Fuel for thought.

[scott118]

i have a fuel gauge which displays quarter increments on my 'dash' and as part of my machine prep, i also have visual sight glass readings to record on my daily shift paperwork.. the office reads through our paperwork and then sends out a fuel bowser to top up the units, as required..

 

[Radedamer]

This whole thread reads like a good reason for electrification!

 

[D365]

This whole thread reads like a good reason for electrification!

The previous government quickly saturated themselves with CP5 surprises before the GW project had really gotten off the ground. Please don't get too big for your boots

 

[Minilad]

This whole thread reads like a good reason for electrification!

Until high winds or errant pantographs bring the wires down. Or the 3rd rail gets all frosted up.
I would imagine far more disruption is caused by those things rather than running out of diesel

 

[Jamesb1974]

Deleted

 

[Peter Sarf]

This whole thread reads like a good reason for electrification!

Oooo Yea.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The previous government quickly saturated themselves with CP5 surprises before the GW project had really gotten off the ground. Please don't get too big for your boots

Um oh .

TBH I can imagine the whole culture starts with the first locos replacing steam. It was the depots responsibility to prepare a steam loco for its days duties. I imagine that approach continued with always making sure a diesel loco was also full up for the duties ahead. I can imagine that a diesel locos range was far far greater than a steam loco. So it follows that making sure the diesel tank was full in departure was going to give the diesel loco plenty of range in comparison to the steam locos around it. Nowadays I bet locos are stretched further and that is where the problem lies.

Nice to see a 68 has in cab info like that !. Reminds me why, if I did not know about Westerns and Deltics, the 68 could be my favourite loco.

 

[mark-h]

Why isn't a fuel gauge included in every cab of every diesel loco and DMU?

How would "a" fuel gauge give a picture of the fuel situation of a multi fuel tank DMU.

Given that different types of train can join together (such as Pacers, Sprinters and ?Turbostars?) how would they display the readouts in a meaningful way?

 

[najaB]

How would "a" fuel gauge give a picture of the fuel situation of a multi fuel tank DMU.

Given that different types of train can join together (such as Pacers, Sprinters and ?Turbostars?) how would they display the readouts in a meaningful way?

The only way it would make sense is to display the level of the least full tank.

 

[theblackwatch]

Vague memory: Wasn't there a 31 that ran out of fuel once (maybe 10-15 years ago, maybe more), where the driver or someone tramped across fields to get some diesel from a farmer?

Someone please tell me that really happened!

It was actually a Class 33 on a Steam Dreams charter from London to Lincoln (the 33 was substituting for a kettle). I actually spoke to the driver of this tour a few years later as she was sat opposite me on another tour, and she told me the full story of it. Class 33s have two fuel gauges, and when she took over the loco, she noticed one was showing as having little fuel in it, and the other showed it as 'full'. She queried this with the TOC control, who were adamant the loco had been filled full of fuel at the Mid Hants Railway before setting off. Clearly, this was not the case as it ran out of fuel near Sleaford...

This was in December 2005, and FM Rail went 'bust' the following year. I wonder if the farmer ever got paid for his diesel!

 

[SpacePhoenix]

On a modern unit like a Turbostar, couldn't each coach have a fuel gauge sensor which would feed it's data into the TMS system?

 

[Minilad]

Well the 170s I drive don't have a TMS for a start off. But once again the question is whats the point. It would be of limited benefit.

 

[najaB]

Well the 170s I drive don't have a TMS for a start off. But once again the question is whats the point. It would be of limited benefit.

Limited benefit for the driver, but would make train preparation a bit simpler. Plus with a modern TMS it would report the levels to control automatically.

 

[colchesterken]

I would have thought they could fit a small emergency tank someware linked to the pump to give say 100miles of running

 

[D365]

I would have thought they could fit a small emergency tank someware linked to the pump to give say 100miles of running

Define 'emergency'.

 

[scott118]

This whole thread reads like a good reason for electrification!

'Thunderbird' loco's are..?

 

[NI 271]

I would have thought they could fit a small emergency tank someware linked to the pump to give say 100miles of running

On a loco? If that's what you mean, just how "small" do you think a tank would need to be to do 100 miles (particularly if the loco is pulling a loaded train)?

The train I normally drive isn't a heavy one (about 1450 tonnes loaded), and each round trip, it does about 30% more mileage empty than loaded. It averages about 1.7mpg, so you'd need something around five times the size of the fuel tank in the average family car to do that 100 miles, assuming you could use all the fuel in it. It would need a very imaginative use of space to find room for that on board.