15 April 2021 · Taking trains abroad before the Tunnel

Presenter: Dave Coxon

Everyone was welcomed, before a minute’s silence for HRH Prince Philip whilst photographs of the late Prince were shown.

Dave introduced himself with a brief outline of his railway career working for British Rail (BR) and its successors for over 50 years starting in the loco works at Derby as an apprentice, then at the Technical Centre testing trains, before going on to research and later becoming involved in commissioning both in the UK and abroad.

In the 1980s BR sent various items of rolling stock to destinations in Europe and Dave was designated to organise the visits and to accompany the stock en route. Three trips would be covered – to Hamburg in May 1988, the second to Utrecht in June 1989 and the third to Vienna in September 1989.

The main company for shifting rail borne freight in the days before the Tunnel was Railfreight International, using the new SNCF cross channel train ferry built in 1987 and named ‘Nord Pas de Calais’ (NPDC). Dave described the previous lock system for getting trains on and off train ferries and showed a number of photographs as illustration. The new ferry did not need any special dock but used an adjustable ‘drawbridge’ instead, known as the Linkspan with a double deck arrangement enabling the loading of trains (lower level) and lorries (upper level) at the same time, and there were a number of interesting photographs showing the process. The Linkspan was designed for vehicles that could be loaded whatever the state of the tide but loading and unloading was best done at mid-tide for electric locomotives and coaching stock. The NPDC was used on all three trips.

BR was invited to the IVA88 (Internationale Verkehrsaustelling) exhibition in Hamburg in 1988 and sent a Class 89 (89001), Class 90 (90008), Class 91 (91003) together with a Class 150/2 2-car Sprinter DMU (150263), two BREL International coaches (99523 and 99520) and two match wagons. David explained the issues that had to be resolved and the testing required before they could couple up the train and go. There were some excellent photographs of the outgoing journey, the vehicles and the exhibition, as well as the BR exhibits information, followed by the return journey. The match wagons were used for several more years before ending up at the South Devon Railway where they were restored. A photograph of one of the wagons showed it resplendent in its original livery at the SDR in 2008. Accommodation en route was less than satisfactory but the hotel in Hamburg was excellent.

The second trip was part of Dutch Railway’s NS150 celebrations and BR was invited to send an example of their most modern rolling stock to Utrecht. Eventually it was decided to take a Strathclyde Class 156 to the exhibition. Again they went via Dover using the same ferry although this time the unit (156502) was driven under its own power from Derby, across Europe and then back again afterwards, generating quite a bit of interest en route. There were excellent photographs from Utrecht of some of the wide range of rolling stock from steam to the latest TGV with much else in between including some splendid vintage vehicles, and the Class 156 making a favourable impression on visitors. There was a later photograph of 156502 taken at Glasgow in 2007 – in a very different livery this time, but still showing the NL sticker from the exhibition on the secondman’s visor.

Trip 3 to Vienna to the Arsenal Climatic Testing Station was part of the Acceptance Testing programme for the IC225, with a Mk4 coach and DVT. Again using the NPDC ferry to cross the channel where Dave was privileged to spend some time on the bridge, they were loco-hauled across Europe with an SNCF couchette coach as accommodation en route passing through France, Luxembourg, and Switzerland before reaching Austria. Having the couchette coach made the journey that much more pleasant than some of the earlier trips. The former Arsenal is an historic building that had found a new use in 1961 to carry out climatic testing covering, amongst other things, the effects of temperatures between -25˚C and +40˚C. It was a surprise to see gas turbine 18000 outside the very ordinary looking building housing the climate chamber. This locomotive has since been returned to the UK as a heritage vehicle. The photographs of the DVT in the climate chamber coated in snow were quite impressive. The test facility was moved to a new location, still in Vienna, in 2002. Other British trains have been tested there since the Channel Tunnel opened but most have been transported by road. We were shown photographs of some of these undergoing the same testing regime including a Class 345 Aventra Crossrail unit and a Siemens Thameslink Class 700.

The NPDC continued to be used mainly for dangerous goods after the Channel Tunnel was opened. After changing ownership and conversion to a freight ferry, it has been renamed the Al Andalus Express and is currently operating in the Canary Islands.

With an array of interesting and probably historic photographs as illustration throughout, Dave highlighted both difficulties and successes experienced, and the lessons learned in how to solve the problems along the way. Questions and answers included how the different vehicles were linked together; why was there no test chamber at Derby (financial reasons); did the vehicles taken to Vienna pass the tests – answer yes although they struggled a bit at +40˚C.

The vote of thanks was given by Andy Davies who highlighted the opportunities of the time that would not be allowed now, and the great experiences that Dave had shared with us.