European Railroad Discussion > Puttin' the Hammer Down

Decided to chance a shot this evening of a northbound loaded timber train that runs from South Wales to a chipboard plant in North Wales once a week. Glad I did as the sun stuck around until just after it had gone past me.

A Colas Rail class 70 with a 3700hp 4-stroke GE Jenbacher engine makes its music in the clear evening air as it takes a sweeping turn towards the west... I love spring evenings.

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Nice ! That is a beautiful going away shot !

perklocal Wrote:
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> Nice ! That is a beautiful going away shot !

Thank you - the track there has a lovely extended s-bend.

Nice fots Chief.

I love GE music. Pity the LD Chargers are on the horizon for Amtrak. GE for me.

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Peak45068 Wrote:
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> Nice fots Chief.
>
> I love GE music. Pity the LD Chargers are on the
> horizon for Amtrak. GE for me.
>

Thanks a lot. That characteristic GE 'thump' sounds great. These UK ones have a higher frequency/faster thump with a kind of traction motor whine over the top... so it almost sounds like a speeded up mix of GE and EMD. You can certainly hear 'em coming! 

When I worked for Freightliner in Knottingley, they were not the most popular locos! They tended to work in and out of (I think) Fiddlers Ferry for a while. The last time I was in the UK, I noticed many of them stored at Midland Road, Leeds.

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Peak45068 Wrote:
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> When I worked for Freightliner in Knottingley,
> they were not the most popular locos! They tended
> to work in and out of (I think) Fiddlers Ferry for
> a while. The last time I was in the UK, I noticed
> many of them stored at Midland Road, Leeds.
>

Yes, they had a dodgy few years initially, not all that unusual with a brand new design I suppose... due mainly to fuel pipes coming loose/breaking and some overheating issues. Those problems were solved with the Colas/2nd batch of locos. Freightliner then had modifications done to match the improvements made with the Colas ones.

They seem to be good performers now, freightliner have the majority of them in action at the moment, on fast intermodals as well as heavy freight like cement and minerals. They've tried them on the very heavy Mendip stone trains and apparently they made light work of the task!

 

So have the UK GE's had the same problem with high pressure fuel leaks that result in engine fires like we've had here in the states?
We call GE's "toasters" for a reason. Of course GE does make small kitchen appliences like toasters and such too.

PHall Wrote:
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> So have the UK GE's had the same problem with high
> pressure fuel leaks that result in engine fires
> like we've had here in the states?
> We call GE's "toasters" for a reason. Of course GE
> does make small kitchen appliences like toasters
> and such too.

Yes, a number were sidelined with fires caused by fuel line failures. The other issue has been the engine, it's a re-purposed gas engine originally designed for stationary use which didn't take too kindly to rattling up and down a railway track. GE had great hopes for them but sales have been poor, just 128 sold in 14 years of which 37 are in the UK, the remainder in Turkey (where they're assembled), Finland and Korea.

I've never been able to understand GE's love affair with trying to run fuel at 4000 psi (275.9 Bar) through stainless steel fuel lines on top of a vibrating diesel engine.
They know they have a problem here but they seem to not take any corrective action to fix the problem.

I could be wrong but did the reputation for GEs seflf-imolating come mainly with the DASH-9/AC4400? I don't seem to see too many GEVOs looking toasted but I may be wrong...

Very nice pictures.

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