Train of the Week

After all the talk about locomotives built in Spain, maybe it’s time to talk about some domestic Spanish rolling stock products at this time. As we know, Spain has one of the largest high-speed rail networks in the world. Spain is also one of the few countries capable of manufacturing high-speed rolling stocks, however, they are not as vastly known in the world market as some of the bigger name brands. So if you haven’t heard of this train yet, I introduce you the AVE (Alta Velocidad Española or Spanish High Speed) Class 102 or S-102, nicknamed "Pato", or "Duck" in English (as you will see from the pictures), also known as the Talgo 350 outside of Spain. The S-102 is a push-pull trainset, consisted of two power cars and intermediate passenger coaches. The power cars of the S-102 were a joint product designed between Spanish manufacturer Talgo (we may have heard of this one, they make the Cascade trainsets used in Washington and Oregon) and German Adtranz (...

It seems appropriate that I write about the British Rail Class 67 locomotive this week after all the Vossloh talk. The Class 67’s official model is JT42HW-HS. Sounds familiar? Yes, she’s an EMD. Well, sort of. Thirty copies of the Class 67 was built at the Alstom plant in Valencia, Spain for the English, Welsh, and Scottish Railway (EWS, now under DB Schenker) in 1999 and 2000 (yes, the plant later taken over by Vossloh). At her heart, a 12 cylinder 710 engine provides power. Unlike the Class 66 though, the Class 67 was meant to be a 125 mph passenger locomotive. Therefore, fabricated 2 axle high-speed trucks with frame mounted traction motors were equipped on this locomotive rather than a version of the HTC truck. Very nice looking locomotive IMO Weight (although the unit is not even 100 short tons) and clearance problems plagued the initial acceptance process on the Network Rail. By 2003, the problems were eventually resolved and all 30 Class 67s were approved for 125 mph s...

So, the look at the brochure of the F125 last week, what is to become the next North American passenger locomotive, I've had the suspecion that it is going to be somewhat similar to an existing European locomotive (as the recent trend of North American passenger equipment goes). A locomotive plant in Valencia, Spain, formerly owned by Alstom, had been producing EMD powered diesel-electric locomotives for the European market (British Rail Class 67 would be one of them). This plant was purchased by Vossloh from Alstom in 2004 and Vossloh had kept producing EMD powered locomotives ever since. These locomotives are called the Euro series . There are the 4-axle Euro 3000s, and 6-axle Euro 4000s. For this post, the numbers quoted are those of the Euro 3000, although the Euro 4000 isn't really much different from the 3000s at all. The Renfe Class 334 is of the Euro 3000 family The Euro 3000 come in either DC or AC with a 3,300 hp 12-cylinder 710 engine at heart. Fabricated h...

All right... again, sorry for dropping the ball so frequently lately. Anyway, let's get talking about some trains again. Remember that a while ago, EMD announced a new diesel-electric high-speed locomotive for the North American passenger rail market that would be Tier 4 compliant? More information has surface over time and I guess now we have somewhat enough information to give this new comer some mention. So this new locomotive is called the F125, a model number that's somewhat of a departure from the traditional scheme. Here the number 125 indicates the top speed of the locomotive, 125 mph. She will be a 4-axle locomotive, with a streamlined fill width monocoque car body designed by Vossloh (the brochure also says fabricated trucks, and given Vossloh's recent venture with diesel-electrics powered by 710s, my guess is the truck is probably also from Vossloh or some other German company). To ensure the locomotive is lightweight, she will not be powered by our favorite 2-...

Okay, by now I think some may start to wonder if I've abandoned the blog or what have I. “No” is the answer. I do feel bad about slacking off again. Maybe this time I will make this blog a little personal and shoot the s**t for a little. Right now I'm sitting on board a domestic flight returning from my first round of On Job Training as a freight conductor. The training is for work, however it is not my regular job. In fact I seldom ever deal with any running trade personnel. It was very interesting and eye opening for sure. There was lots to learn. Physical work aside, there are many rules to become familiar with, most of which address how to railroad safely. There are quite many rules involved just to obtain authorization to occupy sections of tracks (which there should be, one would assume I suppose). It has been quite an experience learning about the bread and butter of railroading, and what front line crew deals with every day to deliver freight. There is still another...