Robert Neville wrote:
I recently spent some time in Teignmouth and had occasion to take a
FGW train
to/from Exeter. I don't know what models FGW uses - the set going to
Exeter was
definitely an older 2 car set, the return trip was still two car but
much newer.

I thought most modern trains were diesel electric. That is, the diesel
ran at
constant speed power an genset, which in turn provided electricity to
drive
electric motors.

What seemed strange to me was that the engineer raised the RPM of the
diesel
prior to leaving every station - almost as if he were engaging a
clutch. Was the
the diesel directly driving the train?

This is normal for diesel electrics. The driver (engineer indeed! - this
is not the US) does nothing other than open the throttle, but the train
doesn't move until the generator is producing enough power for the
motors to start turning. It is possible to avoid the time lag by being
able to vary the generator excitation rate, but it is probably not
considered worth while to fit this for a general-purpose DMU.

Eric