European Railroad Discussion > Brush Class 31 in Cambridge 1983

Traveling through Europe with friends I somehow wound up in Cambridge, England all by myself. After touring the university (which I highly recommend, beautiful campus), I found myself back to the train station and noticed a bunch of parked locomotives beyond the platform. I recall being pretty nervous that I would be stopped by guards or employees, but no one was around. I climbed down from the platform and grabbed some shots. Having used the word "fancy" quite a lot that day, I'll say I fancy this shot of two Brush Class 31s (31 326 and 31 159). Photo date is May 29, 1983.

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Nice shot! Class 31s always had a friendly face I thought... 1470hp, A-1-A - A-1-A wheel arrangement. Next to them is a class 47 - 2580hp, Co-Co.

exhaustED Wrote:
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> Nice shot! Class 31s always had a friendly face I
> thought... 1470hp, A-1-A - A-1-A wheel
> arrangement. Next to them is a class 47 - 2580hp,
> Co-Co.

That one was 47 114.

erielackawanna Wrote:
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> exhaustED Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Nice shot! Class 31s always had a friendly face
> I
> > thought... 1470hp, A-1-A - A-1-A wheel
> > arrangement. Next to them is a class 47 -
> 2580hp,
> > Co-Co.
>
> That one was 47 114.

Both classes were successful Brush products with several hundred locos of each produced. The 47s needed derating from 2750hp to make them reliable but then were very capable. Quite a few 47s are still running. 47114 looks like it was one that was allocated to Stratford depot in east London, judging by the 'white' roof.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/23 12:21 by exhaustED.

erielackawanna Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> exhaustED Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Nice shot! Class 31s always had a friendly face
> I
> > thought... 1470hp, A-1-A - A-1-A wheel
> > arrangement. Next to them is a class 47 -
> 2580hp,
> > Co-Co.
>
> That one was 47 114.

Class 47, 47114 was originally built as a Class 48 and numbered D1702.

Five were built (D1702-D1706) with a Sulzer V12 12LVA24 power unit producing 2650hp.

Those power units were unreliable and the five engines eventually became Class 47’s (nickname Duffs) with a standard 12LDA28C unit fitted. They were numbered 47114-47118.

The unreliable power units were sold to SNCF and used in their 68000 locos.

D1705, (47117) is preserved and can be found at the Great Central Railway in Leicestershire, England.

Posted from iPhone

exhaustED Wrote:
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> Both classes were successful Brush products with
> several hundred locos of each produced.

Hold hard, let's not get too carried away. The 31s were only successful once their original Mirrlees JVS12T engine was replaced by an English Electric 12SVT, the de-rated version of the engine in the class 37. Sadly the 31 was another example of a large scale order being placed before any prototypes had been properly evaluated, a costly decision as it turned out. They were also underpowered, like so many early designs. Sadly the charge cooled version of the 12SVT (12CSVT - the engine in the class 37) couldn't be used because it would have overloaded the electrics, but it would have made them much more versatile.

Incidentally, they still cling on in service. Nemesis Rail, the spot hire company based in Burton on Trent, has mainline registered 31128, or did back in Jan 2020.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/23 04:56 by 86235.

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86235 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> exhaustED Wrote:
> ----------------------------------------
> > Both classes were successful Brush products
> with
> > several hundred locos of each produced.
>
> Hold hard, let's not get too carried away. The 31s
> were only successful once their original Mirrlees
> JVS12T engine was replaced by an English Electric
> 12SVT, the de-rated version of the engine in the
> class 37. Sadly the 31 was another example of a
> large scale order being placed before any
> prototypes had been properly evaluated, a costly
> decision as it turned out. They were also
> underpowered, like so many early designs. Sadly
> the charge cooled version of the class 37 engine
> (12CSVT) couldn't be used because it would have
> overloaded the electrics.
>
> Incidentally, they still cling on in service.
> Nemesis Rail, the spot hire company based in
> Burton on Trent, has mainline registered 31128, or
> did back in Jan 2020.

Goyles couldn’t pull the skin off a rice pudding. Terrible contraptions.

Posted from iPhone

Peak45068 Wrote:
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> Goyles couldn’t pull the skin off a rice
> pudding. Terrible contraptions.
>
> Posted from iPhone

That's the best way of saying, "can't pull" I've ever seen.

Semi OT, what does the blue stars above the buffers mean?

PHall Wrote:
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> Semi OT, what does the blue stars above the
> buffers mean?

It denotes the compatibility of its braking system when coupled to other locomotives i.e when running in multiple with other locos.

exhaustED Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> PHall Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Semi OT, what does the blue stars above the
> > buffers mean?
>
> It denotes the compatibility of its braking system
> when coupled to other locomotives i.e when running
> in multiple with other locos.

Not just brakes, the entire control system for MU working.

86235 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> exhaustED Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > PHall Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Semi OT, what does the blue stars above the
> > > buffers mean?
> >
> > It denotes the compatibility of its braking
> system
> > when coupled to other locomotives i.e when
> running
> > in multiple with other locos.
>
> Not just brakes, the entire control system for MU
> working.

And my God, they needed that MU working option so bad….

Posted from iPhone