DavidB-AU

A hypothetical second generation HST. Cheers David

I'm sure somebody has thought of this before. Not entirely convinced about the livery styling. Would it look better painted like a 90? Cheers David

Found this interesting one on Pintrest. It has good scope for card/waybill operation. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/03/b9/73/03b973644f63ed76f018a7a5056f9af9.jpg The only change I'd make is I'd put the continuous run connector between the staging and the lift-out bridge. Cheers David

What if the next loco after the AL6 had been for heavy freight on the WCML? And if it survived to privatisation. Cheers David

So here's an electric to diesel to electro-diesel conversion. Cheers David

And an alternative 67. Cheers David

Speaking of electric to diesel conversions, a hypothetical EE Type 3 in the shell of an 86. Cheers David

The modern quad-art. Cheers David

The stuff of nightmares. Cheers David

What if Derby had a go at building electric locos? Cheers David

Falcon had the same engines as a Western and electric transmission. I was thinking of a C-C hydraulic about 30% more powerful than a Hymek. Cheers David

Or have two engines like the Western. A rough back of the envelope calculation suggests a pair of 12 cylinder Maybach MD650s (1100hp each) should fit in a body about 65 feet long. About 85% of Western but a bit heavier so might be limited to 75mph, but would have excellent adhesion. Cheers David

Since they often ran in pairs on the Condor... Cheers David

Elf'n'safety would have a fit with that. Something that NSW did give some serious consideration was a van to carry mail, parcels and other high value items in standard air freight containers and palettes. The method of loading and unloading would have been pretty much identical to the cargo hold of an aircraft. Cheers David

Strange you should mention that! Tulloch wanted to use Metro-Vickers equipment for its double deck suburban stock, as it had used MV on its single deck stock since the 1940s. However NSWGR insisted on four prototype power cars using Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Toshiba and English Electric equipment. NSWGR decided they liked Mitsubishi best and it was used on subsequent double deck power cars. So imagine double deck interurban/intercity trains of the same dimensions as the Comeng double deckers (for the narrow loading gauge beyond Springwood) but looking more like Tulloch double deck suburban stock, and with MV traction. Something else you may not know about the V sets, told to me by one of the engineers (sadly now passed on) who was in the design team. At the time the single deck interurbans (U sets) hauled mail/parcels vans to Lithgow and Gosford, in the latter case they were then DMU-hauled through to Newcastle. There were plans to extend the wires to Newcastle although this wasn't completed until 1984. Comeng designed a double ended mail/parcels power car, using the same frame and shell to save money but with a single deck at platform level and wide single doors with trademark Comeng "porthole" windows similar to the luggage doors on the Southern Aurora MHN van. They would have operated independently alone or in pairs, similar to the suburban electric parcels vans, or be attached to through trains to Lithgow and Newcastle. Attached to a standard V set, 3 powered vehicles out of 5 (6.4 hp/t) would have made it quite a rocket. I could only find a low res drawing to adapt but the plan I was shown about 15 years ago looked something like this. Cheers David

That describes many of the real diesels ordered under the Modernisation Plan. Cheers David

There was a similar locomotive built by BTH with twin Paxman 12-RPHL engines for New South Wales. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_41_class_locomotive Cheers David

Again not saying it would be practical... Cheers David

Is there a rule that ideas in this topic have to be practical? Cheers David

A heavy shunter to replace the SR Z class. Cheers David

No that's correct. The door is behind the driving position in both directions. Same on the class 15 and 16. Cheers David

Not entirely unlike the 1250 class built by EE for Queensland Railways in 1959. Cheers David

German industrial group Siemens AG and French rival Alstom SA agreed to merge their rail operations, creating a European champion to better withstand the international advance of China’s state-owned CRRC Corp Ltd https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-alstom-siemens-stocks/alstom-siemens-to-merge-rail-businesses-to-counter-chinas-crrc-idUKKCN1C118S.