56029 at Barnetby 1993

[HSTHoward]

Proper freight locos.

[TheSlash21]

See that V shaped exhaust cloud at 1:25, thats his Professional Driving policy in full swing. 

[NJPurling]

None of the original batch of 56's from Electroputere survived?

Amazingly Electroputere still mention the 56's they made on their Web site.

A little susprising, given that BR had problems with them.

[bikerarni]

A proper locomotive!

[keytesofessex]

brilliant footage

[MrStapletonRoad]

Awesome

[okotokspaul]

Awesome Grid Action!!

[MickeyLove01]

Before the days of that big ugly footbridge??

[zombiesonacid]

Beastly, very beastly indeed :)

[tmayco]

horsepower at rail - class 56 = 3250. class 66 = 3000. Top speed - class 56 = 80mph. class 66 = 75mph.

Sight and sound. Class 56 = Brilliant. Class 66 = crap.

[baconsandwich2007]

@tmayco That's progress.............apparentl­y!

[TheValKBawz]

@tmayco Unfortunately you mixed up some data.

Class 66 gets 3000 hp to the rail, the engine has 3300.

The 56 had a 3250 hp engine but only got 2400 to the rail.

Also, the 66 has more traction than the 56 - up to 408 kN during launch compared to 275 kN, continuous 260 kN vs 240 kN.

I totally agree with you about the looks though.

[Wikkus]

Sweet grid vid :)

[EWS60500]

I cant stop watching 56 vids, they are the best sound I have ever heard, but the 60's are up there with them 2

[grannyjone]

56 and 66 have comparable tractive effort, horsepower and the same top speed.

Not only on paper, but when it comes to hauling coal. The load restrictions for both a 56 and a 66 on a Lindsey oil train is 2700 tonnes I believe.

[formidable38]

I hate to piss on your parade but a 56 has alot less tractive effort than a 66! A 56 would not cope with the load out of peak forest of a 66. A 66 was never intended to out-do a 60. Its a mixed traffic work horse and does what it was designed to do well. The build qaulity is shit but they got us out of a hole as all our stuff was clapped out and life expired.

[grannyjone]

So your saying a 66 is somewhere between a 56 and a 60 in terms of haulage?

Never known a 66 handle anything that a 56 couldnt

I've seen both classes hauling up to around 2600 tonnes but rarely anything more.

The acceleration of a 56 on an MGR also appears to be slightly faster than a 66 on the same train.

[formidable38]

66 is 409 kilonewtons max TE, or in old money, over 91'000 pounds. Continuous TE is over 58'000 lbs. If I remember correctly, a 56 produces a mere 55'000 lbs max starting TE. Im just going by the figures I see!! A 66 has a lower max speed hence the higher TE as its geared lower. Its always been common knowledge that a shed is between a 56 and 60 in terms of haulage capacity. A 66/6 is close to a 60.

[kevatcrewe]

Class 56's are far more interesting than Class 66's - that's what matters. 66's are so boring in every way, the Class 56's have character.

[formidable38]

Yes, your exactly right on that count if only the railway was run for the benefit of trainspotters. Unfortunately they are not, they are run as a bussiness and a 56 is an expensive liability from a bussiness point of view! Thats why we have lots of 66's and not many 56's! Another reason why EMD are all over the world, they are just so dam reliable compared with anything else.

[tmayco]

Well said. This great achive footage is showing the sight and sound of a real loco. Its sad to admit but I really miss the grids and after they got withdrawn, I lost nearly all my interest in the railways. They were far more entertaining than a 66 any day. Who cares what class has more power.

[linbeef08]

i think its hilarious they withdrew the grids when EWS could have refurbished them n got another 10-15 years work outta them, n now theyve run the 60's into the ground but have had to keep 10 going cos the "o so great" 66's aren't powerful enough to haul the stone upto peak forest

[EWS60500]

I tataly agree, I think that the 60's and 56's should be the main freight locos in the Uk, well the amin heavy freight locos, cos they could easily improve the 56's and 60's fuel consumption by fitting new equptment, but the 60's do have a low fuel consumption anyway, But I think the only downside to the 56's are they do have a lower tractiv effort than the 66's which may reduce their haulage capacity and make the 66's more powerfull, but never the less who knows what will hapen.

[grannyjone]

DRS and GBRf should just buy about 50 of them and then compete with EWS and Freightliner for a load of coal traffic.

Now that would be hellfire

[Verbs2007]

Pure beastage!

[TheSlash21]

I want a 56!! ;-(

[jonny7england]

That was a familiar site...end of shift and dropping off at the end of the platform after a hard days graft..thanks for the great footage..

[TheSlash21]

Proper Engine, Proper Driver - Proper Railway :-D No messing about

[Yownanymous]

Love to see one of these in Freigtliner livery!

[Kidderminsterharrier]

Same engine as an HST. Close your eyes and that could be an HST and vice versa.

[formidable38]

You are joking, right??

Its a Ruston v16RKT, its origins are actualy from the class 50 lump, infact the block is nearly identical. The 2 Napier turbo's give it the racket.

[loonies125]

still sounded brilliant though!!! :>

[bikerarni]

ruston paxman once owned the old english electric works at newton le willows, this is where they made the RKI63CT engines as used in the 56`s,the paxman valenta used in the HST`S was a v12 and i am certain they was made in colchester,what gave both engines a similar sound was the napier turbos,formidable 38 is right the 56 engine is based on the 16CSVT units from class 50`s, also made at the vulcan foundry newton le willows when owned by english electric

[class313]

VP185s were made in colchester. Not sure about the Valentas.

[teadrinker56]

You are all missing the point. The similarity in the sound of HSTs and 56s is nothing to do with the engine (and the engines have nothing at all in common bar starter motors), it is entirely to do with turbos.

HSTs originally used a Napier SA-084, and most 56s used Napier SA-085s. The scream is from the turbos and the similar turbos make a similar noise.

A Brown Boveri fitted 56 sounds nothing like an HST, and not much like a Napier fitted 56.

[class313]

This is true. Because if you fitted an MTU turbo set to a valenta (for example) then in reality it would pretty much be like a VP185 or something between the two. All the froth is just turbo scream, lordz ;)

[Sprog030]

Yes...same as HST....right =S

Seriously man, some people need know there stuff before posting.

Same sodding engine.... *rolls eyes*

[madplanefan]

Hellfire! An almost 47 looking HST :P

Good Video 5*

[fleagle6]

Doncaster, Good Friday 1999. One of these tearing through pulling a load of empty HAAs.  The noise was indescribable and my fillings rattled! Dreadful!

[Yownanymous]

Good God, it sounds like a HST! Yeah, I dunno why EWS don't use them. They're just as practical as 37s.

[Yownanymous]

Sprog, you seriously consider yourself the resident expert on railways don't you? You are really a pathetic timewaster with FAR too much time on his hands.

[Yownanymous]

Well stop slagging everyone else off and pretending to be the ultimate fountain of all wisdom.

[Yownanymous]

Sprog, I have really got better things to do than argue with you, and this is the last reply I send to any comments you make (at least on this video). No-one likes a smart arse, and I'm not as much of a freak as you are, considering you seem to know every last detail about every component of every engine.

[Donald161093]

cool vid mate

[skwales100]

Lovely

[Nightm00ds]

Thankyou for this vid - its brill

[Paulsimon8]

I wish I was a driver back in the 90's, unfortunately the most powerfull thing I get to drive is a poxy 333 electric :(

Bring back loco haul - all is forgiven!

[chrisj94]

dreadful,what top-class traction.

[bikerarni]

these monsters used to keep me awake at night taking empty HAA`S east, once clear of earlestown curve , the drivers would open them up fine style, total HELLFIRE

[jackiejayetv]

Dont we all Jim 40,thank feck for Fastline eh?

[jim40135]

What a beast. I miss Grids. :o(