The APT-E, for Advanced Passenger Train Experimental, was the prototype Advanced Passenger Train

tilting train A tilting train is a train that has a mechanism enabling increased speed on regular rail tracks. As a train (or other vehicle) rounds a curve at speed, objects inside the train experience centrifugal force. This can cause packages to slide ab ...

unit. It was powered by gas turbines, the only multiple unit so powered that was used by British Rail. The APT-E consisted of two driving power cars (PC1 and 2) and two trailer cars (TC1 and 2). Each power car was equipped with four Rover-built

Leyland 2S/350 gas turbine The Leyland 2S gas turbine was developed by British Leyland to power road vehicles. The original version, the 2S/150 was famous for its use in a series of racing cars in the 1960s. In 1968, the basic layout was used to develop the larger 2S/350 f ...

s (and a fifth for auxiliary power supplies), which initially produced 300 hp each but were progressively uprated to 330 hp. Two GEC 253AY nose suspended traction motors provided the traction on the leading bogies. The vehicles were manufactured from aluminium and were approximately , with articulated bogies between them. The APT-E made its first run on 25 July 1972 from Derby to Duffield and was immediately 'blacked' by the drivers' union

ASLEF The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) is a British trade union representing train drivers. It is part of the International Transport Workers' Federation and the European Transport Workers' Federation. At the end of ...

, due to concerns that the single driver's seat pre-empted ongoing negotiations about the single-manning of trains. It was over twelve months before it ran again on the main line in August 1973. The prototype was eventually tried out on the Great Western Main Line, and achieved a new British railway speed record when on 10 August 1975 it hit whilst on test with the Western Region between Swindon and Reading. It was also tested extensively on the

Midland Main Line The Midland Main Line is a major railway line in England from London to Nottingham and Sheffield in the Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras station via Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Chesterfield in the East Midlands ...

out of

London St. Pancras St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It ...

and on the

Old Dalby Test Track The Old Dalby Test Track is a railway in the United Kingdom which is used for testing new designs of trains and railway infrastructure. It runs between Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire and Edwalton, on the course of the Midland Railway's route betw ...

, where in January 1976 it attained a speed of . The unit was only intended for testing and was never used in ordinary public service, although it did carry office staff and the occasional dignitary on trial runs. When its period of testing was complete, in June 1976, it was sent to the

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

for preservation. It is now based at the NRM's Locomotion museum in

Shildon Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on the Stockton and Darli ...

. When further APT Class 370 units were built, they were powered by 25 kV AC

electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...

Test bed set

The APT-POP (Power-0-Power) set was a rake of three skeletal unpowered carriages used as a test bed for the suspension, tilting and braking systems used by APT units. The 'Power pumps' were only mock-ups, though similar externally to PC1 and PC2 in the APT-E unit minus cabs, and the whole set had to be hauled by a locomotive. Following the abandonment of the APT project, all three carriages were scrapped in 1985. The set was formed as follows: *Number: RDB975634 - RDB975636 - RDB975635 *Identity: PC3 - Lab 8 - PC4

References

Notes

Sources

* Potter, Stephen (1987). ''On the Right Lines?: The limits of technological innovation''. London: Frances Pinter (Publishers). . * * N/A, (1981). ''Advanced Passenger Train: The official illustrated account of British Rail's revolutionary new 155mph train''. Weston-super-Mare: Avon-Anglia Publications & Services. . * British Transport Films (1975) ''E for Experimental'' republished 2006 by the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

as part of ''British Transport Films Collection (Vol. 3): Running A Railway.''

External links

Pauls Railway Web APT-E

Locomotion : The National Railway Museum at Shildon - NRM website

Locomotion : The National Railway Museum at Shildon - Sedgefield Council Website

departmentals.com
(Type APT in the search box) {{DEFAULTSORT:British Rail Apt-E Experimental locomotives High-speed trains of the United Kingdom

APT-E The APT-E, for Advanced Passenger Train Experimental, was the prototype Advanced Passenger Train tilting train unit. It was powered by gas turbines, the only multiple unit so powered that was used by British Rail. The APT-E consisted of two ...

British Railways gas turbine locomotives Experimental and prototype high-speed trains British Rail Departmental Units British Rail research and development Gas turbine multiple units with locomotive-like power cars Abandoned trains of the United Kingdom Train-related introductions in 1972

Test bed set

See also

References

Notes

Sources

External links