MTU Power Cars

[whole diary]

[smokey]

Say If MTU^▸ (Motor Traction Unit) engine's are quiet, what the Heck is the Problem with 43026?

I reckon when I heard it earlier today (Stationary), that it would given a Class 55 Deltic a run for it's money (Noise level wise).

[dog box]

Say If MTU^▸ (Motor Traction Unit) engine's are quiet, what the Heck is the Problem with 43026?

I reckon when I heard it earlier today (Stationary), that it would given a Class 55 Deltic a run for it's money (Noise level wise).

That will be the fairly substantial Electric Cooling Fans Running

[woody]

Say If MTU^▸ (Motor Traction Unit) engine's are quiet, what the Heck is the Problem with 43026?

I reckon when I heard it earlier today (Stationary), that it would given a Class 55 Deltic a run for it's money (Noise level wise).

Another power car 43069 had been running around sounding the same on another set which kept shuddering and shaking as it pulled away from a stop.I assumed both power cars 43026/43069 have the same fault.Any one know what the problem is there.

[devon_metro]

Cooling fans are blocked. The issue on 069 is known I believe, and the fan has simply been set to stay on full to prevent overheating.

[Sprog]

Almost right, the fans are not 'blocked', the radiators in the cooler group that the fan draws air through is blocked/restricted giving restricted airflow and thus degraded cooling ability causing HWTs (High Water Temperatures). As a temporary measure to the problem, the fan controller is being overridden meaning that instead of running at a variable speed depending on the temperature, the fan runs at full speed constantly.

The fan by the way, is hydraulically powered from a shaft off of the 'free' end of the engine with its operation being via an electronic controller that interfaces with the MTU^▸ (Motor Traction Unit) engine 'MDEC' ECU.

The power cars will be stopped for repair, which will consist of either steam cleaning of the radiator panels, or a change of cooler group, which will then hopefully put a stop to the HWT issues it is having!

[The SprinterMeister]

And yet XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s are worked to the blocks at Penzance, well the last one I saw at Penzance was at the blocks.

I'll agree with dog box about Penzance station Roof but when it was rebuilt (1991 would be about right) some IDIOT sealed one side of the roof vortex the WHOLE length of the roof, hence there is NO Vortex, a very simple and easy way to ensure Natural ventilation.

The Vortex works thus: Air Passing over the Roof is at a lower pressure than air within the train shed so having BOTH sides of the High level top box OPEN causes the Air passing through to act as a Vacuum cleaner, keeping the train shed ventilated.

Sealed one side NO VORTEX:

Correct or near enough. At the time under OFQ the BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) buisness sectors 'owned' the bits of track, stations and signalling that they ran over or were deemed the predominant operator of. Plymouth - Penzance was deemed to be a Regional Railways route. As such when the roof was replaced at Penzance, Regional Railways underwrote the cost of reinstating the roof on the extant framework. As Intercity were reluctant to fork out money for the project the roof vents were reassembled / replaced on the basis of small 14 litre Cummins engines standing underneath the roof. The smaller openings reduced the possibilities of sea spray corroding the existing steelwork in the roof. Intercity by then being mainly Sulzer 12LDA28C or Valenta 12RP200L powered. Intercity being happy for their trains to come to rest outside the train shed. This still applies today and this includes XC services using HST's notwithstanding the replacement of all the Valenta engines with the MTU^▸ (Motor Traction Unit) engines.

The long standing instruction regarding notching up HST's to N1 only when leaving Penzance, N2 at Slopers and N3 upwards at Long Rock have however dissapeared from the book of words and the lineside signs have been removed.

However its worth bearing all this sort of thing in mind when considering / talking up Vertical integration of track and services by operator, particularly when more than one operator may be involved. Some of us have seen this all before......

[The SprinterMeister]

The fan by the way, is hydraulically powered from a shaft off of the 'free' end of the engine with its operation being via an electronic controller that interfaces with the MTU^▸ (Motor Traction Unit) engine 'MDEC' ECU.

The power cars will be stopped for repair, which will consist of either steam cleaning of the radiator panels, or a change of cooler group, which will then hopefully put a stop to the HWT issues it is having!

43069 is I believe in LA currently for a cooler group change, the fan controls having been set for the fan to run at all times when the engine is running prior to this cooler group change. I seem to remember N5 being strapped out on this power car due to HWT issues., Hopefully it should be nice and quiet when it comes back.

[chrisoates]

Say If MTU^▸ (Motor Traction Unit) engine's are quiet, what the Heck is the Problem with 43026?

I reckon when I heard it earlier today (Stationary), that it would given a Class 55 Deltic a run for it's money (Noise level wise).

Still in service Tuesday making a terrible din passing through Newton Abbot....

[Maxwell P]

The country end power car does sit under the train-shed at PNZ on Platform 1.