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| Case
Study - Corus 'Trojan' Industrial Locomotive, 8 May 2006 |
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Whilst project work, product development and vehicle systems design
are all good fee-earners they’re nowhere near as satisfying
as the design of a complete vehicle, so when in the Spring of 2005,
Corus the Anglo-Dutch steelmaking group issued a tender for new
locomotives we were keen to be involved. We have a 35 year association
with Corus and in particular with their engineering support business
Corus Northern Engineering Services (CNES) who operate the excellent
railway workshops at the Corus Scunthorpe steelworks not far from
us in North East England. With a workshop area of 10,000 sq. m,
six through-tracks all with inspection pits, 150 tonnes lifting
capacity and a large skilled workforce it was only a small step
for CNES to move from locomotive repairing and re-engineering, to
new build. We agreed to support them in an internal bid for the
work, with CNES as locomotive manufacturer and Railcraft their design
office. |
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| CNES
Railway Workshops at Scunthorpe |
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Performance
calculations showed that a 100 tonne 4-axle locomotive of about
750 kW (1000 hp) was needed so specifications were written, major
components selected and drawings for diesel-electric and diesel-hydraulic
variants were prepared. |
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New
Locomotive Concept |
Diesel
- Electric Bogie |
Diesel
- Hydraulic Bogie |
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To
cut a long story short, we won the order against well-established
international competition and began the design work in late 2005. |
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The
locomotive is a heavy-duty model, tough enough to survive an industrial
railway environment, but to a modular design that can be reconfigured
as a medium speed trip locomotive with a 1500 kW (2000 hp) powertrain,
single or twin cabs, to a range of loading gauges and to track gauges
from 1000 to 1676 mm. |
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UK
Gauge Single Cab Variant |
Twin
Cab Variant |
UK
Gauge (left) vs UIC Gauge (right) |
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UK
Gauge Single Cab rear view |
Commonwealth
Bogie (left) vs Radial Arm Bogie (right), both Diesel Hydraulic |
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There
is a choice of excellent modern diesel engines, all quiet, fuel-efficient
and compliant with the latest exhaust emission regulations. There
is also a choice of electric traction equipment, though for the
diesel-hydraulic there is really only one transmission that meets
our quality, efficiency and performance requirements. |
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Single
Cab Variant showing internal detail |
Detail
view of UK Locomotive Drivetrain
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Locomotive
control can be as simple or as sophisticated as the application
requires, for example the Corus model is built for single-man
operation with radio remote control and a full authority
central computer managing the engine, transmission and
brakes to provide optimal driveability with automatic
wheel-slip and wheel-slide control, constant low-speed
running e.g. for weighbridge use, data logging and remote
diagnostics.
Having established
themselves as a locomotive manufacturer CNES are actively
marketing the new range through Corus Rail’s international
network and I’m pleased to say that they already
have overseas enquiries at an advanced level. Exciting
times indeed!!
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