{{Short description|1970s prototypical gas turbine train}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox Train | background = | name = British Rail APT-E<br>(Advanced Passenger Train–Experimental) | image = ATP-E_IN_YARD.jpg | imagesize = 300px | caption = APT-E in the RTC sidings between tests in 1972 | interiorimage = | interiorcaption = | service = 1972–1976 | manufacturer = British Rail Research Division | factory = Derby | family = APT | numberbuilt = 1 Trainset | refurbishment = | replaced = | formation = 4 cars | fleetnumbers = PC1-2 (Power Cars)<br>TC1-2 (Trailer Cars) | operator = British Rail | depots = | lines = | yearconstruction = 1970-1972 | yearservice = 1972-1976 | yearscrapped = | numberconstruction = | numberservice = | numberscrapped = | carbody = | carlength = | width = | height = | floorheight = | platformheight = | entrylevelorstep = | art-sections = | maxspeed = {{convert|156|mph|abbr=on}} | weight = | capacity = | acceleration = | deceleration = | traction = | engine = Gas Turbine | transmission = | aux = | poweroutput = | gauge = {{RailGauge|sg|allk=on}} <!-- | gauge = Standard--> | electricsystem = | brakes = Hydrokinetic | safety = }}
[[File:APT, Locomotion Shildon, 28 April 2010.JPG|right|thumb|APT-E at ''Locomotion'', Shildon, County Durham ]] The '''APT-E''', for '''A'''dvanced '''P'''assenger '''T'''rain '''E'''xperimental, was the prototype Advanced Passenger Train tilting train unit. It was powered by gas turbines, the only multiple unit so powered that was used by British Rail. The APT-E consisted of two driving power cars (PC1 and 2) and two trailer cars (TC1 and 2). Each power car was equipped with four Rover-built Leyland 2S/350 gas turbines (and a fifth for auxiliary power supplies), which initially produced 300 hp each but were progressively uprated to 330 hp.<ref name="APT">{{harvnb|Williams|1985|p=480}}</ref> Two GEC 253AY nose suspended traction motors provided the traction on the leading bogies. The vehicles were manufactured from aluminium and were approximately {{convert|70|ft|m|2|abbr=on|adj=mid|long}}, with articulated bogies between them.
The '''APT-E''' made its first run on 25 July 1972 from Derby to Duffield and was immediately 'blacked' by the drivers' union ASLEF, due to concerns that the single driver's seat pre-empted ongoing negotiations about the single-manning of trains.<ref name="aslefblacked">{{cite web | url=http://www.nrm.org.uk/RailwayStories/railwayvoices/dralanwicken.aspx | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091207051337/http://www.nrm.org.uk/RailwayStories/railwayvoices/dralanwicken.aspx | url-status=dead | archive-date=7 December 2009 | title=Railway voices: Interview with Dr Alan Wicken | accessdate=24 February 2011 }}</ref> It was over twelve months before it ran again on the main line in August 1973.
The prototype was eventually tried out on the Great Western Main Line, and achieved a new British railway speed record when on 10 August 1975 it hit {{convert|152.3|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}<ref name = 'BBCcoverarticle'>{{cite web |url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/travel/story/tilting_train/index.shtml |title = To tilt or not to tilt |publisher = BBC News |accessdate = 3 September 2009 |archive-date = 8 February 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070208064717/http://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/travel/story/tilting_train/index.shtml |url-status = dead }}</ref> whilst on test with the Western Region between Swindon and Reading. It was also tested extensively on the Midland Main Line out of London St. Pancras and on the Old Dalby Test Track, where in January 1976 it attained a speed of {{convert|143.6|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}.
The unit was only intended for testing and was never used in ordinary public service, although it did carry office staff and the occasional dignitary on trial runs. When its period of testing was complete, in June 1976, it was sent to the National Railway Museum, York for preservation. It is now based at the NRM's Locomotion museum in Shildon. When further APT Class 370 units were built, they were powered by 25 kV AC electrification.
==Test bed set== The '''APT-POP''' (Power-0-Power) set was a rake of three skeletal unpowered carriages used as a test bed for the suspension, tilting and braking systems used by APT units. The 'Power pumps' were only mock-ups, though similar externally to PC1 and PC2 in the APT-E unit minus cabs, and the whole set had to be hauled by a locomotive. Following the abandonment of the APT project, all three carriages were scrapped in 1985. The set was formed as follows:
*'''Number:''' RDB975634 - RDB975636 - RDB975635 *'''Identity:''' PC3 - Lab 8 - PC4
==See also== *Advanced Passenger Train *British Rail Class 370 *Gas turbine locomotive
== References ==
=== Notes === {{reflist}}
=== Sources === * Potter, Stephen (1987). ''On the Right Lines?: The limits of technological innovation''. London: Frances Pinter (Publishers). {{ISBN|0-86187-580-X}}. * {{cite book |last=Williams |first=Hugh |year=1985 |title=APT: A Promise Unfulfilled |location=London |publisher=Ian Allan Ltd |ISBN=0-7110-1474-4}} * N/A, (1981). ''Advanced Passenger Train: The official illustrated account of British Rail's revolutionary new 155mph train''. Weston-super-Mare: Avon-Anglia Publications & Services. {{ISBN|0-905466-37-3}}. * British Transport Films (1975) ''E for Experimental'' republished 2006 by the British Film Institute on DVD as part of ''British Transport Films Collection (Vol. 3): Running A Railway.''
==External links== * [https://www.apt-e.org/ Pauls Railway Web APT-E] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070829065627/http://www.old-dalby.com/apt-e.htm Testing the APT-E at Old Dalby and on the main line] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100331125750/http://www.locomotion.uk.com/ Locomotion : The National Railway Museum at Shildon - NRM website] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070509153350/http://www.sedgefield.gov.uk/locomotion/ Locomotion : The National Railway Museum at Shildon - Sedgefield Council Website] * [https://www.departmentals.com departmentals.com] (Type APT in the search box) <!-- (if anyone sees an irrelevant link to the preserved carriage database, can you zap it) -->
{{Network Rail Departmental Multiple Unit Classes}} {{High-speed rail experimental}} {{British Rail Locomotives}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:British Rail Apt-E}} Category:Experimental locomotives Category:High-speed trains of the United Kingdom APT-E Category:British Railways gas-turbine locomotives Category:Experimental and prototype high-speed trains Category:British Rail Departmental Units Category:British Rail research and development Category:Gas-turbine multiple units with locomotive-like power cars Category:Abandoned trains of the United Kingdom Category:Train-related introductions in 1972