Quite a sight! 87 002 made it to Paddington on a railtour some years ago, and twenty years previous a 90 doing in the area doing tests on then-new HEx electrification. Not sure if there's been a lot of other AC locos on that stretch though, I'd hazard a guess that it's a very rare thing indeed. I hope the 93s are a common sight there from now on.
Class 87 railtour was now 7 years ago (!) https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/class-87-on-the-gwml.170024/. Presumably the lack of a wired connection to any other line has been the reason AC traction has been vanishingly rare. Acton bank wiring could have some interesting side-effects
Yes, but the 93 has over 4,000kW on electric, compared to 1,850kW for a 66. If it hadn't slipped, then with that power available it would have got to the top in around 12 minutes. So it did lose time - around 6 minutes. That seems to me to be enough to come to a halt and bring the second loco into use.
They aren't going to shut Hormuz (not that they can anyway, it's not all theirs). Their shouting about it is just noise for domestic consumption, to show the population that they're doing something about it, just as was attacking a US airbase in Qatar many hours after telling the US that they were going to do so, meaning that there were no planes or people there, thus avoiding the chances of a meaningful US retaliation.
It was damp last night on Shap - https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/observations/gcwn4cte6 - so I suspect it was just struggling with adhesion (damp rails are worse than fully wet rails for friction - see https://www.water-trak.com/blog/water-the-most-overlooked-component-of-low-adhesion ). It still managed about 18mph average from a standing start at Tebay to Shap Summit - 5.5 miles in 18.25 minutes.
Agreed, and that’s before considering aerodynamic and rolling resistance which will be substantial. The timings looked fairly good to me from a standing start on a heavy load on damp rails.
Circa 2000t should be a sensible limit in good conditions albeit with very slow timings. The issue as the DRS 88 have frequently shown is that conditions especially on damp Autumn nights frequently aren't good.
Which shouldn't be too much of an issue when most of the trunk container freight is 1200-1600 tonnes max...
DRS have found 1400t max with container wagons (with more resistance) on a 88 (unless it is slimy in autumn in which case it is fewer wagons or a second 88).
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Thanks.
Someone at ROG has the PR hyperbole generator well turned up - it's just performing how a customer (and I assume the engineers at Stadler and ABB) might reasonably expect a modern multi-million pound loco to do. Computer-controlled traction control has been around since the 1980s on DC-drive locos and early 1990s on AC-drive locos (at least). But then the rest of ROGs loco fleet dates from the 1960s...
Off-topic, but a low speed heavy-haul, real-world performance comparison between the 99, a 70 and a 60 might be quite interesting (as that covers modern AC, older AC and Sepex DC traction drives).
It sounds to me that ROG might be having difficulty persuading potential customers for the 93 that a four-axle locomotive will have the necessary performance.
The real problem is likely to be 'the hire/lease cost of this loco versus the price I can charge for the haulage it can provide' - if it's cheap enough to hire/lease then it might find a customer. Basic freight transport economics really.
Not sure about an AC-only version of a 99, but an AC + battery version might be more useful - based on the weight Cummins quotes for their 'QSK50 Power Module for Rail' (which includes the engine, alternator, cooling and exhaust treatment, but not fuel tank) of about 18 tonnes + fuel weight, swapping that weight for LTO batteries (plus cooling) might make a handy loco without any 'oily bits' to maintain and fuel. It wouldn't have the off-wire range of the 99, but with more electrification shortening the gaps....
Unless there is some kind of AC + 3rd rail version (or some kind of development in batteries) it looks a bit like freight is destined to be diesel only in 3rd rail land for a long time yet.
I suppose if you were going to create a freight loco for the 3rd rail territory then the 93 would be an ideal base as it has a battery to cover the numerous gaps longer than the length of a locomotive.
I think GB may end up encountering a similar issue with the Class 99. They also have to pay for the leasing costs of brand new locos and that will be passed onto the customer in one form or another. And then the customer may also say ‘no thanks we will stick with our current contract’ even with the ‘green’ credentials.
Stadler would no doubt consider such a project if there was a want for it.
It's not as easy as it looks; most traction drives work on 1800Vdc. Old UK stock stuck with 900V because of our DC network...
There is a big difference between GBRf and ROG. GBRf already have a lot of freight work and ROG have none. The 60’s aren’t particularly reliable and are also probably expensive to maintain so the 99's could well be cheaper.
Still work ferrying units for repairs across the country.
I can see Freightliner for services to London Gateway where class 90s are not suitable. Thinking Lawley Street, Wentloog, Ditton, Trafford Park, Garston, Doncaster, Leeds etc.
... at linespeed with no converter vehicles, brake van or freight wagons at each end to provide a "fitted head." Should be far cheaper in terms of [avoiding high] charges for a slow path and shorter duration train crew costs.
There is no way the margins on that sort of work would pay the leasing costs. The work is sporadic and only requires 2 or 3 loco's actively trundling around at any one time.
Are the 93s owned or leased? I thought they were owned outright (so no leasing costs, and if they have already bought them too late to get a refund).
Is that on a public forum? Can you post a link?
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I doubt the management of ROG will have committed to the level of investment without some plan for how to recoup it. An 88's diesel is very much a last-mile capability not a proper haulage Bi-mode, and as mentioned freightliner have plenty of services a 90 can't run.