The Deltic Roar. Bluebell Railway
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- Опубликовано: 6 окт 2017
- The spine tingling Deltic roar. The Bluebell Railway was host to three English Electric Deltic Diesels.
55009, 550019 and D9002, The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, Alicydon and Royal Highland Fusilier
A diagram of how the Deltic Diesel Engine is configured can be seen here : ttps:// • Napier Deltic Engine 
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I am an older Dutchman , and lived in the UK 1975/76 working for British Railways in the station-catering on several stations. Most on King's Cross ( but Also Harrogate, Leeds and Euston )
Seeing and hearing the Deltics go or come in, with that beautiful sound, and intriguing name-plates.
I lived in Willesden Junction in the railway-hostel. Standing on the platform or the viaduct there, you could see the Scottish trains passing by with full speed AND sound...
Salary was low, but almost free travel allowed me a few times to travel up North with the sleepers, towed by a Deltic.
Beautiful !
:-)
Truckie passing through. Sound reminds me of the old Detroit 2-stroke screaming jimmy.
Yes, 2-stroke alright. An 18 cylinder, 36 opposed piston 3 crankshaft 2-stroke. Although seen here with one engine working, they have actually have two of them.
chatty1chatty1 - How are the engines syncronised when both running, or do they use separate throttle controls?
Good question. I would think that there are only one set of controls which control both of the separate engine and generator sets delivering power to all the electric motors.
@@Alex462047 Similar to RM and DMS LT etc buses. An air/vacuum system, invariably Westinghouse, along with wipers, doors and brakes etc. Im a retired driver from V garage, W4.
@@Alex462047 The prime movers(engines) electro pneumatically controlled with both engines linked into the pneumatic control circuit. This cause both engines to be ran from one throttle. The two engine concept was used by Electromotive Division GM in the E series passenger loco, the DD35 A DD35B and DDA40X Centenials. In the Alco Century 855 and GE U50 and U50B.. Baldwin also used multiple engines in their "Baby Face" and centipede diesel locos. The centipede was designed to have up to 8 de lavergne 750 HP V8 diesels mounted crosswise to the chassis= 6,000 Hp.But only 2 1500 HP prime movers were installed = 3000HP.
And that's apparently running only one of the two engines on board, which makes sense for economy and the low speeds allowed.
noticed the exhaust leaving on different sides of the locomotive in different clips, cool to think they must share the run times between the two engines, help keep costs and maintenance down too, love it!
Just not the same magic on only one engine, the two engine harmonics make the real magic.
Interesting, I wonder if keeping maintenance costs down is another consideration, one can imagine how laborious and costly it was to service these mammoth engines
I guess when they design a Loco in UK the prime concern is it must look spectacular.
Thank you British Rail : )
The 50s through to the 70s really was a time for gorgeous diesel and electric locomotives in the UK for definite!
I love the way this country preserves its rail heritage.
We invented it so we ought to!
@Tony Montaina Which country had the first trains and exported it to the rest of the world? Case closed
I prefer steam, but if it has to be diesel then let it be a Deltic. What an excellent portrayal of these iconic visitors, thank you, and a definite thumbs-up. Bob K.
Bob. I agree with you and thank you for your kind remarks. Nick D
Old diesel is the new steam, dissapearing because of environazi's killing everyones fun.
Neither are exactly clean though are they? Would you rather coal / diesel smoke or no smoke? I know what I want to be breathing in.
Limivorous1 it's not exactly a clean process creating energy though, either. Most comes from coal fired plants. I assume that diesel locos have to meet certain emission requirements, hence old ones are phased out and newer, greener ones are introduced, but I don't believe that power stations have any emissions requirements. I admit I could be quite wrong, but it's still not clean, any way you look at it.
@@Limivorous1 I actually quite like the smell of wood/coal smoke
Sounds more like a piston engined aircraft than a locomotive.
thats because that is essentially what it is, it was inspired by the German Junkers Jumo 205 diesel aircraft engine.
And designed and built by Napier
@@spannaspinna Yup. Napier built one of my all time aircraft engines, the saber in the typhoon and tempest. Legendary engine company
sound is almost identical to a double wasp 18 cyl. radial used in ww2 American fighters and commercialy in passenger planes after the war. google Pratt & Whitney double wasp or twin wasp
@@tomwolf2603 That's also a great engine. I had a look at one last weekend when i visited our local transport museum, where they are displaying and restoring old aircraft. ( Nederlands Transport Museum)
Extremely well done Sir. Loving your Brit trains from the States.
/You are very welcome. Thank you for your comment. Nick.
Hi from England! Nice to hear from someone overseas. Out of curiosity, what attracts you to these locos?
Nothing quite like the sound of either a Deltic or a Detroit Diesel two-stroke under heavy load with that distinctive high-rev scream.
Well, I don't know about that The original 125 Valenta engines give it a run for its money; as does the much newer class 68 - with that low volume this.
Like the Deltic, you often hear the 68 quite a long time before you hear it! Throbbing away in the distance.
holy crap are these things loud!! I thought turbo EMD's were noisy, this is a whole new level! Wow!
When you were travelling by train at speed they were the only locomotives you could hear coming the other way before they passed . Filming at Horsted Keynes that day I could hear the Deltic roar all the way up to the tunnel
This steam vs diesel thing is silly! It depends what you grew up with. My dad was BR driver and drove Deltics plus many other classes, finishing on HST’s. So it’s diesels all the way for me👌👌
I grew up as steam went out and the big diesels came in.
The deltic is always preceded by the “what the hell is that sound?”
Beautiful sounding Locomotives ❤❤❤❤
And. . . a thousand environmentalists wept at their inability to comprehend the sheer audacious beauty of this machine.
Ah ha, I am an environmentalist and I think it useful to have a few of these lovely machines out and about once in a while to show the next generations how we lived... Nothing like five of them lined up at the end of Kings Cross platforms waiting to take their trains out of course but a couple of them together brings back the memories... and the smell! :-)
Every time a Deltic roars, somewhere a Gresley A4 shivvers.
Very apt!.
Dear God, the sound around the 3:00 mark! Gorgeous! I know it's only running on one of its two engines, but its still sounds lovely.
Yes, it came out well - the volume surprised me a bit, it is slightly over modulated as a result. :-) Nick.
You answered a question for me about these locomotives having two engines. Lovely quiet rumble.
Similar to how a riced out 4 banger sounds like a "pissed off bumblebee", those engines sound like someone's branding a hippopotamus.
Music to my ears - the Napier Deltic roar. Only drawback they were smokers.
That is hands down the best audio capture of the Deltic I've heard to date! :)
Totally orgasmic sound. I love Deltics❤️my fave traction. So many times at Diesel Galas at GCR I've rode right behind the engine Whoop
One sweet motor. Ingenious concept that will be used again. Opposed piston two strokes are extremely efficient with direct injection and turbo compounding
It depends on how you measure efficiency. The deltic design squeezes a lot of power out of a compact unit. However, the locomotive was a thoroughbred like a Spitfire, expensive to build and maintain, and you only have to look at the exhaust to see how much fuel and oil she consumed! Hence why only 22 were built for commercial service, and the donkey work during the 1960's and 70's was left for the more ubiquitous types like the Class 31's, 37's, 45's and 47's.
I LOVE the two-tone green with small yellow ends livery!
I'm glad locomotives are mainly electric today, but seeing and hearing this beast engine is awesome!
What a sound with each two stroke and supercharged engine having eighteen cylinders, thirty six pistons, three crankshafts. Beautiful noise.
Yes, just so. I recall that the only trains one could hear coming the other way when travelling at 100 m.p.h were the Deltic hauled expresses.
It's like a battleship on rails!
I grew up with steam and went from trainspotting to aircraft. Remember being pulled by saint paddy form Darlington to York on my way to RAF Church Fenton. Only other Celtic I saw as a boy was 090011 at Durham.
Good old 'Bluebell We Are Never Having Diesels Railway'. They had to give in, in the end. Great video.
Sheer class sheer beauty and the mosy wonderful music ever from a railway locomotive. Glorious
One of those diesel type mark classic trains that went through a lot of trail tracking points.Nonstopping action past
I once took a ride on this railway. Amazing.
I walked through West Hoathly station in 1983 before the track was relaid. Never would have thought a Deltic would run there.
Yes it's astonishing, when one looks back, just how much a volunteer led organisation has achieved. Onwards and upwards!
That thing sounds badass! Almost like an old V8 gasoline engine when it pulls out of the station
:-) 18 cylinders in this case
Yea I thought it sounded like an old V8 petrol too, sounds like it's revving @~5k RPM ;) (I know it isn't ,just all those exhaust pulses from 18 cyls! :))
May not be steam but she is still an icon, with bags of personality and very pretty too, also with awe-inspiring power....
Indeed. Nick :-)
The footage of KOYLI taking off around the three minute mark transported me back to days standing at platform's end, pencil and notebook in hand, on King's Cross watching these mighty beasts as they took over from the beloved Streaks. I loved steam better (don't we all?) but Deltics, resplendent in their two tone green livery with exhaust going full tilt.....and that roar, were worthy replacements !! They were heady days to be a young lad looking into the future. Best diesel ever produced ANYwhere !!
Yes, I remember standing above the York Way North entrance on a Friday evening at about 5:00 when there would be about 5 of them waiting to take expresses out. It isn't a sound one can forget.
Excellent Deltic footage :) Enjoyed it very much, great audio visual effects. Thumbs up and sub for you :) Greetings from Poland! Mike
You are very welcome. Thanks for your comment Mike,
I was there for that weekend. We got to our 1st station I think East Grinsted . Way before we saw our 1st haulage , we heard it around 4mins before it got to station. Awesome day for Deltic bashing . Great footage of these screamers
Thank you for your comment. Yes, you can certainly hear them a long way off eh. Nick.
some amazing captures :-) thanks
You are very welcome. Thank you for your comment. Nick.
Installed TPWS on this line years ago. Gotta love that 55.
Definitely isn't TPWS on the Bluebell, you must be thinking of a different line.
@@mattlander9119 Alrighty.
They capable of cracking the ton in terms of speed.
Awesome...love this engine
The audio from the last clip is really ace!!
I am glad you like it! I think the sound is as important as the picture. Nick.
Stunning footage of these iconic locos, and damn, that noise!!!!
Thank you for your comment - and yes, the noise! :-)
Distinctive exhaust note!
As a child I was wakened by the terrifying roar of a Deltic, being used to local steam engines, this was not normal....!
:-)
It's a bad boy - if it were a car, it would be a 1969 Dodge Charger! :D
Nothing beats the sound of these beauties...
When travelling south from Newcastle once, behind one of these, the only train you could here coming the other way before it passed , with a closing speed of up to 200m.p.h would be another Deltic going north. :-) so yes absolutely agree. Nick
The opposed piston sound is very distinctive, watch a Chieftan Tank video for that uniqueness: it’s just two opposed pistons but you can perceive a similar cadence.
That and 18 cylinders 36 pistons per engine!
My thoughts exactly, sounds a bit like the Leyland L60 without the smoke box fitted
for me the best part of this is the sound, not of the Deltic, but the rail noise. You dont get that now on continuously welded track. It used to lull me and thousands of others to sleep :)
Yes, I know what you mean, there aren't many stretches of jointed track left on the network. Nick.
Any train can give you rail noise. The Deltic was truly a high performance two stroke Diesel engine than runs over twice the revs as other train engines. That's where that famous roar comes from. Likely the most brilliant two stroke Diesel design, even makes the Detroit two stroke Diesels humble at the complexity.
think you missed my point, but never mind
Their napier deltic power plants often sound like WW2 ariel assault planes. One thing that I may find Deltics intimidating but yet, amazing.
To my way of thinking, a preservation line is just that, a line to run preserved stock, regardless whether steam or diesel. Would I rather travel behind steam than diesel? Sure, but I would not ignore the Deltic or any other older locomotive where a separate engine draws a string of coaches. Now HST is rather like traveling in the old MUs, but more comfortable and much faster.
Use to like seeing and hearing deltics when I was a kid passing the house backed on to Manchester liverpool line - the engine sound is amazing. I cant remember if they transported coal from Parkside to Fidlers Ferry?
Excellent footage
Thank you. Nick.
About as exciting as a cup of cold tea.
My dad used to work this line almost weekly as a BR Passenger Guard. Until Beeching mucked everything up!
Yes, shame - although Beeching himself was only doing what the Tory Government transport minister Earnest Marples wanted. Marples later fled to France to avoid prosecution for tax fraud and his company, Marples Ridgeway were massive road builders. So he was feathering is own nest by closing down the railways. Nick.
@@chatty1chatty1NickD Well I never knew that about Marples. I worked on Beechings house once long after his death. Lady Beeching ate lunch with friends every day without fail at the Tiger Inn. I won't say what village.
@@thebuilder1222 :-) I know the tiger..
congratulations on this masterpiece of british engeneering ! Both aesthetic and awesome powerful...
My old man was a locomotive Driver on many types of steam...
greetings from Germany...and merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas to you too!. Nick.
Did you know that the deltic engine concept was an invention from your own country and acquired by British engineers at the end of WW2 originally for development and use in Royal Navy fast patrol boats? I never lived near the East Coast Main Line in Britain and the first deltic engine I ever heard was in Gibraltar harbour in 1973!
@@johndean4998 Thank you for this info.Thought it was a british Invention from Napier for fast Patrol boats.
I love the Deltic-style :-)
Love the green livery.
Fab! I love steam but these old diesels were really something. Just looking at the countryside I 'm getting hay fever.
Always like to hear that roar from the Napier engines
Wow, that engine sure revs high! Not hard one before, was waiting for a bang!
Yes 2 stroke engines - quite a roar.
Only sounds like its spinning fast because there's twice as many power strokes as your typical 4 stroke diesel
That and there being 18 cylinders 26 pistons per engine..
@@chatty1chatty1NickD - Ah, so just a lot of bangs per revolution!
I REALLY the hiss and puffing of steam engines but the roars of the diesel engine sound RAW!..
Great video here 💕💕💕💕💕
:-) Very nice of you to say so, Thanks Stephen.
This diesel locomotives make great noises.
They're all running on ONE engine ! You're only getting half of the experience .
Correct. I believe only one loco had two operational engines and I have been told that usually the second engine only cuts in at 23 m.p.h. There is a video online of 'Alycidon' using both engines exiting Sharpthorne tunnel on the Bluebell Railway. From about 13:40 on this video:- ruclips.net/video/naJ7nj3m5vQ/видео.html
Noise is hellfire.
The only diesel type that I like. Great Shots.
Thank you Chris. Nick.
Deltics (18 cylinders) had more power and one quarter the weight of other types of diesels.
Beautiful locos
I wouldn`t call myself a train fanatic, but the sound of a Deltic at full chat is something.
:-) Yup. Nick.
An amazing technology.
King of diesels!
They are certainly unique. I recall travelling behind one to London from Newcastle, probably in the early 70s and was astonished that even when travelling flat out you could still hear a Deltic coming the other way before it roared past.
Just LOVE the big noisy smelly fabulous clag monsters!!!! So many great memories of being hauled along by them or sitting on the bridge waiting to wave at the driver as the express thundered past complete with squawky two tone horn - oh the joy of it. Trains were trains then, not like the modern weedy things that don’t even make the right track noises. Yeah yeah I get the eco stuff, but oh boy these beasts were the business.
:-) yup.!
Great Video
Very kind of you to say so, thank you.
Nick.
I was there. Special day. Cured by bronchitis too.
Thank fuck for the fact that 2 stroke diesels exist! they sound the friggin best
The detroit diesel of the railway world!!! XDDD
Benjamin Esposti you could count in Fairbanks morse crossley gardner and leyland
You mean General Motors Diesel? EMD? Lmao
Also commer
It really does sound like a big Detroit.
@@MrJMS814 EMDs have their own great sound but the 6/71s that Benjamin is referring to are much closer to the sound of the Deltic. So, no need to "laugh your ass off"... you'll need something to sit on, yes?
Daaaamn! I wish EMDs could sound like this.
_"BRRRRRWWWW."_
- Napier Deltic
Hiya, here I am revisiting this video, still loving it. would there be a chance of using some of the audio to go with a model rail video I am planning please?
Yes, of course. Go ahead. Nick.
@@nickdearden6737 Many thanks, moist kind :)
Great vid - bet that Deltic does go thro a lot of engine oil though !
This video makes me wish that the Bluebell Railway preserved more old diesels.
A Class 33 has arrived recently. :-)
Nick.
The Greatest Locomotive Ever
Greatest steam locomotive:
The NSB Class 49, nicknamed Dovregubben ("the Dovre Giant"), 62.4 t (61.4 long tons; 68.8 short tons)Maximum speed
90 km/h (56 mph)
Power output
2,600 bhp (1,900 kW). 17.5 t (17.2 long tons; 19.3 short tons) axle load.
Curbside Classic just linked this, they put up an article earlier today about the FDNY Superpumper.
thank you for letting me know. Nick.
3:08 what a beautiful unique Diesel engine. Bet it smelt lovely
:-) Sort of burnt lubricating oil I think...
@@chatty1chatty1NickD yes the good old 2 stroke
To add 20% of LPG and no smoke.
oooh awesome ~
Glad you like it!
Nothing like it!
If only the new owner of the long retired FDNY Super Pumper had a means of fixing the Deltic engine and water pump we too could hear the roar of this amazing British engine west of the pond.
I heard that the 'Cockroft's follies' chimney filters at Windscale where tested on Deltic. Wasn't good enough...
I'll bet there aren't any mosquitoes around those train stations!
I presume those who have given it a thumbs down are from the Steam only Bluebell fraterity
Possibly. I can sympathise to a some extent if so, it is such an iconic Steam Railway, although a Deltic is a Deltic!
The steam fraternity need to count themselves lucky as its been acknowledged by the BB management that these locos bring in some very impressive amounts of revenue for the railway!
Historic diesels surely have their place on a heritage railway. The old boys who resisted the use of diesels for so many years must surely now see the wider appeal of mixed traction, when so many attractions are competing for revenue. I rather suspect that this blinkered attitude is also responsible for the BB's reluctance to install a webcam on at least one station, which would give them a world-wide audience and surely tempt more people to visit.
No, they're about the 'Deltic Roar', which van only be made when the TWO engines are hetrodyning one another. So the title misleads the viewer.
True beauty
:-)
Top tip.
Recreate a Deltic on full power by vaping, then breathing out through your nostrils.
spine tingling indeed. Great capture of the wonderful sound of these unique and exceptionally powerful engines.
Dave, thank you for your kind comment. I use a Rode SVM microphone. It seems to do the job. :-) Nick.
outstanding
My one overriding memory of the Deltics was the number of crying children and babies on the platform as it slowly passed by!
The original HSTs too I think. When they had the Paxman Ventura engines - also originating as naval power units I think.
That is because of their sensitive hearing, and the effect of an extremely loud loco passing them 😖
This has to be one of the smoothest sounding diesel locomotives I've ever heard, sounds very even. Others seem to have an unevenness to them. Even firing order maybe? I read something about them having little torsional vibration. How did these locomotives compare for the drivers versus other classes with more conventional engine layouts, were they more comfortable? I find it somewhat surprising these engines and others patterned after it didn't really catch on, it seems to have an elegance of design and great performance potential, why didn't the opposed piston design become more common? I read that because it was a "highly-strung unit" it was higher-maintinence, but that doesn't sound like a flaw of the Deltic configuration as much as it being optimized for performance over longevity. Also heard about concepts to build turbo-compound versions, but they were passed up in favor of gas turbines - another time we ponder what could have been, and I ask if in a time when fuel economy is of increasing importance (something turbines suck at) this concept is worth re-visiting. It's a natural fit for turbo compounding given the lack of exhaust valves, which tend to be the limiting factor on conventional engines for how hot (which correlates to thermodynamic efficiency) they can be run.
You pose interesting questions. I believe that maintenance involved lifting out whole engine units and replacing them with serviced, refurbished units as the most practical way of keeping them running with a reasonable availability. Nick
@@nickdearden6737 Pure co-incidence i have just read : In 1965, BR let manufacturers know that it would be interested in a mixed-traffic diesel-electric of between 4,000 and 5,000hp. Within a year, English Electric had produced plans for a ‘Super Deltic’, rated at 4,400bhp. Housed in a bodyshell that would later be used for the Class 50s, it would have had a Co-Co wheel arrangement and two Napier T18-27K engines of 2,200hp each, yet weigh only 114 tons for an axle-loading of 19 tons. An alternative version with twin Sulzer engines would have been even more powerful, at 4,600bhp.
@@nickdearden6737 Yes I'd read about that - they were too difficult to service in situ so they would simply take the engines out and swap a new one, initially sending the engine back to the manufacturer for servicing but later BR developed their own facilities. Does imply more costly servicing than other designs, but I wonder if that's due to the Delta arrangement or due to these engines being optimized for performance rather than serviceability. Could another engine using this arrangement more optimized for operating costs and be simpler to maintain?
Nick Dearden: imho the main catch with those is the trouble to get them clean, combustion is hard to control precisely and to keep the oil out of the way. Nonetheless a wonderful piece of engineering.
Nice, but it's a shame they are mostly running on one engine these days . Still a wicked piece of kit . Love em !!
5:15 the best part.
Anyone have a feeling you are looking at a model railroad video, particularly when you watch the train station scene at around 1:00 minute?
2:48 what a beauty!
They knew what they were doing with the two-tone green. The blue one looks slab-sided and heavy.
@@rogercantwell3622 Yes i always preferred the green livery as well
ONE OF THOSE DELTIC ENGINES IS ON IT,S WAY OUT , OH THE EXPENSE
They all do that, sir :)
Sounds like a two stroke detrot. Nice.
Yes - all running on one engine (out of two) in each shot. 18 cylinders, opposed pistons in Delta formation - ie triangular, with a crank shaft at each corner. No valves.
Deltics were 2-stroke, but much different from other engines, no push rods, no valves and no rocker arms.
Wow, don't remember so much white smoke ! .. engines are getting on a bit now ...
At 0:12 you can definitely see that the tunnel used to be double track but was only preserved as a single track, strange
You are correct. It was a double track line from Horsted Keynes to East Grinstead. All the track was taken up after closure and parts of the track bed were sold off. The Bluebell Railway reinstatement took a lot of hard work over many years to get it back into the use that you can see today.
1:06 Great shot of one in green and one in blue. Don't know which is better.
Nice of you to say so, thank you. Nick.
@@chatty1chatty1NickD
My names not Nick.
🙂 - Mine is though.
Just gonna leave this timestamp here
2:32 for the mighty Deltic Roar