Class 66 cab doors
 

This is just to satisfy my curiosity. Why are the cab doors set so far back from the side windows on a class 66? Have they lots of space inside the cab?

Cheers

Richard

The cab on a 66 is has space in it for 2 members of crew with ease.
If you ever see an open cab door you will see the when it was painted the door was closed, as you can see a border of unpainted metal round the outside of the door.
The seats are ok and will recline to some extent, this comes in handy on ballast turns,as you can have a sleep whilst doing nowt.
In the warm weather the cabs heat up and become too warm for the drivers.
ASLEF gave EWS an ultimatum to fit AC's in both cabs or class 66's would be blacked.
EWS maintained the if AC's were fitted in the class 66 it would take it over its Route Availability with the excess weight.

When 66 first came into service, when you were hooking off between the buffers, the engine would rev up as though it was going to move.

When 66 first came into service, when you were hooking off between the buffers, the engine would rev up as though it was going to move.[/QUOTE]

And still do as this part of the design, put simply if the computer detects a drop in the air system then it tells the compressors to speed up to compensate.

Les

Interesting stuff. Thanks to both of you for taking the time to respond.

Cheers

Richard

When you open the External Doors on a Class 66 you enter a small passageway and the Cab doors are on the back wall of the Cab. 2 Doors No'1 end and 1 Door No'2 End. This reduces draughts and noise due to the cab doors also being sound insulated. The external doors are just formed sheets of steel. No'1 cab is large and spacious. No'2 end cab is a lot smaller and suffers from noise and severe overheating in Summer due to being situated in front of the radiators and cooling fans.

66 doors eat fingures.

When we as Drivers were finally issued gloves on a regular basis one of the reasons stated was because of the rough grips on the handrails. One supervisor also added the rider 'if your fingers are ever caught in the doors he expected to see blood inside them'. Such was the reputation Class 66s had for trapping fingers. What might seem a tongue in cheek comment left me unsure owing to the legendary tightness of our FOC who did not want to face a claim!

My experience of 66 doors is that they could not be opened from the ground using the bottom door handle so basically you would have to climb the steps and get level with the door, twist the handle and apply a firm bit of protective footwear to the bottom of the door. On reflection, they are probably no different from any other loco. 67 doors don't line up with the steps and are therefore more challenging.

Interesting read guys......

HM181. Regarding the "Self" revving up of the Class66 :- When National Power Rail Business became a part of the then EWS I remember the first time I took a EWS 66 out. The Lad that was with me who had plenty of experience of Driving Class 59/2 ( which don`t self rev) was inbetween coupling up to some wagons when Mr 66 decided to Rev up on its own !! I have never seen anyone dive out from between a loco and wagons like that !! Gordon Banks / Peter Schmiechael would have been jealous !! lol
His choice of words after that towards me were a not quite nice !! lol

Whitemoor66 !! I use that exact same method !! lol :)

Thats funny.....:D

Just luv the sound of the "66"s starting up and then idling.....and then pulling off....

SaxoKid !! That thing about them (Class 66) starting up reminded me of a Friend and colleague of mine - Steve Dunn ( George as he was known as thats what he called everyone !! even Women !! lol ) Sadly he was killed in the Disaster at Heck. When we at National Power Rail Business came part of EWS and started Ops on Class 66 when he finished his shift and I was acting in the Control office he would get in his little Yellow Peugeot 205 and "Pap" the horn 3 times before starting the engine and driving off !! lol ( Those who have heard a 66 start will know what I mean.
Steve was a wonderful Guy and Loved his Railway Photography and just a few weeks before his tragic death he gave me a enlargement of a Photo he had had published of the ex Np 59/2`s in their EWS Colours. Its a very treasured possession and a constant reminder of him when I look at the pic in my study !!

Saxokid, just for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7cBHlOe9EE

But this is much better

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv_cGG56QA4

Brilliant Whitemoor66 !! Loved both Vids Especially wondering if the 37 was gna blob or keep going !! lol
Btw on the 66 Vid there are some remarks from someone called "wakiekid" !! Thats Nothing to do with me.
Keep posting :)

Wakey Spotter, I had forgotten how long ago this tragic accident occurred. It was really a freak accident and I remember the papers all jumping on the bandwagon about how unsafe railways had become until the facts were established. R.I.P. Steve.

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...JG3Q1NCZ1ygCsO

Wakey Spotter,

I couldn't agree more with your comments about Steve, a great guy,a great friend to all who new him and is still sorely missed.

I often find myself thinking about him,especially around this time of year approaching the anniversary of this tragic accident.

Les (ex NP REO)

I suppose that however Professional as Railway Operators we are other factors can come into play and cause tragic events like Heck.
I remember it like it was yesterday !! At the time my wife was in Pontefract Hospital having broken her pelvis in a car crash 3 days previously. My EWS Pager for when I was on call had buzzed with a message about an "Incident" at Heck !! I seem to remember a frosty sort of misty Morning ( May be wrong because it was traumatic) quite a few helicopters with engines hammering n not the normal flight sounds.
Turned on the TV and felt sick as fuck with the images ! It felt sort of dream like an unreal !!
Then started to get messages about the guys on the FLHH loco !! Totally numb as I knew both of the Guys on the 66.
Got a phone call from Pontefract Hospital asking me to take my Wife home as they needed as many beds as poss !!
On arrival at Hospital I met a lad from FLHH who I socialised with !! Bad News !
The thing that shocked me at the Hospital was the amount of Priests and Vicars hanging around everywhere !!
Knowing Steves sense of humour I think he would have found it funny the amount of Priests and Vicars !! I just imagine him saying in that West Country accent "Arr wot fukin good are they then ?"
Like You say Whitemoor66 R.I.P Steve

One of my favourite DVDs (That I don't have to hide ;)) is this,

http://www.visionsinternational.biz/..._clagging.html

I only have the first one but I think there might be a couple more. The only thing that spoils it for me is the morons that have to wave their arms out of windows. This is a problem that I have repeatedly read about in Rail Express over the last couple of years. I can't get my head round their behaviour. It's on a par with trespassing photographers on the railways who endanger themselves and more importantly endanger the future of steam haulage on the mainline.

The reason for the small cab (No 2 End) is that these locos were designed as a single cab loco and EWS asked for another cab to be fitted which was a "modular" one bolted to the radiator end of the loco.

Great stuff:D cheers whitemoor66

21A man,

not true, they are a dirivitive of a 59, when built, they had to use as much as possible from the original 59 design, so as to gain grandfather rights on a number of issues, such as end loading, crash worthyness etc.

No 1 end also houses the computer / control gear, where as the No. 2 end had the rad room directly behind it, the No 1 cab being bigger to allow access to the computers and control gear.

The 59s were based on SD45s and the 66s were more based control/electrically and engine wise on the SD 70s.

R