Heritage diesels on the mainline

Being a steam man by interest there are a couple of questions that I'd like to ask.

1. Are heritage diesels subject to the same 75 mph restriction as steam on the main line?
2. More broadly, is there any requirement for maintenance similar to that for the 10 year boiler exam?

John

 

No.

Several diesels run at design speed, 50's, Deltics even a 73 has run at 100mph on the juice.
47580 is preserved and operates for WCML at 95mph.
Same goes for electrics, indeed 86259's USP is fast acceleration and 100mph operation making the WCME's possible from London, with stops in a reasonable day.

Diesels aren't considered as preserved.. They are "private owner traction like any other".

I personally would like to see a class 50 doing the southern leg of a CME.

 

...or a pair of them in blue...

 

1. As noted by others ,diesels are restricted to their 'designed speed'. In the case of 73136 Perseverance, not strictly a diesel but an Electro Diesel, the restriction was to 90 mph.

2. The maintenance regime 'main line' documents that I wrote for Perseverance ran to 2400 pages, yes that is 2400 A4 pages. So although there is no boiler to worry about the maintenance regime is still very strict.

ADB968008 wrote snip

73136 Perseverance was restored and registered by 'The Class 73 Preservation Company', a name that caused undue problems with certain officials due to the word 'preservation'.

Edit additional.

It is worth noting that although the loco has passed every requirement by NR for use on the National Network, you still have to get it accepted as "safe traction" by the TOC going to use it.

And believe me, that can be fun.

 

A preserved 73 has run at 100mph on the mainline... There are published pictures taken from the cab of the trip.
Of course the mag could be lying and been sued for billions... But I'm believing the former.

 

73s were certainly tested on push/pull workings at 100 mph and above on the electrified line in the Sittingbourne Faversham area, and indeed have been known to exceed their 'rated' speed. With 3300 hp available for 30 minutes when on the juice they can certainly get a move on.

Which 'preserved' 73 would that be? As I'm not aware of any 'preserved' 73s on the main line I would be interested to learn more about this one.

 

3300hp? I thought they were 1600hp and the 71s were 2500hp

 

The power of 73s varies according to system and/or time.

On diesel, 750 hp at engine flywheel but down to 600 hp at the wheels. Tractive effort 36,000 pounds,
On the juice*, 1,200 hp continuous, 1,600 hp nominal, and 3,300 hp continuous for 30 minutes. Tractive effort 40,000 pounds.
*Figures relate to 750 volts, slightly less if 3rd rail voltage is down to 680.