66 type things

[66521]

I'll guess it was possibly 66574 - green implies Freightliner and it contains a 4 and 7. But more likely it was 66731 - it has white rimmed buffers (and the number contains a 1 and 7). I saw 66731 last week in west London so it's down south at the moment.

I just looked on your site and at the pics of the 66731 and perhaps that was it then, blue and pink not green!

To be fair I had a couple of seconds glimpse of it as my train went inot the station and I had just woken up from a nap, so not the best time to spot! The cleanliness and the white rimmed buffers where what caught my eye anyway.

Well, there is a shiny 66 type thing at Tonbridge so there!

[Trev]

Originally Posted by Deathbyteacup

I can't explain this, it's something that isn't tangible but it's there with some locos and it's not with others. I can't say it any more than that. I reckon the steam guys will sort of understand where I am coming from, and how the classic deisel generation is now ironically sharing some of those feelings?

It might sound daft, but with me it's the fact that the 66's are everywhere that gets on my nerves!

I liked the old regional variations...if it was a 52 then you were probably on the WR...if you saw a 55 then you were somewhere on the ECML. Now, you can go anywhere and you'll probably see a shed. You knew where you where with the old diesels...literally!

[66521]

Originally Posted by Trev

It might sound daft, but with me it's the fact that the 66's are everywhere that gets on my nerves!

I liked the old regional variations...if it was a 52 then you were probably on the WR...if you saw a 55 then you were somewhere on the ECML. Now, you can go anywhere and you'll probably see a shed. You knew where you where with the old diesels...literally!

I know what you mean, but I quite like the opposite. You can now see almost any locomotive in any part of the country. Pick your favourite station, wait long enough, and eventually whatever you want to see will turn up!

I know of at least 2 people who have photographed every class 60 working on the Immingham - Scunthorpe iron ore trains, and I believe there is someone else who has photographed every Freightliner 66 and 90 from the same platform at Nuneaton. It means I don't have to travel all over the UK if I don't want to, looking for locos which I still need to see / photograph.

[LesG]

[QUOTE=Trev;17282]It might sound daft, but with me it's the fact that the 66's are everywhere that gets on my nerves!

The class 66 is everywhere and that is because when EWS biught their 250 brand new locos all the other companies waited a while to see how they fared in our climate of get it running and keep it running. Once the others saw how reliable the are they all jumped on the band wagon and ordered the unglamourous class 66 because the bloody thing does what it says on the box.

IT HAULS TRAINS and that is what it was developed to do and it does its job well.

From a drivers perspective thats what we want. A litle more comfort would be nice though, Oh to be able to have a coffee on the thing without it going all over the control pedestal.

Les

[6678bjm]

I have tried very hard to dismiss the 66's due to the volume and "standardness" of the design. However you see these machines lifting their trains and you can only feel awe at the power, and the reliability is excellent. One day we will be bemoaning the withdrawal of th 66's and cursing the sucsessor.

[DaveJ]

I have to agree with Trev - for me one of the best things about being interested in railways from an early age was the need to travel the country looking for those rare types that you never got on your home territory.Not only did you get to see rarely glimpsed motive power (and that was a real thrill in itself) you also got to find out a lot about this country of ours.Of course the world was a lot bigger in the early 60s than it is now - a trip to Scotland was a real adventure,by train or car.
It was a real treat to go hundreds of miles away and feel that you were in foreign lands - maybe that's difficult to understand today with mobile phones,motorways,laptops and all the paraphenalia of modern life - back then you were lucky to have a notebook and pen,let alone a camera or pair of binoculars.
Times change I guess,but I find it a shame that you can see a 158 in Penzance and a 158 in Inverness half a day later.

Well I looked again with open eyes this morning and it was 66731 in very clean condition sporting the sick-inducing livery as described. It was coupled to a similar loco behind in the same livery but I could not see the number and there was a green one too so I wasn't going mad!! All on 'shed' at Tonbridge for those that are interested.

[66521]

Originally Posted by DaveJ

I have to agree with Trev - for me one of the best things about being interested in railways from an early age was the need to travel the country looking for those rare types that you never got on your home territory.Not only did you get to see rarely glimpsed motive power (and that was a real thrill in itself) you also got to find out a lot about this country of ours.Of course the world was a lot bigger in the early 60s than it is now - a trip to Scotland was a real adventure,by train or car.
It was a real treat to go hundreds of miles away and feel that you were in foreign lands - maybe that's difficult to understand today with mobile phones,motorways,laptops and all the paraphenalia of modern life - back then you were lucky to have a notebook and pen,let alone a camera or pair of binoculars.
Times change I guess,but I find it a shame that you can see a 158 in Penzance and a 158 in Inverness half a day later.

Bear in mind though that it is impossible to see every class 66 in every part of the country. You aren't going to see the 66/3's outside of the north east coal flows - the 66/4's mainly ply the WCML and, as of very recently, the Tilbury - Daventry route too, but almost nowhere else. Freightliner's intermodal 66/5's, which accounts for a good 40-50 locos, cannot be seen at places like Barnetby, despite the amount of freight going through there. They tend to stick to the WCML, GE, and ECML, with a few flows elsewhere. The 66/6's conversely never get used on intermodals and generally stick to oil and coal traffic. You can go several days without seeing one of them at all at major junctions on all main lines. Even GBRf's 66/7's seem to be divided - as a rule of thumb (which I have only ever seen 2 exceptions to) the newest 66/7's (718 upwards) will almost always be used on the priority long distance container traffic, leaving the lowest numbered (701-717) to work gypsum trains, engineering & ballast trains, etc. At Hoo Junction, which I pass regularly, there is often a GBRf 66/7 from 701-717 lying around, but never one of the higher numbered ones, which I need to travel to Stratford or beyond to find. Not as simple as it first seems....

[Trev]

I take your point, and also that of Les, but at the end of the day, they are all Class 66's.

My love of railways is almost entirely an aesthetic one. I do realise that the railway is there to do a job, and I can appreciate that the 66 is a good piece of engineering...but speaking as an ex-trainspotter, I just find them so boring!

I suppose I'm now feeling like the older steam lads did in 1968.