Electric heritage railways

[Sun Chariot]

I was just thinking today about all of the Metro Cammell Networkers being stored or scrapped and I was wondering if I would see any on a heritage railway in the future.

The problem is that I don't think there are any heritage electric railways in the UK, let alone third rail ones. The EOR was obviously a third rail route in its Underground days but all of the electrical stuff has been stripped out over the years.

How feasible would it be to make a heritage railway for EMUs from a pre-existing electrified route?

Hello @frankmoh - you'll find this topic in the thread linked below (which has a link to another thread covering the topic too)

Possibility of a full-size electric heritage railway

How possible would it be to set up and operate a full-size standard gauge electrified heritage railway primarily operating electric trains? What restrictions might there be, i.e. the line might be 25kv overhead only and/or have less scheduled trains due to energy costs?

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[bluegoblin7]

It would be Aldwych and Holborn, considering the whole shuttle route could be operated as a separate line from the main route and it has its own platforms etc plus has occasionally had trains running in and out (I don’t think they do that anymore)

Impossible nowadays: aside from the fact the branch has been permanently de-electrified, the signalling effectively decommissioned and the station due to undergo capacity upgrades encroaching onto the branch platform, modern (LU) signalling design wouldn't allow trains to run up and down the branch without better mitigation for a SPAD towards the main line than would be possible. Even then, issues of getting stock on and off the branch would be significant. All of this has been gone through before.

 

[generalnerd]

Impossible nowadays: aside from the fact the branch has been permanently de-electrified, the signalling effectively decommissioned and the station due to undergo capacity upgrades encroaching onto the branch platform, modern (LU) signalling design wouldn't allow trains to run up and down the branch without better mitigation for a SPAD towards the main line than would be possible. Even then, issues of getting stock on and off the branch would be significant. All of this has been gone through before.

I thought that might be the case, I was more thinking in a ‘where do tunnels exist’ type of mindset, I know nothing about the technical side of railways

Edit: it would be interesting to know why the main line could suffer a SPAD from a train running on a seperate branch? Are there any public documents with information on why this might be the case

 

[izvor]

The Post Office Railway (London) is a preserved electric railway, but I believe the trains are now battery powered - for obvious reasons.

 

[Falcon1200]

Any ideas or plans for Bo'ness Heritage Railway to get overhead lines?

Absolutely none whatsoever! The expense and complication of 25kV overheads, to let a 125mph loco trundle up and down at 25mph, could never be justified. Not even to let their Class 303 out for a run, either.

(For context, the trams at Summerlee Museum, Coatbridge, have not run for a couple of years as there is no suitably qualified and competent person to oversee the operation).

 

[Alpine Rider]

I doubt any thrid/fourth rail option will ever be approved for any Heritage line on safety grounds in the UK.

Hence adding a diesel loco to turn the EMU unit into a push pull unit is probably the most affordable and practical solution for heritage lines who rarely have masses of cash to spend.

If money is no object then it might be possible to adapt EMUs to a battery and fast charge solution. This would contain any exposed electrical connections to charging rails which remain inert until a train is in position.

Whilst networkers are being scrapped I have a feeling that the easiest candidate for fast charging conversion would be to modify the former Marston Vale Class 230/D Stock. These units have already been modified to meet crash standards and have raft mounted diesel gensets. which would need to be swapped out for batteries and then fast charging equipment installed on the train which would need major rewiring. Trackside there would be the costs of installing charging rails and shore based trickle charged battery bank used to charge the train during layovers. I suspect there might be a need to pay some sort of nominal license fee to GWR(HMG) to use the patented Fast Charge Technology.

 

[birchesgreen]

Batteries are a good bet, especially as the mainline starts using BEMUs so that should make the tech more affordable and available.

An example of battery powered preserved once-electric rolling stock is the tram at Statfold Barn.