British Rail Class 370

British Rail Class 370
Advanced Passenger Train – Prototype
Class 370 at Carlisle
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)
Diagram
  • DTS vehicles: LE201
  • TS vehicles: LH201
  • TRSB vehicles: LK201
  • TU vehicles: LH401
  • TF vehicles: LH101
  • TBF vehicles: LJ101
  • M vehicles: LC501
Fleet numbers370001–370006[3]
OperatorsBritish Rail InterCity
DepotsShields Road (Glasgow)[4]
Lines 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)
Wheelbase
  • Over DTS/TBF veh. pivot centres:
    14.850 m (48 ft 8.6 in)
  • Over articulated vehicle pivots:
    15.900 m (52 ft 2.0 in)
  • Over M vehicle pivot centres:
    13.000 m (42 ft 7.8 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)
Traction motors4 × ASEA LJMA 410 F
Power output3,000 kW (4,000 hp) continuous
Electric system(s)25 kV 50 Hz AC overhead
Current collector(s)Pantograph
UIC classification2′(2′)(2′)(2′)(2′)(2′)2′+Bo′Bo′
Bogies
  • M vehicles: BREL BP17
  • At articulations: BREL BT11
  • Others: BREL BT12
Minimum turning radius91 m (300 ft)
Braking system(s)Hydraulic and hydrokinetic[6]
Safety system(s)
Multiple workingWithin class (max. 2 units)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Notes/references
Specifications given for seven-car units as at August 1981,[8] except where otherwise noted. A full set train would be formed of two units coupled back-to-back.

British Rail's Class 370 tilting trains, also referred to as 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 25 kV 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 (6,000 kW). This enabled the train to set the UK rail speed record of 162.2 mph (261.0 km/h) in December 1979, a record that stood for 23 years until broken by a Eurostar Class 373 on the newly completed High Speed 1 line.[9]

  1. ^ "Advanced Passenger Train – Prototype". The Crewe Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 24 June 2015. 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. ^ a b c 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, p. 660, Table 1.
  6. ^ British Rail's Advanced Passenger Train – InterCity APT (PDF). Derby: Chief Mechanical & Electrical Engineers' Department, British Railways Board. 1979. GM869/A10/1279. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  7. ^ Tomorrow's train, today (PDF). London: British Railways Board. 1980. GM1000/A7/980. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  8. ^ Vehicle Diagram Book No. 210 for Electric Multiple Units (including A.P.T.) (PDF). Derby: Mechanical & Electrical Engineering Department, British Railways Board. LC501, LE201, LH101, LH201, LH401, LJ101, LK201 (in work pp. 428–441). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2023 – via Barrowmore MRG.
  9. ^ "Train smashes speed record". BBC News. 30 July 2003. Archived from the original on 27 April 2009. Retrieved 2 June 2010.