Trains... Choo Choo, not the dirty kind.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Ever wonder how big the contact patch is? Small, very small.

[Carruthers]

It was one of the unsung heroes of the early 20th Century railway system in the UK.

'Hall Class' locomotives were never going to be confused with the likes of the Flying Scotsman, Mallard or Duchess of Hamilton, but they gave many years of sterling service.

Each was named after a stately home, in this instance Wightwick Hall, and when the production run came to an end and they were running out of names, some wag suggested that the last one should be named 'That's Hall'.

Restored Wightwick Hall locomotive to run in Bucks

A steam locomotive is due to run for the first time in more than half a century after a restoration which has taken over 40 years.

The 6989 Wightwick Hall was built in 1948 and last ran in 1964.

It arrived at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre in Quainton in 1978 and has been rebuilt by volunteers from the 6989 Restoration Group.

Project member Chris Taylor said its run on Sunday would be "pretty emotional".

Built in Swindon and named after Wightwick Hall, near Wolverhampton, it covered 640,645 miles over 16 years in a fast express and freight role, including taking supporters to Wembley on football specials.

After decommissioning, it was sold to a scrapyard in Barry in Glamorgan, where it sat for more than 13 years before the engine and a tender were bought for £13,000 by the Quainton Railway Society after a fundraising appeal.

Wightwick Hall arrives at Buckinghamshire Railway Centre (Quainton) in 1978.

Chris Taylor is one of two men who have worked on it for 44 years - he first started travelling to Wales at weekends in 1974.

He said that over the years about 40 people have been involved and the current core team of eight have been together about 20 years.

"It had to be stripped right down to the basic components and then slowly rebuilt," he said.

"It's been totally done by a group of volunteers who've raised every penny themselves and done it on weekends as a hobby."

The locomotive passed its steam test in December and on Sunday it will travel about half a mile along the track at the museum.

"I will be at the helm for part of it - it will be pretty emotional," Mr Taylor said.

He said she would "earn her keep" by going on hire to other heritage railway companies where she would do runs of about 10-12 miles.

The locomotive passed its steam test in December and on Sunday it will travel about half a mile along the track at the museum.

"I will be at the helm for part of it - it will be pretty emotional," Mr Taylor said.

He said she would "earn her keep" by going on hire to other heritage railway companies where she would do runs of about 10-12 miles.

Restored to her former glory.

BBC

Wiki

Buckinghamshire Railway Centre

[slang]

Originally Posted by Carruthers

It was one of the unsung heroes of the early 20th Century railway system in the UK.

Very cool.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Ever wonder how big the contact patch is? Small, very small.

Impressive.

Makes me think of how long it takes one to stop.

[Diaphone Jim]

That's "brilliant," as is heard a few times in the vids.

[Gravdigr]

She cleans up well!

[Diaphone Jim]

That small area of steel-on-steel contact is what reduces friction to the point that allows millions of tons to roll along efficiently.

[Gravdigr]

I was thinking it had something to do with rolling resistance.

Plus I've wondered the rails ain't flat.

Now I know. And knowing is half the battle.[/G.I.Joe]

[xoxoxoBruce]

May 10th is the reenactment and celebration of the 150th anniversary of driving the Golden Spike in Utah.
I know 29 of the people going.

Union Pacific 4014 Big Boy has been restored and will be there.

132 feet long.

[Gravdigr]

The other day I saw something I'd never seen before. Train was going by when I got to the crossing. I sat there a minute watching the cars go by. A couple of minutes go by, prolly a quarter-half mile of train...and there, in the middle of this train, was an engine. Just one, all by his lonesome. And then another half mile o' train. Never seen that. I'm wondering if he was on the job, helping move the train, or if they just needed to get a locomotive somewhere.

ETA:

I just realized...I don't think I heard that engine. Does locomotives got neutral?

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Gravdigr

A couple of minutes go by, prolly a quarter-half mile of train...and there, in the middle of this train, was an engine. Just one, all by his lonesome. And then another half mile o' train. Never seen that. I'm wondering if he was on the job, helping move the train, or if they just needed to get a locomotive somewhere.

They could have had two trains join up on a section of track their routes shared.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Sounds like he's saying no locomotive at either end, just one in the middle.

[Orbert]

Originally Posted by Gravdigr

The other day I saw something I'd never seen before. Train was going by when I got to the crossing. I sat there a minute watching the cars go by. A couple of minutes go by, prolly a quarter-half mile of train...and there, in the middle of this train, was an engine. Just one, all by his lonesome. And then another half mile o' train. Never seen that. I'm wondering if he was on the job, helping move the train, or if they just needed to get a locomotive somewhere.

ETA:

I just realized...I don't think I heard that engine. Does locomotives got neutral?

(de-lurking because this question didn't really get answered)

Railroads often place additional locomotives on the end of a train, and sometimes in the middle. It's called Distributed Power.

Basically, if all the power is at the head end of the train, this can put enormous stress on the couplers. Adding locomotives at the end or in the middle helps move the train more efficiently. This is especially important in hilly/mountainous areas.

It helps to remember that those big diesel locomotives are actually diesel-electric locomotives. The diesel engines under the hoods generic electric power which is then distributed to the wheels. Nowadays, there is all kinds of fancy computer-controlled circuitry to monitor load levels and properly distribute the power to whatever axles are available, be they all at the head, in the middle, or at the end.

That said, railroads will sometimes take two trains that happen to be leaving the same yard, around the same time and going the same way, and just stick 'em together. That would also lead to seeing one or more engines in the middle of a train. Once everything is hooked up and the locomotives are all talking to each other, it is now logistically just one train to keep track of instead of two. At some yards hundreds of miles away, they'll break them back up again.

[Gravdigr]

I assume there was/were engine(s) at the front, I was late for that scene. Nothing at the rear.

[Gravdigr]

WTF kind of sedans is the UP looking at?!

16 feet long, 5 feet tall?