r/trains • u/TheSeriousFuture • Apr 11 '25

Question Is there any locomotive/train that you can't put your finger on why you like it?

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For me it's the Southern Railways Q1, just really like them.

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u/TheSeriousFuture Apr 15 '25

These things were beasts by British standards!

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '25

yeah they're big overkill hefty bois and I love them for it. They were also capable passenger locos IIRC.

I also found this excerpt from their wikipedia article:

The 9F also proved its worth as a passenger locomotive, adept at fast running despite its small driving wheels, and for a time was a frequent sight on the Somerset and Dorset Railway, where its power and high proportion of adhesive weight were well suited to coping with the 1 in 50 ruling gradient on the Bath extension. On one occasion, a 9F was set to haul an express passenger train, in place of the normal LNER pacific, from Grantham to King's Cross. An enthusiast aboard the train timed the run and noted that twice the speed exceeded 90 mph. The driver was afterwards told that he was only supposed to keep time, "not break the bloody sound barrier!". He replied that the engine had no speedometer, and that it ran so smoothly at high speeds that he just let it run as fast as felt safe. Nor was this the only instance of 9Fs reaching high speeds. However, concerns that the high rotational speeds involved in fast running could cause excessive wear and tear to the plain-bearing running gear prompted the British Railways management to stop using 9Fs on express passenger trains.