British Rail Class 67 (EMD JT42HW-HS)

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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 service in Britain.

A French locomotive built in Spain with American core components operated by the German State Railways in Great Britain with a Maple Leaf livery in honor of former Canadian-born EWS/DBS UK chairman, can this get any more international?

It is interesting to note that the Class 67 is the locomotive of choice for Her Majesty’s Royal Train. One unit, 67026, was renamed Diamond Jubilee, for use during Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

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