Here in the UK the North Norfolk Railway has LEV1 on its property does anyone remember seeing or riding on this car also the British Rail 2 car diesel unit which I think worked in Canada? also apart from the French Turbo train what other trains were treid out on US rails?
Malcolm.
I know the B&ML (Belfast & Moosehead Lake) railroad runs a fully operational Swedish steam loco and passenger car set every summer. Here’s the Spirit Of Unity on the Armstrong Turntable.
Also, I know there are at least a couple of Chinese QJ’s on North American soil. R.J. Corman owns one of them.
True, these are specialty items not intended for everyday use, but they’re interesting just the same.
Some years ago there was a rumor going around about a Japanese Bullet Train that was supposedly going to be tried out in North America, but I don’t think it ever happened.
Near the bottom of this page:
http://www.nrm.org.uk/flyingscotsman/index.asp
is a description of the Flying Scotsman’s visit to the US.
Hello Philip,
Interesting pic that,There is a railway near Peterborough called the Nene Valley thet has a collection of Swedish,Danish and French stock and Locomotives and this railway is used by film makers when they want European rail scenes in fact the James Bond films have featured the Nene Valley on a few occassions.
Malcolm.
Hello Jeff,
I remember reading about the ICE train but I dont know what the results were on its performance,I assume the Acela train was a developement from this.I found out recently that the railways in Ottawa has German built diesel car trains.
Malcolm.
The D&RGW, and later the SP, purchased diesel-hydraulic locomotives from Krauss-Maffei in the 1960s. They were peculiar in that the carbodies had been beveled inward at the top to fit the German loading gauge.
Initially, the hydraulic drives seemed to show promise. Ultimately, they were done in by high maintenance costs and shortage of spare parts.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Others to keep in mind were Amtrak X996, which was an Alsthom design which worked well in France but couldn’t handle North American trackage, and Amtrak X995, a Swedish locomotive which became the basis of the AEM7’s.
Hi Paul,
X996 the SNCF loco was rated at 7750hp on 6 axles which I read was too powerful for the US market? the Swedish Rc4 was about 6000 hp and seemed more suitable to haul amfleet cars.
Malcolm.
The Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield tourist train (near Ottawa) runs Swedish-built steam and diesel locomotives, and passenger cars. http://steamtrain.ca/
The oil-fired steam 2-8-0 locomotive was built in 1907, and is Canada’s “oldest excursion locomotive”. http://steamtrain.ca/loco_909_en.asp?onglet=1
The Acela is a TGV redesigned to US standards.
Dave H.
That makes me wonder if ther is enough room under the wires for a duplex (bi-level)version of the Acela.
Malcoilm.
Actually, that is not entirely accurate.
The French TGV is/was developed in the 1960s and '70s by GEC-Alsthom (now known as Alstom) in a joint venture with SNCF (French national railways) with the first train entering regular service in 1981. Bombardier was involved only as a subcontractor.
Bombardier developed and builds Amtrak’s Acela (as well as German and Dutch ICE trains, in co-operation with Siemens). The Acela uses TGV’s electric motor technology; but the rest of the train’s design is unique. Because of the numerous relatively tight-radius curves in the US north-east corridor, tilting technology is used to minimise passenger discomfort when going around such curves at high speeds. http://bombardier.com/
In the reverse on this British FreightLiner Corp. just ordered 30 Locos from GE. First ever from A English company. They will be designed to British standards of course. AC tehnology etc etc.
Another that comes to mind was the Spanish Talgo operated in the Northwest and eventually copies were built in the Northwest for service on Amtrak.
The Ontario Northland Railway had a TEE Train called the Northlander. It was retired in around 1980.