![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Trainspotting 2 - The APT
Mar. 31st, 2018 06:13 pmThe APT was a pretty clever piece of tech. Capable of 155mph, and introduced the idea of tilting around corners (technology that was later sold to Italy to use on the Pendelinos). But technical problems, and a negative attitude from the national press essentially killed it. They did, preserve one.
They did, however, preserve one at Crewe. And they have a heritage centre there with some other exhibits. And I've been wanting to have a ride on this train since I was 7. This is essentially my last chance.
Honestly, it's looking a little tatty after 30 years. The 2002 repaint wasn't done brilliantly; the lines aren't all that smooth. The interior is looking tatty since there are no spares to replace damaged fittings. However, it is possible to actually sit in the seats, and visit all the carriages, and even the driver's cab, so I got a picture of me driving. The train itself is used as its own exhibition centre. So there's a 1 in 5 scale model of the train in the train.
The rest of the heritage centre is a small volunteer run affair. People there are friendly and happy to chat. There are examples of signal and point levers, that people are invited to pull. One of them demonstrates the interlocks that prevents a point from switching without the signal being set correctly (or was it the other way round?). There was another example that controlled the signals on a model railway. Upstairs was the old control room for Crewe, and a very nerdy guy demonstrated what we needed to do to flip the various points.
Also saw a bunch of model railways. One of them was American trains. Another was British, and had a very nice LMS Princess Royal running. Also a goods train pulling wagons containing Kellogs cereals, sugar and milk. A healthy breakfast in a single locomotive.
It's not a huge exhibition. There are only a handful of exhibits, and not exactly exciting (a class 03 shunter, a couple of class 47s and a class 37), but I saw the APT, so I was happy.
They did, however, preserve one at Crewe. And they have a heritage centre there with some other exhibits. And I've been wanting to have a ride on this train since I was 7. This is essentially my last chance.
Honestly, it's looking a little tatty after 30 years. The 2002 repaint wasn't done brilliantly; the lines aren't all that smooth. The interior is looking tatty since there are no spares to replace damaged fittings. However, it is possible to actually sit in the seats, and visit all the carriages, and even the driver's cab, so I got a picture of me driving. The train itself is used as its own exhibition centre. So there's a 1 in 5 scale model of the train in the train.
The rest of the heritage centre is a small volunteer run affair. People there are friendly and happy to chat. There are examples of signal and point levers, that people are invited to pull. One of them demonstrates the interlocks that prevents a point from switching without the signal being set correctly (or was it the other way round?). There was another example that controlled the signals on a model railway. Upstairs was the old control room for Crewe, and a very nerdy guy demonstrated what we needed to do to flip the various points.
Also saw a bunch of model railways. One of them was American trains. Another was British, and had a very nice LMS Princess Royal running. Also a goods train pulling wagons containing Kellogs cereals, sugar and milk. A healthy breakfast in a single locomotive.
It's not a huge exhibition. There are only a handful of exhibits, and not exactly exciting (a class 03 shunter, a couple of class 47s and a class 37), but I saw the APT, so I was happy.
