Class 69 No. 69001 for GB Railfreight.

Class 20... with one of those top protrusions to allow for a bigger fan group...

 

Just think of the reliability...! We could play a tape of the engine note...

 

If I remember the times correctly many Communist satellites of Russia were becoming weary of Russia centralisation and were seeking ways of loosening the grip hence Western Governments were keen to exploit this by offering incentives such as trade deals to provide leverage and the attraction of a "free" society rather than one "locked into" Russian interests. I don't think the later fall of Communism was a direct result of such trade deals but the constant drip of the alternative view of life offered by them certainly helped. I well recall talking with my friends in East Germany during the 1970s and their view indicated a growing realisation that subservience to Russia was not in their best interests, but interestingly Romania began supplying 192 Class 119 locomotives to East Germany in 1976 using a body shape similar to the East German Class 118 bodyshell. It would be of interest to know what connection - if any - the order had with the British Class 56 build but (a) it's outside the realm of this thread and (b) I doubt if anyone has the information available.

 

If there is anything in the underlying theory about why the business went to Romania, then it would not be associated so much with trying to undermine Communism as undermine the Warsaw Pact - Ceaușescu's state visit was at a similar time, as one of the more independent minded Warsaw Pact rulers. The idea that Soviet Communism would collapse was the preserve of a few optimists even just a few months before the Wall fell, and policies of the Wilson/Callaghan/Carter/Brandt era would have had little relevance given the very different, and much more confrontational, policy approaches of Thatcher and Reagan.

 

Let's not forget PKP's EU6 electrics (and their successors).

After 56 and especially after 68, the regimes of the region attempted to establish a modus vivendi with the population and increased the emphasis on consumer goods, the quickest and easiest way to do this was to buy from Western Europe who factories and machining. If people have a decent living standard (relative to where they were in 1939) then they may not support you but they won't actively take the streets to oppose you.

There is something of a paradox when it comes to relations between the states of the region and Moscow. No Polish politician is ever going to go poor by taking an anti-Russian line. However, in some states such as Romania there is an ideological component to the embracing of nationalism and 'independence'. When Khrushchev issued the Secret Speech repudiating Stalinism this put the Stalinist regimes of the region in a quandary. Some such as Poland and Hungary attempted to remove the Stalinists (and to some extent succeed). In Romania, Albania and Bulgaria, the Stalinists held the upper hand and wanting to avoid the fate of other Stalinists they pulled an interesting move. They embraced nationalism to defend Stalinism. They argued that Khrushschev's attempt to Destalinise was an example of Moscow imperialism, so in the name of the nation they were rejecting Destalinisation.

Hence, the 'independence' of Romania, Albania etc, was a mere fig leaf to hide hardline Stalinist economic, social and political policies at home. The West (US, UK, France, West Germany etc) fell for it hook line and sinker believing them to be another Tito, when what they were getting was Tito abroad, Stalin at home.

Needless to say, the story of the 56s is I suspect a bit murky and wrapped up in at attempt to curry favour and geopolitical posturing.

 

Isn’t there a rumour of one 56 being painted in Romanian state railways livery to please Ceausescu but he got rather angry about it?

 

The 56 had the same cab as a 47 and no doubt the body shell itself would have been very similar if not the same.

 

The fall of communism was simply down to the USSR strapping itself to keep up with western military spending which caused economic damage, it had nothing to do with any trade deals or shifty diplomacy.

 

Just received this of 69002, GBRf going retro again by the looks of it.

 

To me that would look better with a small logo....

Sent from my SM-A125F using Tapatalk

 

Large logo & yellow cabsides - anything to break up the slab of Rail Blue!
Pat

 

They certainly make freightliners 70s look stylish

 

Make all cheques payable to:

GBRF
3rd Floor, 55 Old Broad Street,
London EC2M 1RX

I quite like that it looks like a Tron 56.

 

It is nice to see paint being used for a livery and not just vinyl, the very worst of BR liveries was better than anything you will see on a train run by a privitised TOC.

 

Other opinions are available…

 

The 56 had the same cab as a 47 and no doubt the body shell itself would have been very similar if not the same.

Now line up:

Class 53 (1200 Falcon).
Class 35 (Hymek).
Class 47 (Brush 4).
Class 50 (Four Hundreder).

They all look very similar front on. Being a spotter in the early 70s I never saw it but as a modeller in the 21st century I have! In brackets is what we called the classes then.

 

Hot of the press ,56094 passing Kettering a couple of hours ago(08.05.2021 ) with a Toton to Brent train load of cranes.

 

What are/were East German 119 s and 118 s. The only German loco's with that number series were German electrics of the 1930s.Most if not all East German Electrics were designed and built by L E W (Locomotive Electro Works,Hennigsdorf)ex AEG pre war, and now Bombardier.

 

It’s a modified 47 body shell, I don’t think there was that long a gap between the last 47’s being built and BR deciding they needed a new type 5 dedicated freight loco.