Glorious Gronk 2
This company has taken a rather tatty and unloved class 08 ...
... and removed everything under the bonnet! Actually the bonnet itself has gone as well.
What is left has been cleaned down and protected by coats of heavy duty paint.
The original 08 is a diesel electric shunter, so it appears that the electric motors that turn the wheels are retained in the 08e.
It is all computer driven ...
... and miles away from the greasy growl in the cab of a Gronk!
Of course it has to have a leaf green livery to emphasise the environmental credentials of the rebuild.
News breaks more recently of the first 08e to be sold for real.
Whilst the steady eddy of the 08 is no longer the normal sight in every goods yard (there ain't no "every" goods yards nowadays) it would be good to see more of these delights.
You wonder who will be the first to market a OO model of the 08e
Puzzle Picture
... who introduced the linear electric motor to the World, which, combined with vehicles floating on a magneti field gave us "Maglev" trains.
As it so often the case (see tilting trains) the UK failed to develop the idea.
This is the best and only Maglev train to enter commercial service at Birmingham Airport. 
It was replaced with a more conventional string hauled system!
But others from far away have funded the development - and this is the latest result.
It goes quite quickly.
The plan is for Japan Railways ...
... to build a brand new Maglev line ...
... linking Tokyo with Osaka.
The road distance is just a smidge under 500km.
Trains currently do this trip in a little over two hours, so nippy in the extreme. In theory the new trains will take less than an hour!
In the UK, that would be like London to Carlisle in just one hour.
Yikes.
How does it work.
It is levitated up and down ...
... guided side to side ...
The principle of all three is simple (Yeah, right!!) with alternate north and south poles attracting and repelling in sequence.
That's how fbb understands it - but what does he know? Not a lot and most he learned from Eric Laithwaite's Royal Institution Christmas lectures.
But that was nearly 60 years ago and, possibly, things have moved on a bit in the meantime!
The puzzle Picture is a bogie from the Japan train. And it doesn't make understanding it any easier. It seems to have wheel, presumably for low speed manoeuvering.
What they need is an 08e shunter!
More Model Railway Madness
Look at this, guv!
Sorry, that should read ...
Look at this GUV.
A GUV is railway parlance for a General Utility Van and the above were in use for the Rail Express Parcels service, now long gone.
But you can buy a model for you very own little railway. This one is OO gauge and by Bachmann.
The price is relatively cheap by today's standards,
But what about this one?
It is by Heljan and is twice the price and more.
Shock Horror!!
But, dear reader, it is to O gauge and nearly four times the size by volume.
The mind boggles!
Tomorrow (provisionally) more mind boggling stuff from Cornwall.
Next Kernow madness blog : Tues 20 Jan
No comments:
Post a Comment