The Deltic - meaning of course the Class 55 loco - was
everybody's favourite diesel engine. Possibly looks small by American standards but they had to fit through British Rail tunnels and the big two-stroke engine packed plenty of punch.
They used to pass through Galashiels when I was a kid growing up there - standing in the railway station, you could
feel the weight as the loco rolled in and the platform shuddered. And you could
feel the noise as they gunned the engine.
If you have a decent sound system on your pc, watch & listen to this:
A moment I'll never forget - I know, there's a few of those, please forgive an old fella's nostalgia - I was walking home from the Honeywell computer factory at Newhouse in the early hours, maybe 2 am, on a frosty night in about 1978. The road passed over a railway cutting and I heard a train coming so I looked over the parapet. It was a Deltic, running solo, no carriages or wagons. As I stood watching at that late/early hour, the driver
must have seen me standing there and gave the mighty beast just a touch of throttle. VARRRROOOOOMBAHHHH! Then gave me a wave out of the side window. Cold night but gave me an extra spring in me step as I turned to walk on.