British Rail Class 370

British Rail's Class 370 tilting trains, also called APT-P (meaning Advanced Passenger Train Prototype), were the pre-production Advanced Passenger Train units. Unlike the earlier experimental gas-turbine APT-E unit, these units were powered by 25kV AC overhead electrification and were used on the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Glasgow Central. The APT-P is the most powerful domestic train to have operated in Britain, the eight traction motors fitted to the two central Motor Cars giving a total output of 8,000 hp. This enabled the train to set the UK rail speed record of 162.2 mph in December 1979, a record that stood for 23 years.[8]

British Rail Class 370
Advanced Passenger Train – Prototype
370003 Carlisle 1.jpg
Class 370 at Carlisle
APT 1st Class (8921266378).jpg
First-class saloon in a preserved vehicle.
(The plain blue seat covers are post-withdrawal replacements for the original tartan material.)
In service1980–1986
ManufacturerBritish Rail Engineering Limited
Built atDerby Works[1]
Family nameAdvanced Passenger Train
Constructed1977–1980[2]
Entered service1979[3]
Number built3 full sets
(6 units plus 2 spare vehicles)[3]
Number preserved7 vehicles
Formation7 cars per unit:
DTS-TS-TRSB-TU-TF-TBF-M
(full set is 2 units back-to-back)
OperatorBritish Rail InterCity
Depot(s)Shields Road (Glasgow)[4]
Line(s) servedWest Coast Main Line
Specifications
Car body construction
Train length147 m (482 ft)[5]
Car length
  • DTS vehs.: 21.440 m (70 ft 4.1 in)
  • M vehs.: 20.400 m (66 ft 11.1 in)
  • Others: 21.000 m (68 ft 10.8 in)
  • (all including gangway portions)
Width2.720 m (8 ft 11.1 in)
Height
  • M vehicles: 3.397 m (11 ft 1.7 in)
  • Others: 3.510 m (11 ft 6.2 in)
Maximum speed125 mph (200 km/h)
Weight
  • DTS vehicles: 35 t (34 LT; 39 ST)
  • TBF vehicles: 33 t (32 LT; 36 ST)
  • M vehicles: 67.5 t (66.4 LT; 74.4 ST)
  • Others: 24 t (24 LT; 26 ST)
Current collection methodPantograph
UIC classification2′(2′)(2′)(2′)(2′)(2′)2′+Bo′Bo′
Bogies
  • M vehicles: BREL BP17
  • At articulations: BREL BT11
  • Others: BREL BT12
Braking system(s)Hydraulic and hydrokinetic[6]
Safety system(s)
Multiple workingWithin class (max. 2 units)
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APT-P Driving Trailer Second (DTS) unit, in revised APT branding, with a black "mask" around the driver's window.
APT-P Non-Driving Motor (NDM) unit, with high-speed pantograph.

References

  1. ↑ Advanced Passenger Train – Prototype. The Crewe Heritage Centre. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  2. ↑ BR, Class 370 Advanced Passenger Train Non-Driving Motor (NDM), 49004, Era 7. Hornby.com. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Marsden 1983, pp. 119–120
  4. ↑ Coxon, Dave. High speed pantograph testing in Scotland in October 1983. Testing Times. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  5. ↑ Boocock & Newman 1976, Table 1.
  6. ↑ British Rail's Advanced Passenger Train – InterCity APT (1979). Derby: Chief Mechanical & Electrical Engineers' Department, British Railways Board. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  7. ↑ Tomorrow's train, today (1980). London: British Railways Board. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  8. ↑ Train smashes speed record (30 July 2003).