JT42CWR/CWRM
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
66055, EWS (now DB Schenker),
photographed in Didcot, UK, on June 25, 2010.
Three more pictures from this location: EWS
66116…
…EWS 66097….
…and 66955 from the Freightliner UK
fleet.
This 77004-5 is operated by Euro Cargo
Rail; photo taken at the Eurotunnel depot, Frethun, France, on
June 23, 2010, by Keith Fender.
Another picture by Keith Fender (many thanks
for both!); 6601, SNCF Fret Benelux, Antwerpen Oost, Belgium, taken on
March 4, 2009.
And, at last, a Polish 66, namely 66009,
photographed near Suwałki on August 14, 2010. Photo by Marek Graff (thanks a
lot!).
66012 from the Freightliner PL fleet,
photographed in Zduńska Wola Karsznice on October 4, 2010.
Another Freightliner PL locomotive: 66005,
photographed in Wasilków near Białystok on July 16, 2011.
66010, Freightliner PL, Zduńska Wola
Karsznice, September 9, 2011.
Two more pictures from this location: 66009,
November 17, 2011…
…and 66001, December 21, 2011 (both from Freightliner
PL). |
Private companies that commenced operation after the liberalization of Polish railway market have tended to rely – as far as heavy line diesel locomotives are concerned – on second-hand M62s and 060DAs (PKP classes ST44 and ST43, respectively). A notable exception is Freightliner PL, the Polish branch of UK-based Freightliner Group Ltd. This company entered the market in 2007 with seven brand-new custom-built type JT42CWRM heavy freighters; however, it was not the first one in Poland to use this type. History of this locomotive goes back to 1998, when EWS (English, Welsh and Scottish Railways – since January 2009 a part of DB Schenker) ordered from General Motors-Electro Motive Division 250 examples of a freight diesel locomotive, developed from earlier class 59, then in service with several British operators. Classed 66 (factory type JT42CWR), this locomotive has found widespread use in UK and orders came also from other private companies, including Freightliner UK. In all, over 450 examples are now in use in the UK. Class 66 proved very successful and was later ordered also by several European railway companies from Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Most of these locomotives are formally owned by various leasing companies, the largest one being Angel Trains. Besides, forty examples were purchased by Egyptian National Railways (Class 2120) for heavy passenger trains. Until now (September 2010), about 580 locomotives of this type have been built – one source gives 579. This number includes later variant JT42CWRM, designed to meet more demanding environmental standards, among them Stage IIIA exhaust emission regulations. There are many sub-versions, depending on individual customers and differing mainly in equipment details, including air-conditioning unit, which is missing in some variants – in fact, British and Norwegian trade unions complained of poor working conditions for the crews and high noise levels in the cab. Roof-mounted air-conditioning unit does not fit British vehicle gauge. Worth mentioning is also Class 66/6 for Freightliner UK with reduced gear ratio and tractive effort increased by about fifteen percent. According to the manufacturer’s statements, a new redesigned version for European continental operators, designated Class 66EU, was expected to appear in 2010; main differences compared to the basic design were higher tractive effort, slightly wider body (conforming with the Continental rather than British vehicle gauge) and dynamic brakes. Locomotives of this type appeared in Poland in early 2007; the first one was briefly used by Koleje Bałtyckie (a subsidiary of Heavy Haul Power International) and the second is probably still in use with this company (both leased). Their main service has been with heavy freight trains between Hamburg and Poznań; none, however, has ever been based in Poland. Freightliner PL commenced operation in Poland with seven brand-new ‘environmentally friendly’ JT42CWRMs, which arrived between August 2007 and March 2008 and were numbered 66001 through 66007. This fleet was later supplemented by four older JT42CWRs from the parent UK company (66008 through 66011), which arrived in Poland between September 2008 and October 2009, and two lower-geared 66601 and 66602, which were impressed into service in January and July 2010, respectively. One more ‘standard’ 66012 followed in October 2010. Further purchases are likely and will probably include a number of ex-EWS (English, Welsh & Scottish Railway) Class 66s, now operated by DB Schenker Rail UK. According to SK, 66220 was tested in Poland in May 2010; in January 2011 a plan was announced to transfer thirteen Class 66s to Poland in 2011 and further twenty-seven in 2012. First four ex-EWS locomotives (66163, 66180, 66237 and 66248) arrived in Poland in March 2011. All locomotives are used in heavy freight traffic. In Poland, they haul the heaviest drafts in Europe (single-heading), up to 4 800 tonnes – coal trains between Upper Silesia and Baltic ports, as well as block trains of dumpcars with aggregates for highway construction. One of their recent assignments is coal transport to the Kozienice power station in eastern Poland. With maximum tractive effort of 41.7 tonnes, these are the most powerful diesel locomotives used by any Polish operator. Main technical data
1) November
2010. 2) 105
km/h for Freightliner 66/6 variant. References
and acknowledgments
-
SK, various issues; -
www.emdiesels.com,
http://freightliner.pl; -
Jacek ‘Jaco’ Chiżyński (private communication); -
Marek Graff and Keith Fender (also private
communication – thanks for the photos). |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
