The Boss is back on BLB and he's been out and about with his camera to bring you this contradiction... "Brian - interesting week one way and another. Working my way up to Dover I pulled into the M3 services for a Costa. Not many rigs have the WOW factor but West of Scotlands heavy,parked up for a break,has it in spades. As it was raining, if the driver thought I was mad or pathetic taking pictures well... Probably both but it's for the Blog laddie!"
Now click through here for more includign an interesting question from the old curmudgeon!
"I can't give you any real facts about the outfit," he says adding, "...More Dave Lee's cup of tea than mine but brother G say's he read somewhere 'it is cheaper and quicker to transport engines by road than rail'. One in the eye for the freight onto trains brigade then, still,hard to believe." Well, quite. "But I did wonder where the engine was going." he says. Gieven the age and the old British rail logo I wonder if it's goign to the great engine shed in the sky...?
"Also parked nearby was a more manageable artic belonging to Samsung, very smart piece of kit. The Boss." Nice little crew-cabbed mini artic.
the west o scotland truck is not having a break its been parked up by the law, its been there nearly a week somebody is sending the pics by txt to everybody,apparently movent order for 120 ton but gross weight 180 ton no vr1 also im told should be on a drawbar and not a neck,
yes Roadhammer you are 100% correct though it is a special order that is required. He has been sitting there since last Tuesday and still there, as I drove by yesterday evening to see.
Whats the reason it needs a drawbar and not a neck? i thought a neck would be better suited as it spreads the weight a bit more?
The locomotive is a privately owned and preserved Class 56. It weighs 125 tonnes. There were 135 of them, built between 1976 and 1984.
My mate who is into this sort of thing, reports:
"That class 56 is on it's way back from the Mid-Hants Diesel Gala and is on its way to Barrow Hill for a Diesel Gala there. However it has been impounded at Fleet services, since it is indeed to heavy for the trip. The plan now, is to remove the loco from it's bogies and transport them as a separate load to Barrow Hill - then put the loco back together at Barrow Hill.
The whole situation is a complete farce, since both the Mid-Hants and Barrow Hill have a main line connection, so what's it doing on a bloody lorry anyway! Suspect it's all down to cost, which just goes to show how ridiculous our railways have become."
It is quite common to move railway rolling stock by road, especially if the stock in question is defective and cannot be moved under its own power. Allelys seemed to be the haulier of choice for this sort of work at one time. All the photographs I've seen of Allelys train hauls have been with drawbar trailers rather than necks.
Due to the massive charges levied by Network Rail on freight users it is often cheaper to send things, even locos, by road which is one reason why so much moves by road. Hauliers complaining about the tax on diesel WOULD shout if they had to pay railfreight costs.
No way is it quicker to move a loco by road. In the time it takes to load the loco on a low loader it could be at the other end of the country on rail.
The loco in question is an old one, even though it looks quite smart. It is probably unfit mechanically to travel on its own wheels and the slightest compromise to safety on rail is immediately jumped upon from a great height.
George