latest Dapol 66s

[robert shrives]

Hi gang,
Hattons advise emptying my account again !!
3 X 66 just been processed
1 * Dapol 2D-007-006 Class 66/7 66737 "Lesia" in GB Railfreight livery

1 * Dapol 2D-007-007 Class 66/4 66421 in DRS livery

1 * Dapol 2D-007-008 Class 66/0 66114 in DB Schenker red

This plus Warrior and Evening Star  makes for a "sheddy" feeling of satisfaction...
no food for rest of month however!
Robert 
 

[robert shrives]

And it gets better (or worse depending on where you lean/sit on sheds) GM have just invoiced for the 66 in Bardon livery , defo no food for weeks and weeks now.

Robert

[ntpntpntp]

Now you just need one of AR's "steam Shed"   Leader  locos  to add to the collection 

[robert shrives]

Yes  lovely idea, stretching history or bending time lines I can see the ghost of  OV Bullied at Westbury  beaming Leader like thoughts when GM and Foster Yeoman got together for the 59s which are rich man 66s  and these all helped the 201s in Ireland thus completing the circle ..

Thus a leader seems logical and am watching Alex create a lovely looking model and his use of a 40 and its wheelbase seems to tie into OVB again with is ideas on 10200 etc - its but a small world and even smaller in N.

Robert

[NeMo]

I can see the ghost of  OV Bullied at Westbury  beaming Leader like thoughts when GM and Foster Yeoman got together...

Possibly. But Bulleid was an innovator, and the GM locomotives were definitely not innovative. GM's challenge was re-sizing the extremely successful but ~15 years old EMD SD40 design into the British loading gauge. No mean feat, and a credit to their engineers that this was even discussed, let alone done!

Bulleid wouldn't have adapted something tried-and-trusted though. He'd have gone back to the drawing board, invented a whole bunch of new technologies to allow things to work inside the smaller 'box', and likely produced something great in some ways, but flawed in others.

...for the 59s which are rich man 66s...

Perhaps better to say the 66s are the poor man's 59. More specifically, the first 59s produced for Yeoman were totally unprofitable for GM. They were extremely well designed and specified, but despite that, sold for far less than they cost to produce in real terms (i.e., not just the cost of materials, but the cost of engineers and labour being diverted away from other, bigger projects than the five or six 59s being sold to Yeoman*). That said, for a company as big as GM, the loss was relatively small compared to the potential profit if they sold more of them in the future.

As it turned out, the reliability of the 59s revolutionised how railway hauliers viewed diesel traction, and some ten years later the first of hundreds of 66s arrived on these shores. My understanding from railway engineers is that the 66s aren't nearly as well made as the 59s in many respects, but they're rugged and reliable, and given a relatively short lifespan, they'll pay for themselves without problems. I'd be surprised if there are 66s still chugging away after 50 years in the same way as some of the English Electric locomotives still earning their keep, but I get the sense that the people who own the 66s are happy enough to flog them until they fall apart!

Cheers, NeMo

*Of course a few more 59s were sold over the years.

[robert shrives]

Nemo and gang,
You may well be right with OVB for the guts I was just musing on the shape !
59S are great having ridden Westbury to Acton total masters of the task and I had read the comments on profits but while it took a while the 66 as the "escort" version it has worked reasonably well.
Watched a  DB 66 leave Leamington  this morning do it best fleet destroyer impression  "laying smoke to protect the fleet."  Along with DRS and F`liner failures earlier in the week it might well be true they are being run into the ground. GM do however have two facilities in UK for engine work so perhaps they see a longer future.
I am sure long after I am gone that the 66 preservation association will be helping fund a class 67new build as none were saved !
Robert