Tornado

my figure, like hermods are dbhp. so that sounds about right.

 

Britannia max indicated 2200 horsepower and max drawbar horsepower 2000 at 45 mph

2700 ihp and 2300 dbhp from Tornado is hard to believe.

 

But as explained by Graeme Bunker quite sufficiently, it’s not about time so much as pathing.

The use of a water carrier makes minimal difference in context of what paths are available to Tornado.

 

I have search through my private "library" and have found some information of the A1 class from the part 2A of LNER locomotives published by RCTS.
From a test run with locomotive no. 60128 in 1949 it showed a remarkable performance , and the average maximum drawbar horsepower was recorded to 2295. And bear in mind that this was an original locomotive, Tornado is a new build with several improvements from the original.

Knut

 

It's not about speed over a mile it's about staying out of the way of other traffic, a train doing 125 mph from a point 10 miles behind a train doing 75 mph it will take 10 minutes to catch it up. If the front train was doing 90 it would take just over 13 minutes. A twenty mile separation and the difference is 6 minutes and so on. On a crowded main line that can make the difference between catching a double yellow and not as the slower train is moved out of the way

 

I'd agree. As said elsewhere, the Stanier Pacific 6234 achieved over 3300ihp and 2511 dbhp. While I don't say that an A1 could equal that (speaking as an LMS men!), I'd imagine it could get pretty close.

 

There are some odd differences in dimensions. If the figures from Wikipedia are correct, an A1, a MN and Duke of Gloucester all have similar sizes of firebox and total heating surface. A Duchess also has a similar size of firebox but a much greater total heating surface. I'm not sure what that means for either short-term or sustained power output.

 

These road tests were carried out by Rugby Testing Station. Are the results not in the RTS archive at the NRM?

 

The Rugby tests were followed by controlled road testing .
no , the results are not in the archive . regrettably the record is incomplete . many other tests are missing also
the 46225 tests were never made public and were probably destroyed - she may well have exceeded 6234 's record - we will never know

 

From a book by a designer of model locomotives,Martin Evans 1960,
highest recorded dbhp
Britannia was 2250 and engine mass 94 tons. 24 dbhp per ton.
A4 2250 103 22 dbhp/ton.
Duchess 2511 106 24 dbhp/ton
From Knuts archive /Martin Evans combined
A1 2295 104 22 dbhp/ton

 

How many trains stop for 30 mins on the East cost mainline ! and how many miles were passed for 90 mph running only small sections .

 

Yup. Let's suppose the commercial remit is to run from KX to York in under four hours in the ECML traffic with one stop to pick up the M25 traffic at Potters Bar. Then leaving KX at 0815 you have to run 93 miles from Potters Bar to Grantham in 75 mins to arrive at 0955 just before the 0900 ex KX flight. Then you can depart after the 0930 flight and make it to York at 1145 just before the 1000 ex KX. That's going to be a 75mph path, but to do it you obviously need the freedom to run in the 80s which is after all what the A1s did every day for two decades. The water stop issue is pretty much a red herring because you are really just using a pathing stop to fill up. It is the combination of Tornado's water capacity/utilisation and permission to run up to 90 which makes it possible.

So, two comments. First, 90 should be viewed as a maximum rather than a target. Second, to do this as a regular commercial venture for the premium market (as opposed to once a year specials) with a single qualified loco is obviously risky.

 

I would think I coal rate of 5600 lb. per hour is unlikely to be sustainable...………….

 

I'm also suspicious of the peak DBHP of circa 2500. There is nothing on the graph to account for it. Speed was rising, but only slowly, the regulator was fully open throughout and the cut-off lengthened by no more than one per cent, so what caused that sudden and large increase in output?

 

Can it be numerical dbhp correction for grade that makes the strange rise and jump?Train is going down and locomotive up?

 

my thoughts also . possibly something happened in Car itself that disturbed the trace - maybe not . there are corresponding peaks in the DB pull tons and the coal rate , plus a small increase in the cut off , so there may have been a transitory event

Nocky said that 2300 DBHP was exceeded several times. Hard to argue with that , at least.

the peak at 20.5 miles would suggest 2400 DBHP and looks reliable


further to --- I have looked at the MR gradient profile at the point in question , and find there is a short stretch of 1/170 uphill at the point in question . no more than a few hundred yards , but could explain the small increase in cut off , and possibly the power peak