How did they get them on the ironing board?
(I'll get my coat.
Once it's been ironed.)
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The early years of Class 56s and Construction
- Thread starter Sun Chariot
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(I'll get my coat.
Once it's been ironed.)
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I remember seeing a number of Class 56 cab frames at Ashford Works Open Day in 1977. I got the impression then that there wasn’t a lot of manufacturing going on at Ashford and so it gave them something to do.
I even took a really bad transparency….
I even took a really bad transparency….
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I don’t think many of the 56001-30 build went to Derby for rectification work. I saw 56010 inside Derby Works in December 1978, and apart from 56036 displayed (Open Day) on 1st September 1979, observed no class 56 on other visits, although 56001 did have a lengthy stay at the RTC in 1977-78.
Helvellyn
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At the risk of going off topic surely the Class 56s must have ended up being generally more expensive than planned. As well as the first thirty locos and the issues discussed here the last twenty locos were built at Crewe. Switching production there to let Doncaster reorganise for Class 58 construction can't have been cheap. Did it lead to any delays in delivery of the last twenty locos or any differences between them and the 85 Doncaster built locos?
Big Jumby 74
Member
Sun Chariot
Established Member
Thanks for sharing such a fascinating photo - and it shows something I didn't notice at the time: a narrow white border around the black of the cab windows; a feature not adopted for any other large logo blue locomotive.
Big Jumby 74
Member
A detail that was deemed unnecessary, too time consuming to apply (etc), in due course. A nice touch all the same, similar (and probably a reflection of) the former BR blue/grey livery, which had a thin white line around the grey/near white sections of units etc. Certain boundaries (in livery/paint schemes) were 'pushed' a tad at 30A, not always to the pleasure of higher authority, but if the water isn't tested.....
GRALISTAIR
Established Member
I have a photograph taken shortly after on Worksop.
Big Jumby 74
Member
I saw 56001 and 002 shortly after they arrived at Tinsley. In my attempt to get round the shed I asked the foreman if I could see the new locos as I'd travelled on the train from Bristol. He got someone to show them to me then threw me out! They were both on the same road in the shed iirc. Did manage to bunk most of it on a couple of occasions. Didn't see any more until a year later when saw quite a few actually out working.
01d-and
Member
A group of us must have visited Tinsley at about the same time but we were not aware of 56001 and 56002 being 'on shed'. We managed [for a change] to get permission to go around - with a staff member as escort - and I remember his great delight on revealing to us the two new arrivals.
Shaw S Hunter
Established Member
Many moons ago I saw an article in the Class 56 Group's magazine relating to deliveries of completed locos from Romania. ISTR that at least one loco made part of the journey by road and nearly came to grief on a mountain road somewhere, presumably in Romania itself. Can anyone add anything further? |
Spaceship323
Member
I think that was a delivery of engines that got stuck going to Romanla, I remember seeing a picture somewhere...
Here it is:
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Strathclyder
Established Member
I was actually considering starting a thread on this subject, mainly the Romanian 56s and exactly why they were built there (not really surprised it was part of a wider polictical decision) given how I had heard only bits and pieces about it across several threads and had alway been curious as to the answer. 56s being one of my favorite BR diesels is also a reason lol
The RCTS has a feature on the Romanian 56 delivery trains from Harwich to Tinsley and the locos which hauled them once on British shores under the Diesel Dilemmas banner (link below). 31s & 37s featured heavily on these moves, but one 25, 47 and at least one pair of 20s are also known to have featured as locos changed over en-route.
features.rcts.org.uk
The RCTS has a feature on the Romanian 56 delivery trains from Harwich to Tinsley and the locos which hauled them once on British shores under the Diesel Dilemmas banner (link below). 31s & 37s featured heavily on these moves, but one 25, 47 and at least one pair of 20s are also known to have featured as locos changed over en-route.
Romanian Class 56 Delivery Trains – Railway Correspondence & Travel Society
features.rcts.org.uk
Am not aware of any differences between the bulk of the fleet (the 85 Doncaster-built machines) and the last 20 members (the Crewe-built examples) aside from the builder's plate, but the upheaval and reorganisation involved no doubt had some bearing on the last 56s not entering traffic until late 1983/early 1984 (last-built 56135 didn't enter service until January 1984 iirc), over a year after the first Class 58 had been delivered.
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70014IronDuke
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There are certainly some serious mountains north of Craiova, and the "trunk" roads of Romania (no such thing as motorways in the 70s) were notorious for being in poor condition.
randyrippley
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There's been a thread on here within the last couple of years which linked to a photo of a crashed transporter with a class 56 diesel half way down a mountain gorge. Somewhere in Yugoslavia I think
Spaceship323
Member
Is this the one? Go down to post 88
The Cl 56 build in Romania - what was the reason for this bizarre decision
Do not believe all the propoganda that has been put about regarding Eastern European and former soviet block countries, we were fed as much mushroom manure about them as they were fed about us. Many people had a good standard of living and were in well respected jobs. This all changed with the...
www.railforums.co.uk
randyrippley
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Yes that's it.
This thread and that could be usefully merged