When i worked for FGW 2002 - 2011 and during the Valenta era on services i worked twice had unusual workings. 1st was a back to back pair of powercars coupled up to a 2+8 in order to get the back to back powercars to St Phillips Marsh , That was a powerful run with 4 working on 8 coaches . The other was like the video but not pushing but pulling & not on the Lickys but from Highbridge back to BTM . I worked the Pad - WSM service where we terminated & was due back to BTM ECS but we got the call to assist the Penzance - Paddington Via BTM where 1 powercar had failed & the other one was close to total failure , The set i was on then continued the service from BTM - Paddington after it was uncoupled etc .
That roar, that scream!! There are some amazing diesel engines out there, but there can only be one number 1, and that will always be the Valenta! Thanks for sharing this amazing clip! ❤
Weirder stuff has happened more recently, GWR rescued the entire Night Riviera sleeper complete with dead loco on the back with a 2+4 set and dragged it from Truro to Laira. And famously about 10 years ago back-to-back power cars piloted a full 2+8 set from Plymouth to Reading in service, at up to 100mph
A late ol friend of mine (ex green badger), worked one of these over the Lickey on one engine, not long before he retired from Laira. (49 years on the SR, WR & Virgin.) He had lost an engine shortly before the climb & should have stopped for assistance, but was going on well & as he used to say with a smile; “ Rules are meant to be bent, not broken.” Lol. Went over the top at around 23 mph & was on time at New St & knowing him he would have stopped on a rising brake, (mister so as not to spill the tea.)😂
Ahhh, the beautiful sound of a screaming Valenta! Brings me back to my childhood. 😀😀😀 Are there any examples of preserved HST with their original Valenta engines installed?
@@stephensrailwaysof course Project Miller have plans to take a modern MTU powered version and UPGRADE it to a Valenta. One can only hope they succeed and if they can raise enough- do the second PC. I've donated my modest bit and encourage anyone else to.
did not hear detonators going off ! normally put three down behind a failed train. I only once coupled up a failed HST to recover it in my time on the railways
Cross Country sets had 'only' 7 MK3s each, so saving around 30 ton. Believe me, that'll make a difference. I'll make a guess that it was running on a single power car and they tried to get it up the incline- remember a PC is still a type 4 and 250 tons is well within the limits for a T4. The HST was never short of power, but short of cooling. It's easy to overheat a HST set. NB MId August- yes, that'll be an overheat. (pure speculation, no evidence)
@@derektaylor2941 The NSW XPT based on the HST had cooling issues and from the outset they had a better cooling system than the HST as it gets very hot here in Australia.
@@tomnewham1269 ha, I don't doubt it. Australia can be known to be a bit warm. The thing is that the Valenta is a high revving engine and they'll always heat up quicker than a slow revving engine of equivalent power. I did hear talk- and how far this went I really don't know- that they were looking to add in more radiators on the adjacent coaches with coolant pipes between them. I can see why they didn't.
@@tomnewham1269 The XPT power cars had double the cooling capacity of the Class 43. Also the engines were derated down to 2000 BHP each power car because of the heat.
@@Martindyna They also ran in shorter sets than their UK counterparts and had steep Ozzie gradients to contend with. They didn't have the luxury of straight UK high speed lines!
A screaming snorting Jeremy PAXMAN LOVE IT!!, never heard a Jeremy rev his bollocks off like that and still hold together pulling so heavy a load. The MTU,s are bit like Toto Wolf, calm quiet efficient and soulless, Jeremy,s turbos and accessories scream like Jimmy Hendrix after a snort of best Columbian.
@@kevinsylvester770 My information came from the 2004 'Platform 5' 'Locomotives' booklet which shows the engine power as 2250hp and the 'Power at Rail' as 1770hp. I note that Wikipedia shows the same figures and terminology.
@@kevinsylvester770 The power output of the prime mover is usually something quite different to the power actually delivered at the rail due to losses and inefficiencies in transmission systems. It just depends on which metric is used as the topic of discussion. Both are correct. They just measure different things.
The longest I’ve heard a Paxman Valenta run at full power against that much load. Normally full throttle for that long and top speed would easily be achieved. Amazing sound.
I'm surprised the traction motors didn't overheat tbh even with blowers (perhaps their lives were shortened somewhat). The train appears to be stationary for some time with a lot of current going into the TMs 2:38
The Virgin sets were all absolutely knackered by this time anyway, they were being run down ahead of replacement by the Voyager fleets. Some of the power cars struggled to get above 110mph with traction motors isolated etc.
How could they couple them? Would it be pushing by the emergency towbar? Could they connect the brake pipes? I'm only amazed that it didn't shut down through overheating (maybe that's what happened to the one in front)
Just goes to show how good the paxman valenta engine was for its time. I miss them. Bring them back
When i worked for FGW 2002 - 2011 and during the Valenta era on services i worked twice had unusual workings.
1st was a back to back pair of powercars coupled up to a 2+8 in order to get the back to back powercars to St Phillips Marsh , That was a powerful run with 4 working on 8 coaches .
The other was like the video but not pushing but pulling & not on the Lickys but from Highbridge back to BTM .
I worked the Pad - WSM service where we terminated & was due back to BTM ECS but we got the call to assist the Penzance - Paddington Via BTM where 1 powercar had failed & the other one was close to total failure , The set i was on then continued the service from BTM - Paddington after it was uncoupled etc .
That roar, that scream!! There are some amazing diesel engines out there, but there can only be one number 1, and that will always be the Valenta!
Thanks for sharing this amazing clip! ❤
You are right. I used to travel to school on the High Speed Train. Brilliant piece of engineering.
If I hadn't seen this video, I'd never have believed this were possible.
Weirder stuff has happened more recently, GWR rescued the entire Night Riviera sleeper complete with dead loco on the back with a 2+4 set and dragged it from Truro to Laira. And famously about 10 years ago back-to-back power cars piloted a full 2+8 set from Plymouth to Reading in service, at up to 100mph
@@limeyfox@derektaylor2941 and the 59 and HST resuce that is famously on UA-cam?
A late ol friend of mine (ex green badger), worked one of these over the Lickey on one engine, not long before he retired from Laira. (49 years on the SR, WR & Virgin.)
He had lost an engine shortly before the climb & should have stopped for assistance, but was going on well & as he used to say with a smile; “ Rules are meant to be bent, not broken.” Lol.
Went over the top at around 23 mph & was on time at New St & knowing him he would have stopped on a rising brake, (mister so as not to spill the tea.)😂
Absolutely miss hearing the Valenta scream
Who doesn't?
I remember how loud these were as a kid and completely forgetting the rear engine would come past louder always used to make me jump.
Some power at work there shifting 2 sets on the flat let alone standing start off a 1 in 37.
Something about the sound of the turbos at full tilt that calms the soul
Lovely wish I was there, but thanks for taking Video for us cheers
this is incredible
Those traction motors must have been smoking a bit!
Ahhh, the beautiful sound of a screaming Valenta! Brings me back to my childhood. 😀😀😀
Are there any examples of preserved HST with their original Valenta engines installed?
Currently just the prototype, but that isn't running at the moment.
@@stephensrailwaysof course Project Miller have plans to take a modern MTU powered version and UPGRADE it to a Valenta. One can only hope they succeed and if they can raise enough- do the second PC. I've donated my modest bit and encourage anyone else to.
Apart from the class 41 prototype, no. But that will change very soon! JG.
did not hear detonators going off ! normally put three down behind a failed train. I only once coupled up a failed HST to recover it in my time on the railways
So pushing another set, that’s an additional 2 power cars and 8 mk3 coaches. Presumably the power cars had failed?
Cross Country sets had 'only' 7 MK3s each, so saving around 30 ton. Believe me, that'll make a difference. I'll make a guess that it was running on a single power car and they tried to get it up the incline- remember a PC is still a type 4 and 250 tons is well within the limits for a T4. The HST was never short of power, but short of cooling. It's easy to overheat a HST set.
NB MId August- yes, that'll be an overheat. (pure speculation, no evidence)
@@derektaylor2941 The NSW XPT based on the HST had cooling issues and from the outset they had a better cooling system than the HST as it gets very hot here in Australia.
@@tomnewham1269 ha, I don't doubt it. Australia can be known to be a bit warm.
The thing is that the Valenta is a high revving engine and they'll always heat up quicker than a slow revving engine of equivalent power.
I did hear talk- and how far this went I really don't know- that they were looking to add in more radiators on the adjacent coaches with coolant pipes between them. I can see why they didn't.
@@tomnewham1269 The XPT power cars had double the cooling capacity of the Class 43. Also the engines were derated down to 2000 BHP each power car because of the heat.
@@Martindyna They also ran in shorter sets than their UK counterparts and had steep Ozzie gradients to contend with. They didn't have the luxury of straight UK high speed lines!
A screaming snorting Jeremy PAXMAN LOVE IT!!, never heard a Jeremy rev his bollocks off like that and still hold together pulling so heavy a load. The MTU,s are bit like Toto Wolf, calm quiet efficient and soulless, Jeremy,s turbos and accessories scream like Jimmy Hendrix after a snort of best Columbian.
Compared to a MTU engine which is akin to a teeth knashing gerbil,the Valenta is a snarling rottweiler.
@@markcf83 No, a crack addicted Hereford Bull.
And I've read some people saying the HST was underpowered . Think this proves them wrong.
Two power cars of 1770bhp each, 3540bhp total. For comparison, I believe a Deltic was 3300bhp and a class 47 2580bhp. So yes, lots of power!
@@gppsoftware Actually 2250bhp each , 4500bhp total , I had one at 115mph with only one functioning power car ( 2+8 set ) .
@@kevinsylvester770 My information came from the 2004 'Platform 5' 'Locomotives' booklet which shows the engine power as 2250hp and the 'Power at Rail' as 1770hp. I note that Wikipedia shows the same figures and terminology.
@@gppsoftware The 'power at rail' of a Deltic is only 2650bhp then , by that criteria .
@@kevinsylvester770 The power output of the prime mover is usually something quite different to the power actually delivered at the rail due to losses and inefficiencies in transmission systems. It just depends on which metric is used as the topic of discussion. Both are correct. They just measure different things.
The longest I’ve heard a Paxman Valenta run at full power against that much load. Normally full throttle for that long and top speed would easily be achieved. Amazing sound.
I'm surprised the traction motors didn't overheat tbh even with blowers (perhaps their lives were shortened somewhat).
The train appears to be stationary for some time with a lot of current going into the TMs 2:38
The Virgin sets were all absolutely knackered by this time anyway, they were being run down ahead of replacement by the Voyager fleets. Some of the power cars struggled to get above 110mph with traction motors isolated etc.
@@limeyfox Sorry what do you mean `with the traction motors isolated etc'
@@Martindyna If one of the traction motors has a problem you can disconnect power to it, most locos are able to this.
@@professorjamesmoriarty5191 Thanks, makes sense.
Oh wow some screaming!
How could they couple them? Would it be pushing by the emergency towbar? Could they connect the brake pipes? I'm only amazed that it didn't shut down through overheating (maybe that's what happened to the one in front)
Full brake pipe access and connectivity is available with the emergency tow bar. All fully visible on the units fitted with front-end buffers.
Wow what a video. Were the power cars the buffer fitted ones?
Believe not. Grand Central had the bulk of them.
@@markcf83 2002, that was before Grand Central wasn't it?
you know that hst set was working as hard as possible to get going from a standing start pushing dead weight uphill
2 Virgin XC 7 car HSTs in one train