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Diesel Railcar of the Year

Discussion in 'Diesel & Electric Traction' started by M59137, Nov 12, 2012.

  1. Sheff

    Sheff Resident of Nat Pres

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    Ah ha. I didn't realise it was being converted to diesel - I feel another authenticity debate looming!
     
  2. guard_jamie

    guard_jamie Part of the furniture

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    They've had a rather shiny brand new Cummins made especially for it. The argument is familiarity amongst Heritage Railway fitters with diesel, availability of diesel fuel and the lower volatility of diesel fuel.

    Personally, I think it makes perfect sense.
     
  3. Sheff

    Sheff Resident of Nat Pres

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    Certainly doesn't both me - is it still electric transmission?
     
  4. guard_jamie

    guard_jamie Part of the furniture

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    Certainly is!
     
  5. M59137

    M59137 Well-Known Member

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    OK, seems there has been a fair bit of diesel/petrol//steam/DMU/railcar debate along the way! I shall do my best to comment:

    In terms of the award's name, it shouldn't technically be DMU of the year, as there are several "Railcars" which are eligible but do not operate in multiple so they are not technically DMU's. 998901 at the Middleton Railway and diesel railbuses fall into this category.

    However it would seem "Diesel Railcar" is acceptable as the Railcar Association does not currently cover any petrol powered prototypes. The NER Railcar was considered, however it was decided our remit should not extend any further back that the GWR Railcars as these were the first true grandfathers of the first generation DMU fleets of which the association is primarily about.

    The above, about starting from the 1930's, therefore deals with the early coal dust injection points as well, although I still found the information interesting, something I didn't know about previously!

    The Chiltern Bubble car unfortunately does not qualify, it is not currently preserved and the merits of it being in service are down to a mainline operator, rather than preservations.

    Although not already mentioned, the talk of electric transmission reminded me that the Southern DEMU fleets also do not qualify.
     
  6. M59137

    M59137 Well-Known Member

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    I have noticed there are plenty of suggestions on this thread as to what people's vote would be, which is great, but some haven't come through as nominations through the online form. It literally takes 30 sections so share your thoughts!

    Without giving the game away, there are currently a good number of vehicles that only 1 person has suggested, so with only the top 5 going through, a few extra nominations may be all that's needed to get a vehicle through to the final vote.

    Remember, if it can be found in the TRA Preserved Vehicles Database (unless it has returned to the mainline or been scrapped) then it can be nominated.
     
  7. markb846

    markb846 New Member

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    I would like to second GWR Railcar 22. As it is the only diesel railcar/DMU I have done any real work on.
    However if this is opened up to DEMU's/EMU's that would be another story
     
  8. M59137

    M59137 Well-Known Member

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    Today is the last chance to suggest nominations for the Railcar of the Year, the five individual vehicles/sets with the most nominations will go through to the final vote.

    At the moment two vehicles are comfortably nominated, with a cluster of 5 or 6 vehicles fighting for the 3rd, 4th & 5th places, so an extra nomination for any of them could make the difference...

    Vote at:
    http://www.brcw.co.uk/#/vote/4570875017
     
  9. M59137

    M59137 Well-Known Member

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    The public have spoken and nominations have now been made and are as follows:



    • Class 100 Sc56097 (Llangollen Railway)
    • Class 122 W55003 (Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway)
    • Class 122 M55009 (Mid Norfolk Railway)
    • GWR Railcar 22 (Didcot Railway Centre)
    • Y7 Railcar 1212 (Nene Valley Railway)

    We now enter the second (and final stage) where voting is open to determine the final winner of the award. One vote per person, please use the form at Birmingham Railcar Workgroup or alternatively E-mail your choice to railcar@live.co.uk if having trouble loading the webpage.

    Voting is open until December 31st 2012, the vehicle with the most votes will win! The winner will be declared in the New Year. Please consider voting as it literally only takes about 10 seconds, if you've already made up your mind that is!
     
  10. burmister

    burmister Member

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    "Although not already mentioned, the talk of electric transmission reminded me that the Southern DEMU fleets also do not qualify."

    Which is a real shame as the dogged effort, perseverance and dedication put in by John and Andy of Hastings diesels to restore the unit, then have to fit fit OTMR, and door door locking etc to put back a Hastings Unit on the main line and keep it there surely would put this unit around the top of the pile.

    And not to mention the the Spa Valley Railway's Oxted Line unit which looks immalculate now in Blue and Grey with original seating trim after a lot of effort.

    Brian
     
  11. guard_jamie

    guard_jamie Part of the furniture

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    Seems a shame to be so prescriptive in your choice of MU. So many exciting projects not getting a look-in. Of the five finalists I have no idea why they have been nominated, what it is that makes them, or their activities this year, special or unique.
     
  12. M59137

    M59137 Well-Known Member

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    Your comments bemuse me slightly, perhaps you could cite the "so many" exciting projects that are excluded?

    99% of preserved diesel railcars were eligible for nomination, that's approximately 280 candidates. The exclusion of the DEMUs and just two other vehicles, i.e. the petrol and steam railcars for their (in some cases original rather than current) method of propulsion can hardly be described as prescriptive surely?

    I can expand slightly on the worthiness of the five finalists which you are struggling to see:
    • 56097 - the start of the first ever thorough rebuild on a Class 100 after the class was nearly driven to extinction (we haven't had a running 100 in preservation since the 1980's), it forms half of the only surviving 100 set so is very important to the future of DMU's in preservation.
    • 55003 - played a pivotal role in keeping the GWR going "on the ground" during possibly their darkest chapter in their history - the vehicle has run almost every day and has been run in service free of charge to the railway, something which deserves recognition.
    • 55009 - transformed in a short space of time into an operational vehicle after having sat in preservation for 10+ years and not run. All the more remarkable as it has all been done by a private individual with minimal help - and not a millionaire loco owner either, just a normal working chap :)
    • GWR 22 - probably the weakest link for relevance to 2012 but all the same has been the only running GWR Railcar for some years and a credit to the team who keep it so presentable.
    • 1212 - Completely rebuilt from a static play area to a restored operational vehicle in something like 9 months, debuting this year - a remarkable story given current circumstances.
    A detailed description is available for each nomination on the voting page for anyone who wishes to read up on any of the candidates.

    Hopefully the above will clarify the vehicles involved and make it easier to decide what to vote for :)
     
  13. guard_jamie

    guard_jamie Part of the furniture

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    Well, thank you Chris for the brief précis on the different DMUs and their merits. I shall be sure to read the page and vote.

    However, I must maintain that in my opinion opening up this competition to DEMUs, and even EMUs, SMUs and PMUs (just invented those last two monikers...why not?) would have raised the competition's awareness, raised awareness for a lot of interesting railway preservation that is rarely in the news, and simply widened the appeal of this little fun project. As it is, I feel that you are being too insular. Just my opinion, of course. I appreciate that the net is still cast wide in the MU preservation world, but if there are only a few others out there, well, seems churlish not to include them.
     
  14. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    Just voted. A word of warning - the site doesn't seem to work on a mobile browser (Safari / iPhone): you can see the information but not the form, even when clicking on the "view full site" link.. Worked OK on a full browser (Safari / Mac).

    Tom
     
  15. M59137

    M59137 Well-Known Member

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    I see your point, my hands are tied in that the award is run under the association, so we have to stick to the vehicle's in which we exist to support, so it would be inappropriate to have a southern EMU for example win when there has been great progress in the (mainly) first generation DMU preservation scene this year.
     
  16. M59137

    M59137 Well-Known Member

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    Thank you to all who voted, nearly 550 votes which we were pleased with. The winner has now been announced:

    Railcar of the Year

    There is also a page with a more detailed account of how the voting went and which vehicles were nominated this year.
     
  17. chrishallam

    chrishallam Member

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    As one of the guys behind 1212, and being responsible for the website and facebook voting campaign, I’d just like to say on thanks to everyone who voted and thanks to The Railcar Association for running the award.

    If you think you know what a railcar looks like, you’ve never seen a Swedish one! 4 wheel bogies and accessed from ground level through the drivers cab, one of which has the engine in it. The end curves give a panoramic view of the whole line.

    launch01.jpg

    As an aside, I imagine a lot of people won’t have heard of 1212. It has a remarkable history:
    Brought from Sweden in 1984, it ran on the NVR for a number of years, then in 1989 it went to a Norfolk Museum as a static exhibit. Following this shutting down, 1212 was sold at auction to a man who wanted to use it as a garden shed. This, unsurprisingly, failed to get planning permission so 1212 was therefore sold on again. It therefore ended up as an underground picnic area for an animal farm park, perched on a windswept hillside near Hartlepool!

    This is where the current owners and The International Railway Preservation Society (IRPS) stepped in. Forming a partnership with a view to get to vehicle operational again 1212 was moved back to the NVR after a 22 year holiday. Real restoration work only started in March this year however, so the commitment by a number of volunteers has been huge.

    Following a launch for invited guests in October, we are planning on operating the first fare paying passenger runs this winter and I’ll post details of dates, times and prices on here when they’re confirmed.

    For more information on 1212, please see Swedish Y7 Railbus no. 1212 - IRPS
     

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