European Railroad Discussion > Deltic locomotive at London Kings Cross, 1977

Class 55009 "Royal Highland Fuselier" is shown on a northbound passenger train at London Kings Cross station in December 1977. 

Deltics were named for racehorses and Army Regiments.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/20 18:04 by eminence_grise.

Definitely like the Deltics.  They look and sound good.
Thanks for the posting.
ALLEN

Way cool! Are these the ones that have EMD motors? I am going to have to look into these a bit more.

Jody

Posted from iPhone

F7sForever Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Way cool! Are these the ones that have EMD motors?
> I am going to have to look into these a bit more.
>
> Jody
>
> Posted from iPhone

They had a pair of Napier diesels, these were unique in that they were opposed piston, arranged in a triangle with three crankshafts. They were very complex, but were serviced by the manufacturer every so many hours (like aircraft engines). They were mounted so as to be able to be replaced in a single shift. They were loud and in certain conditions, very smokey.

Called 'Deltics' due to their delta-shaped triangular configuration of cylinders in each of their 2 engines. Each engine had 18 cylinders. Combined power of these was 3300hp, they 100mph locomotives. The one in the photo above was actually 55019, not 55009. 55009 was named 'Alycidon' after a famous racehorse.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/20 04:17 by exhaustED.

A thing of beauty. Guess why I'm '55002' on here!!!!!    Chris uk.

---

Oooh, my favourite livery for a Deltic - stunning! 

eminence_grise Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They had a pair of Napier diesels, these were
> unique in that they were opposed piston, arranged
> in a triangle with three crankshafts.

Truly one of the weirdest large engine designs of all times.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier_Deltic

I've been fascinated by these critters since I first learned of them and I'd love to see one actually operate, but somehow my trips to the UK never seem to correspond with when the surviving Class 55s are actually out and moving.