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UK Freight Trains

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ExTankieAaron

ExTankieAaron

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Evening gents,

Just been doing alot of research on the class 66 train because im hoping to be a trainee driver with DRS.
Anyway what im asking it are the trains upto the job ive seen countless vids of the 66 struggling with its loads and one it just gave up... Will the companys soon be replacing them like DRS with the 68? Cant imagine what the older ones be like pulling some of those loads.

Regards
.
 
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Beveridges

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A 66 certainly *is* up to the job at hauling heavy loads and only struggles when there is a gradient.

DRS's trains aren't that heavy anyway so I don't think you'll have much to worry about!

You'll find DB Schenker's & GBRF's 66's struggling far more frequently as they operate heavy coal & biomass trains with just a single 66 on the front.

68's aren't going to be a massive improvement over 66's, but 92's would.
 
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edwin_m

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I can't immediately find the weight of the Class 68 online but going by the axle load it's about 84 tonnes. A class 66 is 126 tonnes.

Other things being equal the tractive effort of a locomotive is proportional to the weight. The tractive effort determines the amount of load it can haul at low speed and on steep hills, and therefore a class 66 will be able to haul about 50% more load than a class 68.

The 68 is designed more to haul lighter loads at higher speeds, so is likely to be used on passenger trains as well as light freight but won't be much use on a heavy freight train - very similar to the 67 in fact.

A good way of impressing your potential employers would be to find out more about the basics of traction systems, starting with the difference between power and tractive effort!
 
ExTankieAaron

ExTankieAaron

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edwin_m said:
I can't immediately find the weight of the Class 68 online but going by the axle load it's about 84 tonnes. A class 66 is 126 tonnes.

Other things being equal the tractive effort of a locomotive is proportional to the weight. The tractive effort determines the amount of load it can haul at low speed and on steep hills, and therefore a class 66 will be able to haul about 50% more load than a class 68.

The 68 is designed more to haul lighter loads at higher speeds, so is likely to be used on passenger trains as well as light freight but won't be much use on a heavy freight train - very similar to the 67 in fact.

A good way of impressing your potential employers would be to find out more about the basics of traction systems, starting with the difference between power and tractive effort!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, wrote it all down thanks. But are their newer bigger better trains coming soon? Its just that those i saw did struggle.
 
Freightmaster

Freightmaster

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edwin_m said:
A good way of impressing your potential employers would be to find out more about the basics of traction systems, starting with the difference between power and tractive effort!
Click to expand...
...not to mention the difference between a train and a loco! ;)


MARK
 
ash39

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None of DRS's fleet of diesels, including the new ones, are better suited to pulling a heavy load than a 66. I'd be interested to see these videos you speak of.
 
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SPADTrap

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Aaron, you're about to have one hell of a shock, my friend :D
 
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ExTankieAaron

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I found them by going youtube type in class 66, i watched a few vids and just clicking on the "recomended" vids at the side. I found two, one GBRf pulling lookds like scrap metal and one EWS pulling tanks, not my kinda tank but oil or somthing.
 
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HSTfan!!!

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Certainly won't see 68's doing the work of a 66, it's a mixed traffic loco not a pure freight loco like a 66. 66 is quite capable, but will struggle with some of the really heavier stuff.
 
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jopsuk

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Whilst there are those who cheerfully video every train and post it on youtube, the ones that will get more views, and hence will top the search rankings, are the unusual ones- for example ones of trains struggling.
 
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YorkshireBear

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I have never seen a 66 struggle. They do a fine job on all but the heaviest of trains. Which luckily we now have Class 60s and 70s for.
 
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talltim

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The only diesels in the UK with more heavy train pulling abilities than the 66 are the 59 and 60, both older than the 66s. Now, electrics on the other hand...
 
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HSTfan!!!

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I believe DBS stopped using single 66's on the murcos for this very reason.
 
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Beveridges

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Any loco will struggle if it is used on a load that is too heavy for it.

66's probably get loaded up to their maximum haulage capabilities more often than any other loco in the UK hence they are 'seen' struggling more often, especially when there is a gradient.

I have never seen any of the older Type 5's (Except 60's) struggle but the loads they haul are hardly as testing as some of the stuff EWS/DB have attempted to get their 66's to do.

In the early days of EWS (when we used to have 100 Class 60's in service) you'd very rarely if ever see a 66 being used on a train that was too heavy for it.
 
TB93

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Having just watched this clip I agree with ! Driver all it's doing is creeping towards the signal,struggling my arse,some people write the daftest titles to their clips.
 
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#1 driver

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Beveridges said:
You'll find DB Schenker's & GBRF's 66's struggling far more frequently as they operate heavy coal & biomass trains with just a single 66 on the front.
Click to expand...

biomass ain't heavy !

Beveridges said:
In the early days of EWS (when we used to have 100 Class 60's in service) you'd very rarely if ever see a 66 being used on a train that was too heavy for it.
Click to expand...

WE ?
 
fowler9

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Saw a Biomass train at Edge Hill last week. Had two 66's on the front. The coal train in front had one 66. This happened two days on the trot. Anyone think of a reason the Biomass train had two up front both times?
 
fowler9

fowler9

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Just wondering with it being two up both days. It could of course have been the same train sat there for twenty four hours.
 
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