Marland wrote:
Recliner wrote:
Marland wrote:


There are more up to date ones which would have been a better choice such
as this one from the cab of an S stock train under test.

https://youtu.be/ZL8xZrY9SeU

Thanks, that was interesting. From the conversation, the 4th rail test
track is 4km long, and includes virtual stations and virtual tunnels. The
train has to do 500 miles (800km) of testing, so a 100 cycles.


One thing that strikes me from the various videos of the old Dalby test
route is that it is mainly straight. As more trains like the S stock get
constructed with full width connections between cars
or even articulations that could be an achilles heel.
The law of sod if you are testing something says it will be the bit that
wasn’t stressed that shows up an unexpected snag.

I know they have test rigs to repeatedly stress those connections to
destruction, with more violent movement in all directions than you'd want
to put a real train through.



Obviously the S stock has been in service long enough now around the LU
system that they must have got it right in that case but there will be
other stock in the future.

I assume Siemens has sorted out the connections for the new 24TS by now. Of
course, being articulated, those trains put the connections under much less
stress than the S stock does.


I see plans for the Welsh based Global Centre For Rail Excellence were
recently published
and like the test tracks in the Czech Republic and Germany will have a
continuous circuit available.
so it could give Old Dalby competition .

https://nation.cymru/news/plans-subm...ence-in-wales/


Like the Czech and German test tracks, that one is more for continuous
medium or high speed running, to build up the miles. Old Dalby seems to be
used more for early stage testing of new designs, but of course also has
its dedicated LU section that we saw in the video. The Welsh circuit is
responding to the need for a different type of UK test track.