Oh yes, they were better from a fun point of view and still are. I help look after the Maybachs on the West Somerset
If you want to see Maybach's in action, just search youtube for D1015! They knock the pants off a Valenta any day ... as did most things Swindon/GW!
But the fact is, the new MTU's are quieter, cleaner, far more powerful, more efficient, far less time between service/failure and generally, well, just more advanced. New materials / technologies I'm afraid ...
The Valenta was a great engine for its time, but I'm afraid compared to the lastest MTU, it fails on all scores and will become a part of our technological past, just as many other prime-movers have in the past. Enjoy while you can, get involved in preserving a couple by all means, but don't resist progress in every day life! See what the MTU's can really do once they get 'em bedded in
30 years ago, I had to accept that my beloved Maybachs were being withdrawn and scrapped. That Maybach music that had provided the backtrack to my childhood as I led in bed each night was being silenced - forever - or so I thought. I still hate Class 50's and other products of EE (English Electric - otherwise known as the Evil Empire). They, and the 125's, were the ultimate killer of the Maybach engined Westerns and Warships, that powered us through the 60's and into a brave new world during the "Summer of Love" back in '68
)
But instead of sitting on my arse and lamenting the loss of my favourite diesels and complaining "Death to progress" - I used the 125's in my every day commute to London, wowed myself with the all-new swishy Star Trek doors, appreciated the shortened journey to work, awed myself at the power of the VP185s and Valentas and then, after a long break, got my spanners out every weekend, put my hand deeply in my wallet and started to help preserving what I loved and what I believed to be "the best". Now I have them back in the form of MTU's and I find you guys knocking them!!! The wheel turns full circle
Just accept, the Maybach and the MTU have always been superior engines to the products of Paxman / Sulzer / Evil Empire / even Crossley / Mirlees!
If you like 'em that much, start making plans to preserve a Valenta powered set, 'coz no one else is going to do it for you. If you can afford to keep the the oil and the coolant in the damned thing, that is!
2p
