete 75C]

I've had everything from a Black 5 down to a Pannier Tank slowly trundle past my living room window (A1082 Holway Road) on their way down to the roundabout in Sheringham for delivery to the NNR. I've never bothered to nip out and get a photo. I guess the best photo opportunity would be when they leave, as the uphill climb past my house takes the low loader down to no more than 5mph. Current revenue earning stock moved by road, now that I've never seen.

[Catkins]

Sadly, it is cheaper now to move revenue earning rolling stock by road.

I regularly see flatbed trailers carrying either three bogies - that's all that will fit, or individual wheelsets.

But I have not seen any stock movements being done in the 21st century - wrong place, wrong time.

[tomparryharry]

You can't really move an 8mph (max) 08 shunter on a 90mph rated railway. You just wouldn't get the paths. Easier & cheaper (for the railway) to go by road. Apart from falling off a cliff, it's the fastest an 08 will ever travel!

 

Ian

[PhilJ W]

You can't really move an 8mph (max) 08 shunter on a 90mph rated railway. You just wouldn't get the paths. Easier & cheaper (for the railway) to go by road. Apart from falling off a cliff, it's the fastest an 08 will ever travel!

 

Ian

I thought they could do all of 23 mph?

[Boris]

I thought they could do all of 23 mph?

 

It depends, some max out at 15 or 17.

[surfsup]

Sometimes they do have to go 'mainline' though - when the 08 at Norwich Crown Point is changed over, it has had to be roaded to the Mid Norfolk Railway at either Wymondham or Dereham and driven to Norwich Crown Point from there due to the depots poor access. Several Single Class 165 & 166s have been seen on the GWML between Reading Depot and Didcot in the past as well for access for forward road transport - Now that is an odd sight!

 

At the moment, it's not uncommon to see BREL T4 bogies on the M4 / M5 going either towards Wabtec or to SPM, HST power car bogies heading sometimes up to Crewe or Desiro Bogies going to Wabtec on the motorways either.

[newbryford]

Similar road movements occur if there is a problem with moving the errant stock at a reasonable speed - such as wheel bearing and axle faults.

A Class 156 was taken down from Preston station to Preston Docks to be roaded for works attention - it had been worked down there using wheel skates.

 

Also stock that hasn't yet got a FTR (fitness to run) certificate will be shifted along the Queen's Highway - such as the new Class 68 from Southampton to Carlisle that hadn't received certification to run on Network Rail metals at that time.

 

Cheers,

Mick

[RJS1977]

Of course some preserved railways don't have main line connections, so need to move stock by road, some are the wrong gauge to send stock by rail, and some items are too big for the National Network (like the Bullet Train at York). 

[Pete 75C]

I thought they could do all of 23 mph?

 

The 09s we had at Norwood were geared for 27mph. It's a miracle we didn't all get nosebleeds...

[Robert]

I have always found it astounding that it is cheaper to load a loco onto a lorry, than it is to move it by rail.

 

One question about the 08s though - Can't you take the coupling rods off and drag it with a faster locomotive?

[phil-b259]

I have always found it astounding that it is cheaper to load a loco onto a lorry, than it is to move it by rail.

 

One question about the 08s though - Can't you take the coupling rods off and drag it with a faster locomotive?

 

Its not just the con rods you have to remove because unless the gearbox is disconnected it will either disintegrate at high speeds or it will turn the attached traction motors so fast that they will overheat and could catch fire.

 

Now obviously its doable - but even BR in its final years found road transport to be simpler and nowadays its worth remembering that basically if you start taking things apart, before they are allowed back out on NRs infrastructure they have to have a fresh set of examinations to varify its safe. (Its why the Swanage cannot split incoming steam charter (tender) engines to turn them for their return runs - to do so requires a whole series of fresh examinations to be done)

[Pete 75C]

One question about the 08s though - Can't you take the coupling rods off and drag it with a faster locomotive?

 

Good point, but the traction motors would need to be de-meshed to avoid terminal damage, which is an absolute pain to do, even in a depot.

 

Its not just the con rods you have to remove because unless the gearbox is disconnected it will either disintegrate at high speeds or it will turn the attached traction motors so fast that they will overheat and could catch fire.

 

That too!

[RJS1977]

Running an 08 with its rods off even at low speed can cause extra wear to both the loco and the track. That's why we (Cholsey & Wallingford Railway) only tend to run Unicorn (which has had its rods removed due to shifted cranks) as last spare or on special occasions like the Guinness Day.  

[tomparryharry]

One thing I forgot to add, apart from the incorrect speed that I quoted, is that there is a manpower cost element involved. At 15mph, a drivers time will not go very far. Gone are the days of passing loops, where a slow moving train can 'go inside'.

 

Ian

[Robert]

Thanks for the answers - the traction motor problem makes a lot of sense, and hadn't occurred to me - which it probably should have done!

 

After all, a motor in reverse is a generator and vice-versa.

[Fat Controller]

If you're dragging a vehicle of maximun speed 25 kph for any distance on a railway that is geared up for traffic moving at 100 kph, then you use up an awful lot of revenue-earning paths. I was involved in the movement of a wagon that had to be moved at 20 kph for 50+ kilometres; I recollect that initially about a dozen other trains had to be cancelled to allow it to travel. This was done overnight, with a 4 tph base service; imagine the same at a busier time..

[Pete 75C]

Thinking about revenue earning stock being moved by road, I remember this image from the BBC News Wales website a while back. The 158 was being moved by road as a direct result of being cut off by storm damage, so obviously isn't a regular occurrence.

 

 

 

 

[D6775]

Before I left DB for pastures new I manage to arrange movement of two 09's on the national network. I was told it couldn't be done so I wanted to prove it could, probably the last time this will ever happen though! I did have a print out of the TRUST reports but I don't know where they went. 09201 traveled from Knottingley to Peak Forrest with 09106 traveling from Trafford Park to Knottingley the same night, the crews swapping over in Sheffield station...........