What diesel unit/loco sounds best at idle?

[notadriver]

what unit or loco sounds best ticking over in that platform ?

 

[fgwrich]

For me, it's got to be the Sulzer 6 or 8 LDA lumps in the 24/25/26/27s & 33s or 12 LDAs in the Peaks and 47s. Lovely simple tick over, even more lovely on a cold winters morning when the air is still, and reverberating to the sound of a small Sulzer!

 

[Martin_1981]

what unit or loco sounds best ticking over in that platform ?

I personally like the sound of the MTU engined HST power cars at idle, nice steady throb. That said, they are nothing compared to the old Valenta engines when pulling out of stations. I still find the HST's to be the only passenger trains left with any character.

 

[Cheshire Rover]

Class 40 at rest. Class 55 when pulling away.

 

[Blindtraveler]

quite like the Cummins QSK19 at idle, pitty most of the stock there ins a disappointment. Also rathe like the perkins engined 158s, nice and growly up close, from a distance though they could be mistaken for a 170!

 

[bishdunster]

Well, for me it has to be an 08 or 09 !

 

[ExRes]

Well, for me it has to be an 08 or 09 !

Absolutely agree, 47, Valenta & 08

 

[Ash Bridge]

The whistle of 20s and 40s, not forgetting the powerful throb of a 55, and finally the deep rumble of a 35 or Hymek.

 

[91103eastcoast]

I like the sounds made Class 220/221 and 222 fleets when idle, but I don't know why.

 

[bnm]

Has to be a Deltic.

 

[Johnnie2Sheds]

Well I like the sound of most diesels, I've happily nodded off in my shunters cabin many times to the sound of a pair of 20s idling outside waiting for the road out of the yard. But, for me it has to be the bolts in a bucket sound of the MD870 in a Hymek, how does something so well engineered sound like that?

 

[GatwickDepress]

Well, for me it has to be an 08 or 09 !

Definitely. The humble shunter has something that rivals even the greatest mainline locomotives!

 

[D6975]

Definitely the deltics.
I miss being greeted by the hum as you came up the steps from the underground at KX.

 

[notadriver]

I'm looking for a decent YouTube clip with fantastic audio so I can get a sense of this but haven't found any - I guess it's never going to come close to being there.

 

[ac6000cw]

There is a good Deltic sound sample here - http://www.delticsounds.com/samples.html (as it says, you need to listen on good speakers with the volume at the window-rattling level to get the full effect )

 

[MK Tom]

For me, a first gen DMU like a class 117. I really miss sitting at Bletchley listening to the Bedford shuttle rattle and clunk away when it wasn't even going anywhere.

 

[FQ]

47 or a 24/5/6/7.

 

[Yew]

Either a 56, or the percussive thump of a 60.. Although living next to the Lincoln line, exactly where the 66's idle, I have a soft spot for the ying-yings..

 

[Haydn1971]

I love the sound of a Pacer at idle... As it's being crushed into a tin can !

 

[Strathclyder]

Has to be the Deltics for me, loco-wise. Nothing else compares to them.

For the DMU side of things, it's either the 156s or the 170s.

 

[duffers2324]

Agree with you there Strathclyder i think the Class 156 sounds good while Idling

 

[sprinterguy]

Thinking back to RES and early EWS days when class 47 "thunderbirds" were de rigeur on the East Coast, there was always something soothing about the way they would tick over out of the way in the bay platform at Newcastle before going off to do a route learning move or whatever.

 

[43074]

47, Deltics, Westerns or Valenta HSTs sound best in my opinion.

 

[hassaanhc]

I quite like the 165 idle, you don't realise how loud they are until you are on the Paddington H&C platforms and one is idling nearby, and a S Stock stops in the platform which blocks the noise. However I'm not familiar with locos or almost all DMUs, only the 165/166. Others that I've been on include the 170, 171, 172, 180 and 185 (also 150 a few years ago but don't remember much ). Can tell I haven't done much bashing on diesels.

 

[yorksrob]

As far as I'm aware, there hasn't been any sort of locomotive at Idle since it closed to freight in 1968 !

 

[BestWestern]

Definitely the throaty burble of a 37 or 47 for me. The anticipation when one is sat on the up through at Temple Meads as you wait for the symphony of it pulling away and the noise reverberating around under the trainshed roof... And if it's a pair of Tractors with them both powering even better! One of the few modern railway experiences that still makes you tingle a little

 

[Ash Bridge]

Definitely the throaty burble of a 37 or 47 for me. The anticipation when one is sat on the up through at Temple Meads as you wait for the symphony of it pulling away and the noise reverberating around under the trainshed roof... And if it's a pair of Tractors with them both powering even better! One of the few modern railway experiences that still makes you tingle a little

Can appreciate your description under Temple Meads trainshed. Some years ago was on a rail tour that had come up from Exeter via Bath hauled by 50032 and we were allowed to get off at Bristol where the 50 was taken off to be replaced by a 47 When the driver pulled away after uncoupling the sound of that English Electric 16 Cylinder engine was just awesome, a very moving symphonic experience.