Beauties. That sound. I grew up beside the Reading-Tonbridge line at Dorking, that had the Tadpoles, and the engine sound just flies me straight back to the 70s.I remember being in the guards van once as a boy and being quite scared to go anywhere near the engine!
Happy days. Spent many hours working on these, including this very unit. If this set was a Berkshire, Hampshire, or Oxted, the engine would have been the 600 BHP type, with a Napier MS200 turbo. The Hastings DEMUs had only 500HP engines and Napier MS100 turbos. I was sad to see the old reliables go, and sad to see the equivalent units in Northern Ireland go too, though theirs were built in the 60's to late 70's. Don't be fooled by the BR Class 210 lookalike 450 class there, they used the traction equipment from the original 70 or River class units. All gone now bar a very few lucky ones. The 4SRKT was a damn good lump, and first used in Egyptian DEMU units in the early 50s.
It always worried me walking around engine rooms with the loco on full power. Legs out of bed,crank case explosions and flashovers etc. Loved the sound though.
The glorious old thumpers, I used to travel to work on these in 1988, the sound is great especially when you hear one pulling hard up a hill. The only locomotive I've seen where you could stand on the platform and see the engine through the windows as it went past. Those trains with revvy underfloor engines are very unpleasant by comparison.
I've just found out that the 4SRKT engine designation stood for 4-cylinder Supercharged Redesigned K-Type for Traction use. Cylinders were 10 inches (254 mm) bore by 12 inches (305 mm) stroke! No wonder they sounded so damned good.
I live in Kenya and soneone told me to look for a market for 2 of these English electric Napier which were used to run factories. I didnt know they run trains too!!
We had the English Electric 12CSVT & the 8CSVT Locos in the then East African Railways and i could straight identify the Napier Turbocharger image in the Clip. We never had the 4 Cylinder EE Engines in Our Railways Network.
I must have done a million miles on Thumpers, Tadpoles, Hastings. Why nobody mention the 73s? It's in the originals, still plenty knocking about with GBRf. Can't complain about the 73/9 though, progress blah blah.
I couldn't really tell if this was a 4-cylinder or a V-8. If it was pulling 1k horses and a 4-banger the pistons would have to be HUGE PLUS! The D-7 Cats were 4 3/4 inch bore and 8 inch stroke and 900 or 1200 r.p.m. max and the old 8's and 9's were about the same. Thumpers too!
That is SWEET! I saw the turbo and the 4 side panels or crank inspection ports but couldn't really tell if they were just on one side or not. I've watched other videos and could hear the BIG engines pop as they went by. That is NICE! The Cat engines can't hold a candle to THESE! THANKS, MICK! You'll probably get a subscribe out of this!
Thanks Lewie, this one is a baby compared to the V16s but it still sounds awesome . I believe it to be receiving a major overhaul during 2017-2018 and hope to revisit on its return to service.
I saw a video of a 16 being overhauled and the sleeves were almost as big as a 35 gallon grease barrel. Unbelievable. And yes, a 4-banger would be a baby next to one of those. I always thought that EMD was a huge motor but I didn't know anything about piston size, just that it was a lot. over 600 c.i. per hole . I still can't get over a 10 inch bore and a 12 inch stroke. That IS wild. Thanks again, Mick! I'm sticking around, you bet!
Hahaha yes I guess the bore and stroke is wild, but the under squared configuration (stroke length longer than bore diameter ) was used in most of the English Electric low rpm high torque engines.They were in- efficient compared to today's engines, but built like Sussex shit-houses, and almost in- distructable.
Absolutely so, top RPM was 850, and the governor was set to trip at about 900 if I remember right. They first appeared in English Electric DEMU sets for Egypt, then in our BR examples, and a little later in units for Northern Ireland. The engine was also used in locomotives mind, Down Under as my Aussie mate says.
The engine was low revving, it was the turbo that made the whistling noise. the same engine was used in the class 73 Electro Diesel locos for running "off juice"
Revs aren't the whole story of how stressed an engine is. "Mean Effective Pressure" is the other side of the story and is simply the average pressure acting on the piston surface forcing it down the cylinder and doing work
Beauties. That sound. I grew up beside the Reading-Tonbridge line at Dorking, that had the Tadpoles, and the engine sound just flies me straight back to the 70s.I remember being in the guards van once as a boy and being quite scared to go anywhere near the engine!
Happy days. Spent many hours working on these, including this very unit. If this set was a Berkshire, Hampshire, or Oxted, the engine would have been the 600 BHP type, with a Napier MS200 turbo. The Hastings DEMUs had only 500HP engines and Napier MS100 turbos. I was sad to see the old reliables go, and sad to see the equivalent units in Northern Ireland go too, though theirs were built in the 60's to late 70's. Don't be fooled by the BR Class 210 lookalike 450 class there, they used the traction equipment from the original 70 or River class units. All gone now bar a very few lucky ones. The 4SRKT was a damn good lump, and first used in Egyptian DEMU units in the early 50s.
+River Huntingdon Wow..Thanks for the additional info...
It always worried me walking around engine rooms with the loco on full power. Legs out of bed,crank case explosions and flashovers etc. Loved the sound though.
I had the same thoughts Spoony, "Dont throw a rod at me now Thumper"......
The glorious old thumpers, I used to travel to work on these in 1988, the sound is great especially when you hear one pulling hard up a hill. The only locomotive I've seen where you could stand on the platform and see the engine through the windows as it went past. Those trains with revvy underfloor engines are very unpleasant by comparison.
Hi Terry, I agree, the under slung hi rpm engines just dont grunt the same. Hardly worth recording for nostalgia..
The sound of the 4SRKT engines and that wining generator are music to my ears. I love these 'Thumper' units.
Thanks for the thumper video and don't you just love that sound!!😎🚃
Always wondered what’s hiding in there! Brilliant video, great sound.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I've just found out that the 4SRKT engine designation stood for 4-cylinder Supercharged Redesigned K-Type for Traction use. Cylinders were 10 inches (254 mm) bore by 12 inches (305 mm) stroke! No wonder they sounded so damned good.
I am very impressed at how well you picked up the sound of this engine. It completely surrounds you with headphones. Gorgeous! Special microphone?
I LOVE BIG ENGINES!!! worked on V24 Caterpillars for a few years but CANT BEAT thumpers, Sulzers, deltics, maybachs!!!
Yes I'm with you on the old low rpm thumpers and some worthy engines you have mentioned too.
And I thought that the V20 was huge! (compressor station) but 24 is utterly insane.
I live in Kenya and soneone told me to look for a market for 2 of these English electric Napier which were used to run factories. I didnt know they run trains too!!
I can see the romance with these. The screaming perkins 6 propelling the 166's that replaced these on my line are incomparable.
We had the English Electric 12CSVT & the 8CSVT Locos in the then East African Railways and i could straight identify the Napier Turbocharger image in the Clip. We never had the 4 Cylinder EE Engines in Our Railways Network.
What a unique video! well done
Thanks for your comments Mike.
Great stuff, great demu.
Great sound
Cool thanks for that
Awesome :D
Excellent, enjoyed that!!!
+formidable38 Your welcome...I'm glad nothing let go on me when I was there..
+mick thebass LOL. The 4SRKT was always fairly bomb proof in that respect, I had every faith!!!!
600 hp not 1000hp
EE 4SRKT?
I must have done a million miles on Thumpers, Tadpoles, Hastings. Why nobody mention the 73s? It's in the originals, still plenty knocking about with GBRf. Can't complain about the 73/9 though, progress blah blah.
Hi Mick.. You plan on attaching that to a quadcopter...lol
+MrTColson Haha.. Hi Mr T, yeh if I can find 3 more of these and weld them together, I could be the first to cross the Atlantic in a quadcopter....
+mick thebass Try an EE16CSVT LOL !
I couldn't really tell if this was a 4-cylinder or a V-8. If it was pulling 1k horses and a 4-banger the pistons would have to be HUGE PLUS! The D-7 Cats were 4 3/4 inch bore and 8 inch stroke and 900 or 1200 r.p.m. max and the old 8's and 9's were about the same. Thumpers too!
Hi Lewie, it is an English Electric Napier turbocharged, 4-cylinder inline ( 10 inch bore x 12 inch stroke ) rated 1000 hp @ 850 rpm, max 900 rpm.
That is SWEET! I saw the turbo and the 4 side panels or crank inspection ports but couldn't really tell if they were just on one side or not. I've watched other videos and could hear the BIG engines pop as they went by. That is NICE! The Cat engines can't hold a candle to THESE! THANKS, MICK! You'll probably get a subscribe out of this!
Thanks Lewie, this one is a baby compared to the V16s but it still sounds awesome . I believe it to be receiving a major overhaul during 2017-2018 and hope to revisit on its return to service.
I saw a video of a 16 being overhauled and the sleeves were almost as big as a 35 gallon grease barrel. Unbelievable. And yes, a 4-banger would be a baby next to one of those. I always thought that EMD was a huge motor but I didn't know anything about piston size, just that it was a lot. over 600 c.i. per hole . I still can't get over a 10 inch bore and a 12 inch stroke. That IS wild. Thanks again, Mick! I'm sticking around, you bet!
Hahaha yes I guess the bore and stroke is wild, but the under squared configuration (stroke length longer than bore diameter ) was used in most of the English Electric low rpm high torque engines.They were in- efficient compared to today's engines, but built like Sussex shit-houses, and almost in- distructable.
The engine appears low-revving and unstressed.
Absolutely so, top RPM was 850, and the governor was set to trip at about 900 if I remember right. They first appeared in English Electric DEMU sets for Egypt, then in our BR examples, and a little later in units for Northern Ireland. The engine was also used in locomotives mind, Down Under as my Aussie mate says.
The engine was low revving, it was the turbo that made the whistling noise. the same engine was used in the class 73 Electro Diesel locos for running "off juice"
Revs aren't the whole story of how stressed an engine is. "Mean Effective Pressure" is the other side of the story and is simply the average pressure acting on the piston surface forcing it down the cylinder and doing work