Innovations In Diesel Locomotives
All across Europe there is a shortage of locomotives to pull both freight and passenger trains. In some ways this may well be good news, as it could be said that the economies of some countries are at last picking up.
In the UK, there have been orders for the new Class 68 to pull both freight and passenger trains and for some more of the ubiquitous Class 66. As the latter class doesn’t meet the current emission standards, the order for the Class 66 will probably be the last for the type. In my view that is a good thing, as I’ve talked to drivers and although the engines are reliable, the working environment could be better. They also aren’t popular with some residents, who live near busy freight routes, as they aren’t the quietest.
So in the UK, we’ve seen a scraping around for motive power, and this partly explains, why some elderly engines, like the Class 20, I saw a couple of days ago, are still working.
But we have also ordered some new Class 88, which are an electric engine, with an on-board diesel engine, so are capable of going all over the network. So for say Felixstowe to Manchester via the routes through London, could be done without changing the engine en route.
I also found another interesting idea on the web yesterday. This article in Global Rail News describes the delivery of a new TRAXX locomotive in Germany. What is unique about the TRAXX P160 DE is that instead of one large diesel engine, it has four smaller ones. So the power can be adjusted to the load, therefore using less fuel and creating much less noise.
This technique has been used on some diesel multiple units like the Class 185 used by Trans Pennine. On their hilly routes, some parts need more power than others, so these trains have an eco-mode.
Over the next few years, we will see a lot more serious developments with respect to more power, better fuel economy and less noise.
No comments yet.
The Anonymous Widower 
Leave a comment