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Recent DRS new loco tender result for new Class 93 locos

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43096

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What I don’t understand is how can you think manual coupling is better than automatic coupling where mechanical, electrical and pneumatic connections are made automatically and quickly just by pushing one train against another, without requiring any manual and time-consuming intervention before and after the process ?
Time consuming? You have seen how long it takes for sets to couple using auto couplers, haven’t you? I bet the coupling/un-coupling of REPs/TCs/33s they used to do at Bournemouth was far quicker. Likewise, watching two Railjets couple at Wien Hbf earlier this year was an object lesson in how to do it: no fannying around with stop short etc etc, straight on, shunter underneath, screw coupler, air pipes and jumper cables done in two minutes and train ready to go.
 
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ac6000cw

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Likewise, watching two Railjets couple at Wien Hbf earlier this year was an object lesson in how to do it: no fannying around with stop short etc etc, straight on, shunter underneath, screw coupler, air pipes and jumper cables done in two minutes and train ready to go.

My bold - the 'shunter underneath' bit is exactly the reason why auto-couplers were invented more than a century ago - they avoid people having to work in the hazardous, filthy environment between/underneath railway vehicles...(auto-couplers were made mandatory in the USA in 1893 due to the accidents/injuries caused by manually coupling/uncoupling vehicles).

Why on earth we have persisted so long in Europe with archaic side buffers and hook couplings I'll never understand...just shows how backward and conservative railway administrations can be sometimes.
 

krus_aragon

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My bold - the 'shunter underneath' bit is exactly the reason why auto-couplers were invented more than a century ago - they avoid people having to work in the hazardous, filthy environment between/underneath railway vehicles...(auto-couplers were made mandatory in the USA in 1893 due to the accidents/injuries caused by manually coupling/uncoupling vehicles).

Why on earth we have persisted so long in Europe with archaic side buffers and hook couplings I'll never understand...just shows how backward and conservative railway administrations can be sometimes.
In the UK, waggon development stagnated for a long time because of the widespread phenomenom of private goods waggons: The railways didn't own most of the freight waggons they were hauling.
 

ScottDarg

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More info on the Class 93 locos in the latest issue of RAIL which is already available digitally (physical edition on Wednesday 19/12/18). Ian Prosser tweeted an image of the cover on twitter which shows a concept image: https://twitter.com/IanProsser7/status/1073871292808523776
Enjoying my every other early Saturday morning treat with another

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The piece on these is based on an interview with Rail Operations Group's CEO - Karl Watts. First one is expected in August 2020. Initial order of 10 with an option for 10 more.
 
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Photohunter71

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So, a bit of progress, and an option for a further 10! Just a concept design at the moment, I reckon it will look pretty similar to the EuroDual they displayed at Innotrans. Now to find out in March what DRS have planned! I doubt very much this 93 will be seen up here in Edinburgh much, if at all!
 

MikePJ

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Another piece from RAIL here - https://www.railmagazine.com/news/n...s-fuels-its-ambitions-with-tri-mode-class-93s

Chief Executive Officer Karl Watts, in an exclusive interview with RAIL on December 4, said: “We have gone for the Class 93 as it is the Class 68/‘88’ UKLIGHT platform.

“We needed that platform and the approvals that go with it. That is still two years from the order placed to the locomotive entering traffic in revenue-earning service. If we hadn’t got that, it would be four years.”

Watts said he had looked at the EuroDUAL locomotive offered by Stadler, but this did not fit the UK loading gauge. However, the Swiss manufacturer offered a solution involving an updated diesel alternator set plus Lithium Titanate Oxide (LTO).

My guess based on that is that it's effectively an 88 with more power output on diesel. One of the benefits of having a battery pack is that you can deliver a big burst of power to the traction motors when the train starts from a stand, so it ought to deliver much better performance that its engine size might otherwise suggest. Lithium titanate oxide is used in some electric cars, and recharges very quickly compared with some other battery chemistries, so ideal for a hybrid setup where you want to discharge the battery as you start moving and then recharge it once you reach a cruising speed.
 

sprinterguy

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My guess based on that is that it's effectively an 88 with more power output on diesel.
Many thanks for the update. :smile: Not much of a guess, though, when it's specifically stated in the article (Unless more detail's been added in the past couple of minutes?):
It’s an ‘88’ design with the biggest engine we could fit.
It needs a bigger cooling system as a result. The LTO batteries are there to support the alternator set. The hybrid offers 1,800hp usable power compared with the 1,300hp from a ‘37’, so it is roughly comparable to a ‘47’ on diesel.
 

MikePJ

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Many thanks for the update. :smile: Not much of a guess, though, when it's specifically stated in the article (Unless more detail's been added in the past couple of minutes?):
I haven't had my morning coffee yet... so I must have missed that last sentence... oops!
 

themiller

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So, a bit of progress, and an option for a further 10! Just a concept design at the moment, I reckon it will look pretty similar to the EuroDual they displayed at Innotrans. Now to find out in March what DRS have planned! I doubt very much this 93 will be seen up here in Edinburgh much, if at all!
Not only that but they’ve also reserved numbers up to 93050 according to the article (last paragraph)!
 

rebmcr

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Bigger cooling system equates to a longer bodyshell, somehow I think the design may well differ slightly from that of an 88.

Will it be Bo-Bo, or possibly Co-Co to keep the axle weight down? I know Stadler were very insistent that adhesion alone was never a reason to go with Co-Co, but there is a lot more equipment on this one.
 

sprinterguy

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Will it be Bo-Bo, or possibly Co-Co to keep the axle weight down? I know Stadler were very insistent that adhesion alone was never a reason to go with Co-Co, but there is a lot more equipment on this one.
It's clearly shown as a Bo-Bo in the side profile mock-up in the RAIL article linked above.
 

TRAX

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If you look at European locomotives, most are Bo’Bo’, even some of the most powerful ones.
 

43096

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If you look at European locomotives, most are Bo’Bo’, even some of the most powerful ones.
Although the Stadler electro-diesels that they are building (with CAT C175-16 engines, similar to Class 68) are Co-Co.
 

Photohunter71

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Although the Stadler electro-diesels that they are building (with CAT C175-16 engines, similar to Class 68) are Co-Co.

Yes, I was going to mention such things as UK loading gauge etc could determine along with other factors the design of the 93, adding a battery and extra cooling equipment in a uk scale locomotive would require a different bodyshell design in this case. The "Platform concept" on which it is designed from, loans much from the 88, but it won't necessarily look like a 68/88. I would imagine it would look quite similar to the new EuroDual.
 

GrimShady

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Any particular reason why articulated bi mode locos haven't caught on especially in the UK with limited gauges and axle weights?
 

gingertom

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Spec for the 93 has a top speed of 110mph, just wondering if an opportunity has been missed? A 125mph-capable unit could be very handy.....
 

gsnedders

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And especially with the weight of transformers, diesel engine, and batteries would it not run into the same problem as the Class 67s of being uneconomical to run at that speed given axle loadings and resultant track access charges?
 
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