News Archive

We would like to take this opportunity and wish you all the best for the coming year. We hope 2015 will be a wonderful year for all of you and that it will be full of diesel power!

2015 will not only be a special year for us because MainlineDiesels.net will celebrate its second anniversary, but also for the locomotive industry because of new emission regulations coming into force on January 1. As of that date, all newly ordered diesel locomotives must be fitted with Stage IIIb compliant engines. However, this does not mean that no Stage IIIa compliant locomotives will enter service in 2015. If the engines have been built and registrated in the EU before 2015, they can be fitted into the locomotives on a later date. This allows, for example, Vossloh to deliver 10 additional Class 68s to Beacon Rail/DRS.

So, what more can we expect for 2015? Some important events:

Bombardier
Bombardier will outshop 15 Traxx DE Multi-Engine locomotives for the Nahverkehrsgesellschaft Schleswig-Holstein GmbH (see the artist's impression below) and also the first 2 of 7 Multi-Engine locomotives for DB's Sylt Shuttle. The Traxx DE ME is Stage IIIb compliant.

CZ Loko
A fifth 753.6 locomotive (753 605-5) will enter service for a still undisclosed customer. It is already under construction and Stage IIIa compliant.

EMD/Progress Rail
EMD/Progress Rail will not offer their famous 710 series engine (and thus the Class 66) for sale anymore in Europe, because it will not be updated to comply with Stage IIIb demands. But, in cooperation with GB Railfreight, it has been attempted to get five additional IIIa compliant engines into Europe before the end of 2014. Together with two engines salvaged from written off Class 66s (GBRf 66734 and ERS Railways 6616), a total of 7 additional Class 66 locomotives could still be built if this attempt proves successful.

GE Transportation
GE will continue the delivery of PowerHaul locomotives to TCDD from Turkey. In Europe, we will see a number of locomotives entering service for (a) still undisclosed customer(s) after homologation is acquired. All these locomotives are Stage IIIa compliant.

PESA
The Polish manufacturer will deliver ten Gama diesel locomotives to PKP InterCity, all of which are Stage IIIb compliant.

Vossloh Rail Vehicles
The next 10 Class 68 locomotives for Beacon Rail/DRS (68016-025) will be delivered by the Spanish manufacturer. Also, Europorte France still has 4 EURO 4000 locomotives on firm order for 2015 and the delivery of 20 EURO 4000 locomotives to PRASA from South Africa will continue. Last but not least, the former Marathon test locomotives E4027 and E4028 will return to France, more news soon!

This year, we introduced the "Analysis" to our website, giving insight in developments in the market for modern mainline diesel locomotives. With the end of 2014 in sight, we figured it was time for some statistics again. This time, we take a closer, but less serious, look at the locomotives on MLD.

Did you know we have more than 2,200 diesel locomotives in our database? Together, these locomotives produce over 5 GW of power! The smallest locomotive on our website, the SBB Am 841, produces a mere 920 kW, whilst the Voith Maxima 40 CC has the highest power rating with 3,600 kW.

Of course, all that power has to come from somewhere. To be precise, this comes from 2362 diesel engines, ranging from 6- to 16-cylinder versions and having over 30,000 cylinders in total. The graph above shows the 6 manufacturers that supplied the engines and the number of engines they supplied each. EMD leads the way with more than 1,100 engines, most of which are of the 710 series which are used in EMD's Class 66 and Vossloh's EURO 4000 for example. MTU that builds on its succesful 4000 series engines takes second place. The last place is for ABC, due to the small number of Maxima locomotives that have been built.

It will be interesting to see how these numbers will change over the next couple of years. Especially, now EMD has no Stage IIIb compliant engine types available, but Caterpillar and MTU have. Therefore, we expect the latter two to gain market share. Furthermore, GE Transportation claims it can achieve Stage IIIb compliance with its PowerHaul P616 engine in the future, which is mostly beneficial for the continuation of its PowerHaul locomotive platform within Europe.

Last year, we regularly received questions why the Voith-built Maxima diesels were not on MainlineDiesels.net. We agree, even though not much locomotives were built by Voith (6x 30 CC and 13x 40 CC), as modern diesel locomotives they should not be missing on this website. So from now on, you can not only find them at our friends of Loks-aus-Kiel.de, but also here.

Footage of the diesel Gama prototype locomotive testing with passenger trains. PKP IC has ten such machines on order from Pesa.

Meanwhile, the Gama demonstrator loco is reportedly pulling freight trains too. But PKP Cargo strongly denies any interested in acquiring the Gama.

(GK)

Yesterday (December 15), DRS 68012 pulled its first trains in revenue service for Chiltern Railways. In the morning it ran from Banbury to London Marylebone, in the evening it performed the return run back to Banbury.

(JM)

Two PH37ACai (version for European mainland) PowerHaul locomotives have been residing at GE's locomotive works in Erie, Pennsylvania for tests. They were first two locomotives of their type that were assembled by Tulomsas:

TLMGE 001 - 29008 (I)
TLMGE 002 - ?

The first locomotive (TLMGE 001) we know from InnoTrans 2012, where it was presented as HHPI 29008. Shortly after the fair it was shipped to the United States. The fourth built locomotive (TLMGE 004) was then delivered to HHPI as the real 29008.

The second locomotive (TLMGE 002) appears to have been shipped directly from Turkey to the USA upon completion.

It appears that one of the two locomotives is now making its way to Europe. Ro-Ro/Containership Atlantic Compass is on its way to Antwerp with a PowerHaul locomotive on board.

Update (x3): After calling at Antwerp, the Atlantic Compass headed for Göteborg, Sweden. Now the ship seems to be on its way to Hamburg again, where it is expected to leave again tomorrow night. So let's see where the locomotive will turn up.

(IF/GM)

A batch of five new PowerHaul locomotives could be seen passing through Hungary on Friday and Germany yesterday. They carried the numbers EURO 06 / 29012 - EURO 10 / 29016 on papers up front:

29012
29013
29014
29015
29016

RailAdventure, that was responsible for transporting the locomotives through Germany, took the locomotives to Cottbus. It has been indicated that a number of final preparations to the locomotives will be made in Germany before they will be delivered to a still undisclosed customer.

(NT)

Yesterday a new PowerHaul locomotive in yellow undercoat could be seen in Hungary. We are still looking for more information on this locomotive's ID and why it was there. If you know more: mainlinediesels@gmail.com.

Update: A batch of five new locomotives has been spotted in Gyor. Apparently, they are on their way to Norway. Images here: link.

In the morning of 9 December, two EURO 4000 locomotives for PRASA (AFRO4004 and AFRO4005) left the Vossloh works on low loaders and headed for the port of Porto. There, they will be loaded onto a ship for further transport to South Africa. On December 8, AFRO4005 was still waiting on its low loader at the Vossloh works in Albuixech.

(DSV)

hvle TRAXX DE 246 010-3, which helped out at Metronom between early January and early November of this year, is back on hire to Metronom as of December 8.

(HI/KAR)

Today, GBRf's brand new 66766-66772 were transported by GBRf 66706 from Newport Docks to the EMD facility at Doncaster Roberts Road. Here they will be prepared for their entry into service.

(DP)

On December 2, the brand new DB Regio 245 019 could be seen outside the Bombardier works in Kassel.

(CK)

Today, on December 9, the first freight train between Yiwu in China and Madrid in Spain arrived at the Madrid Abronigal container terminal. In 21 days, the train covered a distance of 13,000km. The train service, which will operate twice per month in 2015, is provided by IRS InterRail Services and DB Schenker. The latter provided traction in Poland (DB Schenker Rail Polska), Germany (DB Schenker Rail Deutschland) and France (Euro Cargo Rail).

DB Schenker subsidiary Transfesa provided traction for the last part of the journey in Spain with locomotive Vossloh 2228 - Transfesa 335 010-5. It received special "First Yiwu-Madrid Train" markings for the occasion.

According to a tweet by Railways Illustrated, GBRf 66753 was named at Doncaster today. Its name "EMD Roberts Road" is a reference to EMD's Doncaster Roberts Road locomotive servicing facility, where various Class 66 locomotives are maintained.

(Railways Illustrated)

CZ LOKO demonstrator locomotive 753 604-8 has arrived in Hungary. It has been indicated that Slovakian operator PSŽ (Prvá Slovenská železničná a.s. from Bratislava) will be testing the locomotive here.

(FN)

Today (December 7), the unloading of new GBRf Class 66 locomotives 66766-66772 from general cargo ship Happy Rover started at Newport Docks. With their arrival in Newport, all 21 new Class 66s for GB Railfreight are now in the UK. Further transport to Doncaster Roberts Road is planned for December 9 behind GBRf 66706.

Some first images can be found here and here.

Update: the transfer is now scheduled for its original date, December 9, again instead of December 8.

(GB Railfreight/DM)

One type of driving van trailer (DBpbzfa 766) has been given a preliminary approval for push-pull operations with the new multi engine Traxx locomotives, valid until 26 February 2015. The Sudostbayernbahn has three such driving vans in its fleet. Another three are of slightly older type DBpbzfa 765.5 and need various modifications before they are cleared to operate with 245 series locomotives. DB Regio 245 012 (allocated in Mühldorf) was seen today pushing its train (RB 27040) from Mühldorf to Munich.

DB has performed a one-time only test with a 245 series locomotives in freight services. Interesting images can be found here of DB Regio 245 014 with a tank car train (and a spare locomotive in the back).

Newbie 245 015 arrived at Mühldorf on 25 November.

Last weekend, DB Regio 245 010 was photographed in Landshut with a special train (DPE 5199). Behind the red machine was Lokomotion 185 663.

(KAR/GR)

According to a press statement issued by the Vossloh Group, the transportation division is no longer seen as part of its core business. The company states that its goal is to sell the transportation division in whole or in parts by 2017 at the latest. Turning the transportation division into a partnership in which Vossloh will have a minority stake is also a possibility. This, however, depends on the progress of Vossloh Group’s restructuring and repositioning measures that are currently being carried out.

Vossloh's transportation division is responsible for the construction of (electro-)diesel locomotives and light rail vehicles (LRVs).

On December 1, South African passenger operator PRASA presented the first of twenty EURO 4000 locomotives to the public. The locomotives are earmarked as the AFRO 4000 series and are adapted to specific South African conditions. The most obvious modifications are the 1067mm gauge bogies and the automatic couplers.

Locomotive AFRO4001 will be subject to a three-month period of tests before entering service in March. A next batch of locomotives will make its debut on South African soil in January 2015. By March, fifteen EURO 4000 locomotives are to be delivered, with the remaining five to be delivered later in 2015.

Next to twenty EURO 4000 locomotives, Vossloh will also build fifty EURO DUAL locomotives for South Africa. In fact, Vossloh has recently started the construction of these electro-diesels. In 2016, delivery of all DUAL locomotives should be completed.

GB Railfreight has indicated that the final batch of new Class 66s is on its way. The locomotives have left the factory and are currently on a ship heading for the UK. Arrival is expected for 5-6 December.

These seven locomotives (66766-66772) are most likely the last Class 66s ever built. In total, 676 units of the type have been produced. With Stage IIIb emission regulations coming into force from 1 January 2015, the current Stage IIIa compliant design may no longer be supplied to European countries. EMD/Progress Rail have mentioned that a Stage IIIb compliant version will not be developed and - even though the IIIa version could be supplied to non-EU countries - the production line will be discontinued.

For a complete overview of all owners of Class 66 locomotives (and all 676 locos!), check out our section about them: link.

(GB Railfreight/DP)

New Spanish freight operator Transitia Rail now hires EURO 4000 335 014-7 from leasing company Alpha Trains. The loco is easily recognizable thanks to the company's colourful logo. An image can be found here: link.

Next year, new Finnish freight operator Fennia Rail will commence operations. In the autumn of 2015, the company will receive three 774.7F locomotives ordered from Czech manufacturer CZ LOKO. The six-axle 774.7F has a maximum speed of 90km/h and a power rating of 1550kW. Weighing 120 tonnes, it has an axle load of 20 tonnes per axle. The engines for the locomotives will be supplied by Caterpillar.

The full press statement by Fennia Rail:

Fennia Rail Oy has made a supply agreement for three diesel locomotives with the Czech CZ Loko a.s. Locomotives will be delivered to Fennia Rail in the fall of next year, and the company will then start freight transport on the Finnish rail network.

“Our operations are based on environmental friendliness, safety and economic efficiency, with which we offer a competitive mode of transport for Finnish industries – straight connections to ports, for example”, says Petri Lempiäinen, Fennia Rail’s chairman of the board.

(Fennia Rail/RB)

In the evening of November 21, 247 901 could be seen passing trough Bielefeld with a 2,601t freight train. It has been indicated that the locomotive will be used by Transpetrol the next couple of weeks to perform measuring runs.

(DSO/CA)

Today we opened the Am 841 section on our site. This is our first content page available in both English and German (except for news items)!

The English version: link.
And the German one: link.

In the future, we plan to further improve the German functionality of our website.

A fifth 753.6 diesel locomotive is currently being built by CZ LOKO. On October 20, 753 605-5 still looked like this: link & link.

(K-Report)

Yesterday, on November 13, DB Regio 245 017 left the Bombardier works in Kassel to make its maiden run.

(CK)

CZ LOKO will be modernizing 14 type 2M62U diesel locomotives for the Latvian State Railways. It has rewarded Rolls-Royce the order to supply the 28 new engines needed for this process. Note that impression supplied by CZ LOKO/Rolls-Royce shows a design which resembles a single-cab 753.6. The complete press statement by Rolls-Royce:

Rolls-Royce has won an order to supply 28 MTU engines to Latvian State Railways. Twin 16V Series 4000 R43 units, each with a power output of 2,200 kW, are to power 14 type 2M62U freight locomotives that are being upgraded by the CZ LOKO Company in the Czech Republic. The locomotives are to go into service for Latvian State Railways in national freight transport. The MTU brand is part of Rolls-Royce Power Systems within the Land & Sea division of Rolls-Royce.

The first two MTU engines are to be shipped from Friedrichshafen to the Czech Republic in 2014, where they will be tested in a prototype by CZ LOKO Company and then commissioned. All other units will be shipped, together with other major components, between 2015 and 2016, integrated into the locomotives on a modular basis and then forwarded to Latvia for commissioning on location by Latvian State Railways. Order processing and commissioning will take place through Baltic Marine, the Estonian MTU distributor.

(Rolls-Royce)

GBRf 66703 has been repainted into the latest GB Railfreight livery at Eastleigh. An image can be found here: link.

According to a post on this forum (link), first scheduled services have started with DB Regio 245s from Mühldorf. For now, deployment is limited to Monday until Friday. The 245s will also remain to be used on other trains for driver training purposes.

(KAR/GR)

Former MRCE and now METRANS ER 20-002 has received METRANS logos on its front ends and sides.

(MG/LG)

We have been experiencing some persistent DNS problems with our site Railcolor.net. Unfortunately, this also influences some parts of MainlineDiesels.net. We are working hard to fix the problems. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Update 2014-11-13: All problems have been solved and everything seems to be working fine again.

(CK)

31.10.2014: The first complete Desiro ML (CityJet) for the Austrian railways (ÖBB) is ready. This day it was taken from Siemens' factory in Krefeld-Uerdingen to the testcenter in Wegberg-Wildenrath by 247 901.

(AS/WS)

An impression of 4034, the latest addition to Europorte's fleet of EURO 4000s, in service.

(TL)

Since the introduction of the first EURO 3000 and EURO 4000 locomotives in 2006, the Vossloh EURO family has grown considerably. We have taken a dive into our database and made an overview of how many locomotives have been built until now and who owns them. For completeness, we also took the hybrid DUAL locomotives into account.

Locomotive types
That Vossloh’s EURO family is successful is not only illustrated by the number of locomotives built by the Albuixech-based manufacturer (164), but also by the number of locomotives still on order (94).

EURO 3000
The EURO 3000 in its original form was only delivered to Renfe as the 334 series. Of the 28 locomotives delivered to Renfe, one locomotive (334.001) is currently in use by Vossloh as a test bed for DUAL locomotives.

EURO 3200 (3000AC)
The EURO 3200 (also 3000AC), can be seen as the successor of the original EURO 3000. It incorporates experiences with the EURO 3000 and innovations of the EUROLIGHT. Israel Railways is the sole customer of this member of the EURO family with 24 locomotives in operation.

EURO 4000
With 95 locomotives built and firm orders for the delivery of 24 more, the Co-Co EURO 4000 is by far the most successful member of Vossloh’s EURO family. It has been delivered in both standard (1435mm) and Iberian gauge (1668 mm). With the imminent delivery of the 20 locomotives for Swifambo Rail Leasing/Prasa from South Africa, there will also be a Cape gauge (1067mm) version in operation.

The EURO 4000 been sold to eleven different companies. Two locomotives have been used by Vossloh for trials with 1,500m freight trains in the light of the Marathon Project. It is expected that these two locomotives will be sold to interested customers in the near future.

So what about leasing? At the moment, there are three leasing companies that (soon) have the EURO 4000 in their portfolio, all active in different markets: Alpha Trains (1668mm Iberian gauge), Beacon Rail Leasing (1435mm standard gauge) and Swifambo Rail Leasing (1067mm Cape gauge).

EUROLIGHT
Of the EUROLIGHT, 2 prototype locomotives have been built. These locomotives are used for homologation (Germany and Italy) and demonstration purposes.

EURO DUAL
Because it is a relatively new member of the EURO family, no hybrid EURO DUAL locomotives are in service yet. However, launching customer of the type, Swifambo Rail Leasing from South Africa, has ordered 50 such units which will be leased to passenger operator PRASA. The first units are expected to be delivered in 2015.

UKLIGHT
Of the UKLIGHT, the version of the EUROLIGHT for the United Kingdom, 15 units have been delivered to Beacon Rail Leasing for lease to British operator Direct Rail Services (DRS). An additional 10 units are still on order.

UK DUAL
Similar to the EURO DUAL, no UK DUAL locomotives are in service yet. Of this new, hybrid version of the UKLIGHT, 10 units were ordered by Beacon Rail Leasing for lease to Direct Rail Services.

After trials in Belgium with a 3000t coal train in the weekend of 18 & 19 October, HHPI 29008 has returned to Germany. An extensive report of the trials was made by Wallorail.be: link.

(RK/LJ/Wallorail.be)

Freight services have now resumed between Calais and Dunkirk, following the re-building and electrification of the line. Passenger services will be re-introduced on 14 December. Photo below of 66045 on 61330 10:50 Caffiers - Dunkerque Grande Synthe crossing the lifting bridge at Gravelines on Wednesday 15 October. The re-building has included re-instating double track over the bridge. The locomotive is crossing the lifting section where the overhead wires have been replaced by a solid conductor rail.

(PL)

GBRf reports that their next batch of seven new Class 66 locomotives is expected to leave the works in Muncie between November 15 and 25. Arrival in the UK is expected within the two following weeks.

(GB Railfreight)

On October 20, ÖBB 2016 097 derailed at Mureck. An image report can be found here: link.

(HZ)

Today we received this nice image of TCCD PowerHaul locomotive DE 36008 being tested while heading a train of tank cars through Ankara. It also shows that the delivery of PowerHaul locomotives is well on its way.

(AG/NF)

It has been indicated that tonight (October 16) a PowerHaul locomotive will be brought into Belgium behind a Class 66 locomotive. The PowerHaul locomotive will perform tests tomorrow night with a 3200 ton coal train on the Liège-Gouvy line.

Update: The locomotive involved in the trials is HHPI 29008. Images of the transport can be found here: link.

(LJ)

Did you see this colorful dress during Innotrans 2014? The Railcolorful Dress sure turned some heads! It was just a crazy idea, dressing up a woman with some nice modern trains, crazy but fun. We gave the fair some extra flair.

It is just an example of an unconventional application of our colorful locomotive visuals. If you want, you can have one too. Or maybe as a present for someone you know? Or the personnel manning your booth needs a new outfit for the next big railway fair/event? Check it out now.

PS. If you have any nice pictures of the Dress at Innotrans, let us now at hello@crearail.com.

On October 10, the holding company owning Porterbrook Leasing Company Ltd. was sold to an investment consortium. Portebrook owns 61 Class 66 locomotives that are being operated in the UK. The following statements was published by Porterbrook on their website:

Today the ultimate owners of Porterbrook Rail Finance Limited (“Porterbrook” or the “Company”), one of the three major rolling stock leasing companies in the UK, entered into an agreement for the sale of their indirect interests in the Company to a global investment consortium comprised of Alberta Investment Management Corporation (“AIMCo”), Allianz Capital Partners (“ACP”) on behalf of certain insurance companies of the Allianz Group, EDF Invest and Hastings Funds Management (“Hastings”) (together the “Consortium”).

The transaction is expected to complete by the end of October.

(Porterbrook)

On December 10 2013, OSE 220 032 derailed after ranning into a herd of cows. In early April of this year, the locomotive was finally recovered from the site of the accident, where the locomotive was hanging down a slope. Now, 10 months after its accident, the locomotive is back in service again.

(DP)

After having arrived at Immingham Docks on Friday October 10, GBRf 59003 was immediately unloaded. First indications were that this would happen during the weekend. Yesterday (October 13), the locomotive was transported by rail to Eastleigh Works. Here the former HHPI locomotive will be prepared for its re-entry into service.

59003 20314 20311 Chesterfield 131014 pic.twitter.com/h43OkRgi30

— Ian Furness (@wnxxuk) 13 oktober 2014

Two new Traxx DE Multi-Engine locomotives arrived in Mühldorf in the evening of October 10 for use by the Südostbayernbahn: 245 012 and 245 013.

(GR)

Vossloh EUROLIGHT locomotive 284 002 has been on the move again. On October 10, it was moved from Torino Orbassano depot to Reggio Emilia depot. It has been indicated that the locomotive will be used by Dinazzano-Po S.p.A. Images of the locomotive can be found here: link.

(EM)

At approximately 04.00h tomorrow, the ship with 59003 on board will dock at Immingham. The locomotive will be unloaded during the weekend and further transport to Eastleigh is scheduled for Monday.

(GB Railfreight)

ITL Polska from Wrocław has a new name: Captrain Polska. From now on, it is clear that the operator is part of the Captrain group. ITL Polska was founded in 2006 as subsidiary of ITL Eisenbahngesellschaft mbH (ITL) from Germany. ITL is now owned by the Captrain group, which is property of the French SNCF Geodis group.

(KAR/captrain.de)

Today, DB Regio's 245 011 completed its maiden run. Its REV date? FKR X 07.10.2014.

(CK)

Per 27.11.2014, LVS Schleswig-Holstein Landesweite Verkehrsservicegesellschaft mbH will have a new name: Nahverkehrsverbund Schleswig-Holstein GmbH (NAH.SH GmbH). Under the new name the company wants to continue the integration of its transport concepts and expand its digital/online/app services.

LVS ordered 15 Traxx DE Multi Engine locomotives in March 2014, to be provided to an operator that will be selected in the future.

(NAH.SH)

Next to ECR 77018, DB Schenker Rail Nederland now also has ECR 77006 on hire for services in the port of Antwerp. The latter arrived in Antwerp on Saturday October 4. A picture of both locomotives together can be found here: link.

Because there were problems with getting 59003 transferred through France, GB Railfreight has executed their "Plan B". This involves shipping the locomotive from Cuxhaven to Immingham.

However, for this to happen, the locomotive has to be moved across Germany from Saarbrücken (near the French border) to the German port of Cuxhaven. Yesterday, the locomotive started its journey towards the shunting yard of Maschen (near Hamburg) in a freight train of DB Schenker. It should have arrived in Cuxhaven now.

(RW)

Two years ago, Polish rolling stock manufacturer Pesa presented a newly developed locomotive listening to the name Gama. Pesa promised that the machine would be the basis for an entirely new locomotive family. The first step of the diversification of the Gama family was shown at Innotrans 2014.

Was there an electric (DC) locomotive with supplemental combustion engine at the fair in 2012, this time Pesa put a diesel-electric machine in the center of attention. After 111Ed-001 Gama 'Marathon' in 2012, there was now the 111Db-001 sporting the corporate colors and logos of PKP Intercity.

This particular livery is the result of a very long period of negotiations. Only one week before the fair Pesa and PKP Intercity signed a contract for the delivery of ten Gama diesel-electric locomotives. Two tenders were needed to find a manufacturer that met the demands of PKP. Both tenders were won by Pesa, but the first time PKP called the deal of because it regarded the bid of Pesa not realistic. Especially the maintenance costs were considered to be too low. The second time Pesa again got the order, but signing the contract was postponed until the second week of september 2014.

For Pesa it is the second order for its Gama locomotive platform. Koleje Mazowieckie has ordered two DC-locomotives for its additional double deck trains.

The 111Db-001 at Innotrans was completed by Pesa before any delivery deal was signed. It is therefore not being built to delivered to PKP. The logos and colours of the operators will be removed again. PKP will get ten new locomotives, that still need to be built. Pesa is meanwhile negotiating with other operators to sell this 'prototype'.

Rolling stock is coming home from Berlin. Now Vectron DE 247 901 is fully homologated for Germany it could take itself home. In this case, to the Siemens' test center in Wegberg-Wildenrath. It is pulling a train including the PCW8 EuroSprinter and a C2-metro for Munich.

Railadventure's 139 558 brought an Innotrans transfer-train to Bad Schandau-Ost. After leaving the Skoda RegioPanther there the journey continued back to Dresden. Behind the 139 were 245 014, 187 009 and the CD Railjet coaches. The picture shows the train ready for departure from Dresden heading westwards, probably going to Leipzig.

(NE/WS/BW)

DB Schenker Rail UK will fit 90 of the 250 Class 66 locomotives it leases from Angel Trains with start-stop systems. This will reduce engine running times with a third and CO2 emissions with 50%. More info on Railwaygazette.com.

Also during the 2014 edition of InnoTrans a PowerHaul locomotive for the European continent (PH37ACai) was present. This time GE Transportation brought a locomotive in TCDD livery with the fictive number DE 29006, reminding of both the HHPI service numbers (29000) and the Turkish ones (DE 36000). Two years ago, GE Transportation presented a locomotive temporarily designated as HHPI 29008, which was preceeded by a PowerHaul for the United Kingdom in 2010: Freightliner 70007.

Although it looks like the locomotive is destined for TCDD on the outside, DE 29006 will not be delivered as such. Technically, the locomotive is configured for operations in Western Europe. The TCDD livery has been applied to celebrate the delivery of 20 PowerHaul locomotives to TCDD, which is currently ongoing. DE 29006 is also the locomotive that visited Sweden in 2013 for dynamic trials.

Currently, type approval for the PH37ACai in Western European countries has not yet been obtained. However, homologation for the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg and Germany has been requested and is in full swing. In the first three countries, dynamic trials have been performed and type approval is expected to be obtained soon. Also in Germany, GE Transportation expects a succesful homologation process. As from December, launching customer and homologation partner HHPI expects to use locomotives 29008 (II) and 29009 for a recently won coal contract between the Netherlands and Germany.

(GE Transportation/CK/SC/DAH)

The Austrian transport company Növog has issued a tender for the delivery of two new or used diesel locomotives (maintenance and financing optional). The two locomotives will replace older Class 2043 locomotives on standard gauge lines. More information can be found on IRJ: link.

DRS 66434, which has been at Knorr-Bremse Rail Services' Glasgow Works for several (3-6) months, has been released. Under its own power it moved to DRS Carlisle Kingmoor Depot earlier this week. The locomotives received repairs and has been repainted (and revinyled) into a livery based on the latest DRS livery, as carried by the Class 68s. An image can be found here: link.

(CS)

Currently, a lot is happening within the Akiem Prima DE lease fleet. Interesting examples are 75323 and 75328 (former 75023/028), which are to be leased to SNCF Intercités in the future. However, at the moment they are operated by Europorte France to replace 75036 and 75037 until Europorte's new Vossloh DE 18 locomotives are delivered in late 2014.

(YH)

DRS 68015 has arrived in the United Kingdom. On September 24 it could be seen on the M6 highway: link.

With the arrival of 68015, 68001 is the only unit of the first batch that is not yet in the UK (although it has been there for a short period of time while it was in transit to Berlin). At the InnoTrans trade fair, 68001 'Evolution' proved to be a true highlight.

Delivery of the following ten locomotives (68016-68025) is the next priority for Vossloh. After that, the UK Dual / Class 88 locomotives will follow. The delivery of 68016-68025 will most likely continue until early 2015. Because the engines for the locomotives will be completed and delivered by Caterpillar before January 1 2015, there will be no problems when EU 97/68 Stage IIIb emission regulations come into force.

However, the Stage IIIb regulations will not be the end of the line for the UKLIGHT within the Vossloh product portfolio. The locomotive can be fitted with a IIIb compliant engine, which Caterpillar has available. According to Caterpillar, it is possible to fit their new compliant C175-16 into the locomotive design.

(Caterpillar/Vossloh/CK/SC)

GBRf 66710 has been repainted into the current GBRf company colours at Eastleigh Works. The locomotive is expected to enter traffic again in the next few days. An image can be found here: link.

(CS)

At the InnoTrans trade fair, the Siemens Vectron DE was officially granted approval for the German railway network by EBA. Furthermore, Siemens received a certificate from TÜV SÜD Rail that proves that the diesel-electric version of the Vectron platform complies with TSI requirements. More specifically, the locomotive type now complies with TSI CR LOC & PAS (starting point for further country approvals), TSI SRT (safety in railway tunnels) and TSI Noise.

Having already been certified for use as a freight locomotive, the locomotive is expected to achieve certification for use a passenger locomotive within the next year.

(Siemens/CK/SC)

Czech railfreight operator METRANS a.s. has taken over locomotive ER 20-002 from MRCE. The EuroRunner will be operated by METRANS (Danubia) a.s. for use between Austria and Slovakia.

METRANS a.s. also owns EuroRunners 761 001-007, that it bought directly from Siemens between 2010 and 2012. The acquisition of ER 20-002 brings the number of EuroRunners in its fleet to eight.

(OP)

Surely one of the highlights at InnoTrans 2014: Pesa's Gama 111Db diesel locomotive. PKP IC has 10 such locomotives on order.

(SC)

(TL)

Yesterday, RailAdventure 139 558 could be sighted at Ahrensdorf with a nice convoy consisting of: CZ RailJet coaches, TCDD PowerHaul DE 29006, a Traxx AC3 locomotive and Traxx DE 245 014.

(NG)

At least three different Vectron locomotives will be present at InnoTrans 2014. Just like MRCE, Siemens will present a Vectron AC locomotive. A nice surprise is that Siemens will also have Vectron DE locomotive Siemens 247 901 on display. 247 901 was also on display in 2010 and 2012.

On September 15, DRS 68012 and 68013 made their first run on British tracks.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the water, 68001 has arrived at the Vossloh works in Kiel. Here it is prepared for the InnoTrans trade fair. Update: the locomotive is on the move again, together with a number of other Vossloh locomotives (see image).

Every edition of InnoTrans we see a unique locomotive (re)building project from Romania. At InnoTrans 2014 Electroputere VFU / Reloc Craiova will present the Terra Nova. A diesel-hydraulic dual engine shunting locomotive.

A demonstrator (Check its profile) Terra Nova locomotive is now on its way to Berlin. It has received some extra white striping recently.

(MF/JM/LW)

Lok-Report.de reports that the Graz-Köflacher Bahn (GKB) has issued a tender of the delivery of new diesel locomotives and a maintenance vehicle. More specifically, it concerns 5 four-axle dieselelectric locomotives with an option for 15 more. Homologation for the Austrian network and a selection of neighbouring countries is required.

(MG/Lok-Report.de)

Last week, DRS officially announced their order for 10 additional Class 68 locomotives (68016-68025) on top of the 15 that are currently being delivered. The main driver for the order is that performance testing of the locomotive has exceeded expectations.

Of course, this news was not completely new. Back in April, at the Multimodal 2014 trade fair in Birmingham, DRS already stated it would order 10 more locomotives.

Yesterday, Siemens did a big announcement. For the first time it will be building passenger train coaches for the US-market. For operator All Aboard Florida (AAF) the manufacturer will built diesel trains with a topspeed of 125 mph (!). AAF starts with the procurement of five sets of four single deck coaches and a locomotive at each end. Later on, they want to extend these trains to seven coaches. Five additional trains are also planned.

The locomotives used for these trains are the new Siemens Charger machines. 32 units were ordered previously by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

(Siemens)

4033, Europorte's latest addition to the fleet, at Saint-Jory on September 9 and 10. Soon, also 4034 will be delivered.

(TL)

Turkish PowerHaul locomotive DE 29006 has passed some borders again. On September 6, we reported that the locomotive was in Bulgaria. However, the locomotive has been making quite some progress since that day. In the evening of September 10, it arrived at Vienna, Austria. Some hours earlier, the locomotive passed Budapest-Kelenföld (see images).

(MF)

On September 7, Akiem 75323 and 75328 could be sighted at Strasbourg. They were there together with Akiem 75105. We were wondering, is this locomotive still with CFL Cargo France?

(AG)

Last weekend, nine new Class 66 locomotives for GB Railfreight arrived in the UK: 66757-66765. This latest batch of locomotives raises the number of delivered locomotives to fourteen, so seven units still need to be delivered. The recently delivered 66753 picked the locomotives up at the docks in Newport.

Update: Image added.

(DM)

DB Regio 245 009 and a BR 218 diesel locomotive that it will replace in due time at Mühldorf on September 2.

(AG)

TSO is set to take on a number of Prima diesel locomotives on lease from Akiem. Units 75017 and 75019 have already been identified in TSO colour scheme, more locomotives are likely to follow. The locomotives are to be used during the construction of the LGV Tours - Bourdeaux instead of the Class 58 locomotives formerly used by TSO.

Update: On this forum (link) it is mentioned that TSO will hire fifteen locomotives from Akiem. Also 3 Y8000 shunters are part of the agreement. Of course, this information is still subject to confirmation.

(NV)

Akiem 75043 has received small VFLI stickers on its noses and sides. Unlike the BB 27000 locomotives, the VFLI BB 75000 locomotives will not receive red cabs as well.

(NV)

In about two weeks, the InnoTrans trade fair will start in Berlin. Meanwhile, the first rolling stock movements towards the trade fair have been sighted. On September 2, DB Schenker Rail Bulgaria locomotive 86 012 arrived in the Bulgarian station of Samuil with TCDD PowerHaul DE 29006 in tow.

Update: Note that the number of the locomotive (DE 29006) is not correct. It seems to be a mix-up between a TCDD DE 36000 number and the HHPI 29000 number scheme.

(PK)

131.2m zl., that is the value of the contract that was signed between Polish manufacturer Pesa and PKP Intercity for the delivery of ten Gama 111Db locomotives. The contract includes at least 12 years of maintenance to the locomotives as well.

After one unsuccesful tender in late 2013 and a more succesful tender won by Pesa in February 2014, the contract had not been signed officially yet. This brought Pesa in a difficult position, as the European subsidy involved in the deal would only be awarded if the locomotives are delivered before the end of 2015. Except for one pre-series locomotive, no additional 111Db diesels were manufactured in advance, because PKP Intercity wants to monitor the production of the locomotives closely.

The locomotives will be fitted with MTU 16V 4000 R84 engines, delivering 2.4MW. Furthermore, they will be able to reach speeds up to 160km/h (although the operational speed will be 140km/h) and are compliant with Stage IIIB emission regulations.

(kurierkolejowy.eu/GK)

Vossloh EUROLIGHT demonstrator unit 284 001 has been sighted at the Vossloh works in Albuixech again.

We are not sure about the current whereabouts of 284 002, but we assume it is still in Italy were it has been performing homologation trials. Recently, it has been very quiet about this locomotive again.

Update: On August 16, locomotive 284 001 was awaiting further transport to France at Saarbrücken. See the image above.

(MWJ/RW)

The BB 75300 subseries now counts six locomotives:

75320
75323
75326
75328
75330
75333

Ten such machines will be leased by Akiem to SNCF Intercités to replace the old BB 67400 locomotives on the night train relations Paris Austerlitz - Briançon and Paris Austerlitz - Rodez/Albi.

(TL)

On August 29, Europorte 4033 could be spotted at the shunting yard of Saint-Jory. This leaves only 4034 to be delivered to the French operator this year.

(TL)

This year, Captrain added three new Traxx DE locomotives to its fleet: 285 117, 118 and 119. By delivery, all three machines had a different front design:

285 117: dark grey-white-lime green
285 118: white-lime green
285 119: silver-lime green

The livery of 285 117 has changed recently, now it is identical to 285 118.

(AW)

Beacon Rail / DRS 68001 arrived in the UK last Friday, together with 68012-68014. Unlike the latter three machines, 68001 will leave the country again soon. It has been indicated the locomotive will be presented to the public at the InnoTrans trade fair in Berlin next month.

(MB)

More GB Railfreight news today: the brand new GBRf 66753 attended the Grand Central Railway diesel gala today. The image shows the locomotive arriving in Leicester North

(PL)

Yesterday (August 30), GBRf 59003 could be sighted at the shunting yard of Saarbrücken, close to the German/French border. The locomotive is currently on its trip back to the UK. The expected arrival date on British soil is September 6.

(DL)

This year, hvle decided to hire Macquarie diesel-Traxx no. 285 105-3. No big news, only a small flag. We note even the very small detail changes.

(SC)

Currently, the EURO 4000 fleet of rail operator Europorte France is experiencing some changes. Not only are four brand new locomotives added to the fleet this summer (4031-4034), also a sale-and-leaseback agreement has been signed for four other locomotives on August 13.

Units 4009-4012 have been sold by the French operator to leasing company Beacon Rail, which subsequently leases them back. It is the second sale-and-leaseback agreement for the two companies. In August 2013, locomotives 4013-4016 also had their ownership transferred to Beacon Rail.

(Beacon Rail)

In the morning of August 21, the brand new Europorte 4033 left the Vossloh works in Albuixech on a truck and headed for Barcelona. From there it will continue to France by rail.

(RP)

The ship carrying the next three Class 68 locomotives for DRS / Chiltern Railways is scheduled to arrive at the Liverpool Gladstone Docks on August 28. At 09.06 in the morning, a DRS locomotive is expected to arrive at the docks for further transport to the DRS depot at Crewe Gresty Bridge. This move is currently scheduled to take place in the morning of August 29 around 10.14.

On board of the ship should be units 68012, 68013 and 68014. Of the first batch of fifteen units, only 68001 and 68015 are still to be delivered to the UK. It is therefore likely that either 68001 or 68015 will be present at the InnoTrans trade fair in Berlin next month.

(BA)

Today (August 20), DRS 68010 and 68011 were out on their first trip on the British railway network under own power.

Update (August 22): The image above shows both units running light engine from Crewe to Carlisle to pick up a rake of coaches. An image of the tranport can be found here: link.

(MB)

The latest addition to the fleet of the Südostbayernbahn, DB Regio 245 009, has arrived in Mühldorf according to this post on DSO. Unit 245 010 is almost complete too, it was seen returning to Kassel from a trial run yesterday.

(CK/GR)

In December, Heavy Haul Power International will start operating three coal train services between the Netherlands and Germany. The following services are foreseen:

1) Rotterdam Maasvlakte - München Johanneskirchen
2) Rotterdam Maasvlakte - Bottrop Süd
3) Amsterdam Houtrakpolder/Amsterdam Westhaven - Gladbeck West

Although this has not been confirmed, various sources mention that HHPI plans to use PowerHaul locomotives 29008 and 29009 for these services. Note that approval of the locomotives for both Germany and the Netherlands is still pending. 29008 and 29009 are currently in Germany for homologation trials.

As of August 19, we can officially speak of GBRf 59003 instead of HHPI 59003. Yesterday, the final acceptance paperwork was signed. The British operator confirms that the locomotive will stay numbered as 59003 and that it will receive the GB Railfreight company livery.

(GBRf Facebook)

On its Facebook page, GB Railfreight states that the next batch of new Class 66 locomotives has started its journey towards the UK. This time, the batch will consist of 10 units: 66757-66766. An approximate arrival date of September 6 has been given.

(GB Railfreight)

According to a picture in this post on DSO (link), Macquarie CB 1000 seems to be in service for Captrain subsidiary RBB. Can someone confirm this? > mainlinediesels@gmail.com

It has been indicated that Freightliner temporarily hires Class 70 70803 and Class 66 66848 from Colas Rail.

GBRf 66751 (leased from Beacon Rail) has reportedly received a paint job and should now carry the GBRf "EuroTunnel" colour scheme. It would be the first of five locomotives sourced from mainland Europe to receive this livery. 66747-749 are still grey with orange logos/numbers, 66750 is still Beacon Rail blue with orange logos/numbers.

To have a more complete overview of diesel locomotives on our website, we are gradually transferring more locomotive types from Railcolor.net. As of today, we also offer the Adtranz / Bombardier DE2000 diesel locomotives built for OSE from Greece.

Soon we will also be adding Bombardier Traxx DE (ME) locomotives to the website. Just like the Siemens Vectron DE, these locomotives are part of a platform and will therefore also stay available on Railcolor.net.

Railfreight operator Crossrail Benelux is to equip a part of its fleet of Class 66 locomotives with ETCS equipment. According to Dutch website Spoorpro.nl, the Belgium-based operator has received a subsidy from the European Commission for the installation of the system in ten of its locomotives. The subsidy will enable the installation of ETCS 2.3.0d and the certification process to get the locomotives approved for Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands again. Additionally, three of the machines will receive the hardware for Baseline 3 to allow for future upgrades of the system.

Currently, the first locomotive(s) is/are being equipped with ETCS equipment. To replace units that are being modified, Crossrail Benelux has hired unit PB 08 from Ascendos Rail Leasing.

(NG)

...diesels still help out electrics on sections with damaged overhead infrastructure.

(JM)

It has been indicated that Beacon Rail / DRS 68001 has been fitted with new works plates. Its new plates now correctly have works number 2679 on it instead of 2680, which belongs to 68002.

Furthermore, the locomotive has exchanged its white livery for a blue base livery with yellow fronts and a black roof.

(MWJ)

It has been indicated that HHPI 59003, the only Class 59 locomotive on the European mainland, will return to the United Kingdom. First reports indicated that it was GB Railfreight who would take on the locomotive, but this seems to be incorrect. It has now been indicated that either GB Railfreight or Direct Rail Services (DRS) will take on the locomotive.

Update: Meanwhile, GBRf has confirmed that it has purchased the locomotive: link.

(MW)

Just over four months in service for HSL Logistik now: HSL 285 103-8. Chocolate does not necessarily melt in the summer sun!

(HS)

(TL)

Two brand new EURO 4000 locomotives for Europorte could be sighted at the Saint-Jory yard today. Before the end of the third quarter, another two units can be expected. A second firm order for the delivery of an additional four units in 2015 has also been placed. Furthermore, an option for four additional locomotives in 2016 also exists.

(TL/DH)

With the first services operated by Class 68 locomotives starting in December of this year, Chiltern Railways is now starting to prepare its drivers for the brand new locomotive type and to perform (nuisance) tests. For this purpose, DRS 68002 is currently on loan to Chiltern Railways. On August 5, the locomotive made its first run for Chiltern between Wembley Depot and Stourbridge Depot, mainly for noise abatement purposes.

Chiltern Railways will hire six locomotives from Direct Rail Services for its loco-hauled services to and from London Marylebone: 68010 - 68015. These six units will all get the silver livery as shown on the image above and will get the AAR multiple working system installed for push-pull services with driving trailers. Units 68008 and 68009 will also be equipped with AAR and will subsequently act as replacement locomotives when required. DRS 68002 will eventually return to DRS.

(JM)

Today, two PowerHaul locomotives arrived in Germany. Crossrail DE 6309 transported HHPI 29008 and HHPI 29009 from Montzen to Aachen West. Images can be found here: link.

Freightliner 66416 has received a new livery. It has exchanged its DRS blue livery (inherited from the former lessee) for the Freightliner PowerHaul livery.

(PL)

The image above shows Ascendos PB 08 at the Waaslandhaven in Antwerp. The machine now carries the UIC-number "92 88 0266 002-9 B-XRAIL". The vehicle holder markings clearly give away its new lessee. PB 08 was previously in service for Captrain Belgium as 6602.

(SB)

According to a post on our forum, a new EURO 4000 locomotive for Europorte should arrive in France this morning (August 5). Details about unit 4032: 2737 / 2014

(RP)

Two impressions of DB Schenker Class 67 locomotives passing through King's Sutton in service for Chiltern Railways. Per December 2014, sightings like these will belong to the past, as the new Class 68 locomotives (68010-68015) will take over here.

(PL)

On July 30, brand new EURO 4000 locomotive 4031 arrived in France in a freight train from Barcelona.

(RP)

Yesterday morning (July 31), the Deo Volente docked at the Liverpool Gladstone Docks with units 68009, 68010 and 68011 on board. Today, there were transferred to the DRS depot at Crewe Gresty Bridge.

(MB)

After Akiem 75328 (former 75028), there also is a Akiem 75320 (former 75020) now. The image above shows the latter at Sotteville on July 18. In total, the BB 75300 series will consist of 10 Prima diesels, modified for services with SNCF Intercités.

(NB)

Vossloh UKLight Class 68 locomotive being unloaded in Liverpool this morning. Loco details: http://t.co/0AhCW6ULWT pic.twitter.com/5YZ5L6uzLx

— Railway Gazette (@railwaygazette) 31 juli 2014

Crossrail DE 6308 waiting in Cottbus for repairs after its accident in Glons [B] in 2010 and DE 6308 four years later after being released into service by ElectroMotive and DB in 2013.

(NG/HS)

At the 2014 edition of InnoTrans, Pesa will again showcase a Gama locomotive. This time the version with combustion engine will be on display. This locomotive, designated by Pesa as 111Db, is grey like the 111Ed-001 hybrid locomotive from 2012.

Meanwhile, first images are appearing online. Check them here.

Today, Beacon Rail / DRS 68005 made its first run in revenue service on Scottish soil. It operated a service from Mossend Yard to Inverness and back. For an image, take a look here: link.

Five of the six remaining Class 68s have reported to be operational. Unit 68008 is currently receiving AAR multiple control equipment to operate in push-pull service with driving trailers. Together with 68009, it will become spare loco for 68010-68015 which will be subleased to Chiltern Railways and evidentally also will get AAR installed.

68009, 68010 and 68011 are currently being shipped towards the UK. Arrival is expected before Thursday.

(CS)

(NB)

Of the five recently delivered Class 66 locomotives, GBRf 66752 entered revenue service today on train 6M73 Doncaster Up Decoy - Toton North Yard. 66753-756 are to follow soon. The image above (with thanks to Neil Downing) shows 66752 and 66745 working train 6M73 at Stanton Gate.

(CS/ND)

(RA)

Locomotive 245 009 for DB Regio / Südostbayernbahn during tests with double deck coaches in Frankfurt am Main.

(AH)

Locomotive 245 010 made a trip today, coming from the Bombardier factory in Kassel. This is the third unit to be delivered to the Südostbayernbahn and will be based at Mühldorf.

(CK)

...and this is what they look like:

(Chiltern Railways)

On July 19, GBRf 66710 arrived at the EMSI facility at Longport, Stoke-on-Trent. It has been indicated that the loco will receive the same cab modifications as 66713 and 66714 that were released from EMSI recently.

(CS)

GBRf 66721 at the Wensleydale Railway Diesel Gala at Redmire waiting to work its train to Leeming Bar on July 20.

(AT)

On July 19, DRS held an open day for charity at its Gresty Bridge Depot in Crewe. Many thanks to John Whittingham and Andrew Haxton who were there to make some impressions of the Class 68 diesel locomotives on display. Five of seven Class 68s that are currently in the UK were present:

DRS 68002

DRS 68004

DRS 68006

DRS 68007

DRS 68008

Of course, the Class 68s were not the only (diesel) locomotives on display. The complete list (Class 68s excluded): 57012, 57306, 37682, 20309, 20308, 37606, 37610, 66429, 57010, 47818, 57002, Prince (Festiniog Railway steam engine), 90034, 57011, 57311, 37608, 57312.

Steam engine Prince was alongside 68002: Festiniog Railway No. 2 (built in 1863) alongside Class 68 No. 2. (built in 2013). Note that they differ 150(!) years in age.

(JW/AH)

On our Railcolor forum, we received a report that a new EURO 4000 for Europorte (No. 4031) will soon arrive in France by freight train. Let's see what will happen.

MRCE EuroRunner ER 20-003 in service for the Slovenian Railways as 645-003:

(AH)

On July 15, GBRf 66714 was released from the EMSI facility at Longport, Stoke-on-Trent with new window sets. An image can be found here: link.

(CS)

Beacon Rail / DRS 68009 "Titan" has started the first part of its journey to the UK. Around 10 AM (local time) this morning, the locomotive left Albuixech on a low loader.

(MWJ)

In this issue: Trains in the Nile Valley - Paper Trains in Tuscany - MÁV M41/418 - Heritage: 740 FS - FS E.444R ESCI - Railcolor: Linked by Rail locomotives presented - Six countries in six days.

Polish manufacturers of rolling stock are known for their diversity in newly developed types of rolling stock. But they are also actively modernizing older types of Polish trains, so that they'll meet modern requirements again. A good example is the 6Dg diesel shunter, a product of Newag and based on the 30 years old SM42 diesel locomotive.

Now Lotos Kolej has received the first two of three 6Dg machines. The video shows one of the new machines shunting with two electrics in service of Lotos.

Various other Polish operators have 6Dg locomotives in their fleets. Examples are:
ISD Huta Częstochowa, PKP Cargo, PNUIK Kraków, Pol-Miedź Trans, KOLTAR Grupa Azoty, and Kolprem.

Yesterday (July 12), 66752-756 were transported by GBRf 66737 from Newport Docks to Doncaster. At Doncaster Roberts Road they will be prepared for their entry into service, which is expected to happen in the coming week. A picture of the transport can be found here: link.

@GBRailfreight new locos 66752-756 are now at Doncaster Roberts Road, and they should enter traffic this week.

— Railways Illustrated (@railwaysillus) 13 juli 2014

(PC/Railways Illustrated)

Last week, the first EURO 4000 locomotive for French construction company ETF arrived in France. In the night of July 3, unit E4029 left Barcelona in a freight train which headed for Perpignan. Unlike what was reported earlier, ETF will receive locomotives E4029 (2734/2014) and E4030 (2735/2014), not E4027 and E4028. The latter two are still in Valencia, while E4030 should have left the Vossloh works in Valencia in the meantime as well. ETF will use its two EURO 4000s for construction trains on the LGV Est.

An EMD GT42AC locomotive at an unknown location. Picture by EMD.

Botswana Railways has placed an order with EMD for 15 to 18 type GT42AC locomotives.

Crossrail DE 6313 now wears the red/white Crossrail livery: link.

Yesterday (July 10), the HR Resolution docked at Newport Docks with brand new GBRf Class 66s 66752-66756 on board.

In just a bit more than two months, InnoTrans 2014 will open its doors in Berlin. Like previous editions, it will have a comprehensive outdoor area with many new railway products on display. At the InnoTrans website one can now find a preliminary list of vehicles that will be presented.

A summary of vehicles important for our projects:

Alstom Transport: The latest version of the Coradia Lint and Continental, as well as the new H3 3-axle shunting locomotive developed in Stendal.

AnsaldoBreda: together with Bombardier the Italian company will showcase the final version of the Zefiro V300 for Trenitalia.

Bombardier Transportation: The ONMEO double deck regional train for SNCF, the Multi Engine Traxx locomotive and a red Traxx AC3 with Last Mile module (we think 187 009).

GE Transportation: Together with partner Tülomsaş, it will present a PowerHaul locomotive for the Turkish Railways (TCDD).

Newag: Next to a Impuls and 222M trainset, the Dragon will return to Berlin.

Pesa: The diesel version of the Gama locomotive will be present (111Db) and the Link trainset of course. We hope for a DB painted version this time.

Siemens Rail Systems: Will shows its Desiro City for Thameslink trains, next to a Vectron locomotive and the CD Railjet.

Vossloh Locomotives/Rail Vehicles: Next to the G6, G12 and DE18 from Kiel, there will the all new UKLIGHT from Valencia on display.

Other: MRCE Vectron, Netinera Coradia Lint, Electroputere and Reloc from Romania will showcase their new blue Terranova multi engine locomotive. Skoda Transportation: 'A multiple unit for the Brno region' and there will be two FLIRT-trains from Stadler Rail. Finally 'a locomotive' from Softronic.

Beware: All these things still can change. Most likely more trains will be added.

Athough series production of the ten units ordered by PKP IC has not yet begun, one Gama Class 111Db diesel locomotive has already been completed by Pesa. According to this link (click) static testing and commissioning is now underway, followed by field tests in August. One locomotive will be on display during the InnoTrans 2014 trade fair in Berlin.

(kurierkolejowy.eu)

Ascendos PB 08, better known under its Captrain number 6602 up until recently, is now carrying the green/yellow Ascendos livery.

(AR)

Meanwhile, the Pressnitztalbahn has found a replacement for its damaged 253 014-9, which was involved in an accident at Anger-Rogätz on June 27. Since July 4, Bombardier 76 110 is on hire to help the German operator out.

67006 is seen at Leeds working an additional service, the 1915 to Harrogate, with part of the Virgin trains "Pretendolino" (Pendolino replacement coaches) in connection with the Tour de France. The "Verkehrsrot" DB Schenker 67027 was on the other end of the train.

(AT)

Rynek Kolejowy reports that PKP Intercity has not yet signed the contract for 10 Pesa Gama diesel locomotives, although the Polish manufacturer had won the tender for the 10 machines in February. Pesa is now in a difficult position as the European subsidy involved in the deal will only be awarded if the locomotives are delivered before the end of 2015.

The question that arises then is "why does Pesa not build the locomotives on stock?". According to Rynek Kolejowy, PKP IC wants to monitor the production closely. This prevents the Polish manufacturer of starting up the production.

(Rynek Kolejowy)

According to this Facebook post (link) MRCE ER20-003 has arrived at the workshop in Ljubljana. Here it will receive the Slovenian service number 645 003.

It has been confirmed that the locomotive is hired to SZ, which will homologate the locomotive for the Slovenian network. Because the Slovenian network still suffers from problems with overhead wiring, additional diesel locomotives are rented to assist electric locomotives on part of the network where the overhead wiring is not functioning.

(MRCE)

The result: link.

On July 3, Beacon Rail / DRS 68008 made its first run under own power on Network Rail tracks. It ran between Crewe Cresty Bridge and Nuneaton.

Currently, 68002-68008 are in the UK, while 68001 and 68009-68015 are still in Spain in various stages of construction. An overview of all known names up until now:

68001 - Evolution
68002 - Intrepid
68003 - Astute
68004 - Rapid
68005 - Defiant
68006 - Daring
68007 - Valiant
68008 - Avenger
68009 - Titan

(MWJ)

Although it seems fairly quiet about the twenty PowerHaul locomotives for Turkish national operator TCDD, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, deliveries are in full swing. GE Transportation and Tülomsaş have already delivered the first five units, designated as Class DE 36000. Note that the (UK-gauge) demonstrator locomotive Tülomsaş was immatriculated in the DE 37000 Class: Profile DE 37001 (now Colas Rail 70801). Before the end of the year, another ten locomotives will be outshopped. The final five locomotives will follow in early 2015.

With less than three months to go until InnoTrans 2014 in Berlin, it is also time for the first InnoTrans diesel highlight. We can report that GE Transportation and Tülomsaş will be present on the trade fair with a PowerHaul locomotive on display. In 2012, a locomotive in HHPI colour scheme was present, this time one of the TCDD units will make its appearance. An impression of the latter can be found here: link.

Ascendos RL002 is now leased to the Lappwaldbahn (LWB). Previously, this locomotive was in service for Heavy Haul Power International (HHPI) as 29006 (II).

The delivery of GB Railfreight's new 66752-756 has suffered a small delay. Yesterday (June 30), the ship carrying the five new locos on board, had not yet left the US. This means that the target of July 7-10 will not be met. The week after has been given as very provisional estimate.

Update: On July 1, the HR Resolution has started its journey towards the UK from the port of New York, after having sailed down the Hudson river. One can track the ship here: link.

(RT)

A consortium of the Romanian companies Electroputere VFU and Reloc Craiova has developed a new diesel locomotive with the name Terra Nova. The Terra Nova is the first diesel-hydraulic shunting locomotive built in Romania after 24 years, but also its dual-engine propulsion system makes it special. On May 20, it was officially presented.

The machine is equipped with two Caterpillar C18 engines that deliver 630hp each and that are connected to two TR43 hydraulic transmissions. The bogies of the locomotive can be adapted for different track gauges, ranging from 1000mm narrow gauge to 1600mm broad gauge. With a maximum tractive effort of 230kN, the Terra Nova is suited for shunting heavy freight trains in marshalling yards. Its maximum speed of 100km/h and a fuel capacity of 3000l, also allow for light mainline operations. The machine complies with EU Stage IIIB emission standards.

Electroputere VFU and Reloc Craiova, which are both part of the Grampet Group, will deliver 8 locomotives to one or more undisclosed customers in Western Europe. The companies indicate to have capacity available for the production of up to 360 locomotives over the next 10 years.

(Grampet Group)

On June 26, ECR 77024 passed Kaiserslautern with defective TGV 4726 in tow. The locomotive returned the high speed train back to its home country for repairs.

(RW)

The summer holiday season has started, also for Euro-Express Treincharter B.V. (EETC). After a succesful season in 2013, the Dutch charter train operator again offers Koper in Slovenia as a destination for its 'Autoslaaptrein' services. The train, composed of car carriers and passenger coaches, departs from Den Bosch on Fridays and returns from Slovenia on Saturdays.

Since the heavy ice rains in January, the overhead wiring on the section Prestranek - Borovnica has been out of service. For that reason, electric locomotives get the support of diesel locomotives, some of them hired from other operators. The image shows an EETC 'Autoslaaptrein' arriving at the station of Borovnica with the support of ÖBB Hercules 2016 085.

(SC)

Today we received the first image of a Class 66 locomotive of Gabonese operator SETRAG, made by André Korevaar. In fact, it shows the first two locomotives (CC 401 & CC 402) for this operator after they were modified at the former Nedtrain workshop (now Shunter) at Rotterdam Waalhaven Zuid.

Both units were originally built for Crossrail Benelux, that would lease them from an undisclosed leasing company. Between December 2011 and April 2012, they entered service in Gabon together with four newly built locomotives (CC403-406).

(AK)

(TL)

Last night, PRESS 253 014-9 and its container train collided with the rear of an other freight train at the railway station of Anger-Rogätz. The damage to the locomotives is severe according to the images on this Volksstimme.de: link. More images on DSO: link.

Update: There are also reports coming in that the first freight train rolled back and collided into 253 014-9.

(HZ/Volksstimme.de)

GBRf 66713 is currently receiving a makeover. More than a week ago, the machine was released from the Electro-Motive Services International (EMSI) facility at Longport (Stoke-on-Trent), where amongst other things the machine was fitted with new windows that provide better sound insulation. Currently, 66713 is receiving the current GBRf (EuroTunnel) livery at Eastleigh.

GBRf 66714 is now present at Longport and is believed to receive the same treatment. It shows how GBRf is slowly modifying more units of the original Class 66 type JT42CWR to increase driver comfort, while at the same time introducing the current livery on machines that not yet carry it.

(CS)

After having received a revision in Germany, MRCE 653-05 is now back in service for Rotterdam Rail Feeding (RRF).

It has been indicated that the ship carrying 66752-756 on board will arrive at Newport between July 7 and July 11, pending high tide.

(SB)

(NJ)

(AH)

Some older news from last month: GBRf 66722 has lost its Metronet livery and exchanged it for a regular GB Railfreight (Eurotunnel) one. GBRf 66719 has undergone the same faith.

Images of 66719 and 66722 can be found here (link) and here (link).

Today we found these nice two sunny impressions in our upload. Do you also want to contribute to our project? It is easy: just use the search box or one of our fleet lists to find the locomotive of your choice, go to its profile and click on "upload your image". This way your image will automatically be linked to the correct locomotive profile when uploading it.

The HGK workshop in Brühl-Vochem has been busy performing maintenance on two Ascendos Class 66s lately. The pictures show HHPI 29006 (II) and HHPI 29007 in front of the workshop. However, both units have no HHPI service numbers anymore and the vehicle holder codes in their NVR-numbers have been cleared.

MLD Update: Both machines have been returned by HHPI to Ascendos.

(AS)

The image shows RheinCargo DE 682 on the Südbrücke in Cologne on June 13. Note that the loco still sports the service number it had under ERS Railways: "ERS 6614".

(TK)

(RW)

An image on Flickr of five new units (most likely 66752-66756 as reported earlier) being transported from the Progress Rail/EMD plant in Muncie, Indiana to the port of Norfolk, Virginia: link.

We have created a provisional list in our Vossloh Rail Vehicles section with the first 40 GA-DE 900 AS locomotives that were built at Valencia and delivered as Am 841 to SBB. You can check it out here: link. Machines that were delivered to other customers are to follow soon. Stay tuned!

On June 14, the DB maintenance works in Bremen held an open day to celebrate their 100th birthday. This workshop of DB Fahrzeuginstandhaltung is a competence center for diesel engines, servicing over 800 engines a year. During this day, also EVB 420 11 was present outside.

(EA)

Comsa 335 003-0 still carries the nice, but defunct European Bulls livery. Unfortunately, a refreshing treatment to its exterior would be in place now.

(JH)

Images of these locomotives are rare in our database. Yesterday, we received this one and we thought it is too nice not to share on the main page.

(PS)

MRCE ER 20-013 has been spotted in service for the NOB today, while it headed train NOB 81720 at Keitum (Sylt).

Earlier, the locomotive was still in service as a back-up unit for Alex passenger services in Southern Germany.

(NJ)

In France, the first Akiem Prima diesel locomotive to by SNCF Intercités has turned up. Ten such units will replace the old BB 67400 locomotives on the overnight trains Paris Austerlitz - Rodez/Albi and Paris Austerlitz - Briancon.

The most noticable changes for the machines involved are the installation of an on-board communication system for drivers and stewards, and the assignment to a new sub-series: BB 75300. The first unit that received its new number is 75028. It is now known as 75328.

Earlier this month: NOB EuroRunners (leased from Ascendos and MRCE) in everyday service at the station of Elmshorn. In 1.5 year, with the start of the a new concession period for the "Netz West" in December 2015, Bombardier Traxx DE Multi-Engine locomotives with take over here. Those Traxx locos could look like this:

(PB)

Railways Illustrated reports on Twitter that 5 of 21 new Class 66 locomotives (66752-66756) are finished and will set sail for the UK next weekend.

Update: GBRf 66752 has been named "The Hoosier State" at the factory yesterday. The Hoosier State is another name for Indiana, where the new units are being built currently at Progress Rail's factory in Muncie. An image: link.

Note that, eventhough these are the first new Class 66 locomotives for the UK that have been built in Muncie, these aren't the first ones to be built here after the closure of the EMD factory in London, Canada. For SETRAG from Gabon four units were built and delivered in 2011 as CC 403 - 406.

We are still in search for the works numbers of all Muncie built Class 66s. Do you know more? Then feel free to contact as by mail: mainlinediesels@gmail.com.

Today, 68002-005 have received some company. Early this morning, the MV Atlantic docked at the Liverpool Gladstone Dock and subsequently 68006, 68007 and 68008 were unloaded. An image of the three locomotives being collected at the docks: link.

Yesterday, this black triplet passed the station of Cologne West: Rheincargo DE 686 + DE 681 + DE 680. Thanks to Thomas Wohlfarth for the image.

On Wednesday (June 4), a batch of three Class 68 locomotives left the gates of the Vossloh factory in Albuixech and headed for the UK:

68006 - Daring
68007 - Valiant
68008 - Avenger

(MWJ)

This afternoon, a Blue Tiger of German freight operator hvle caught fire at the station of Vienenburg. We do not know yet which of the grey/orange hvle machines is involved exactly, but a partial impression can found on the homepage of Goslarsche.de. More info can be found on DSO.

(KAR)

Some short news from Finland. Today, Railway Gazette International reports about the plans of VR for investing in 46 double-deck coaches with an option for 185 more. It also mentions that VR want to invest in new diesel locomotives in the near future as well.

(Railway Gazette International)

Meanwhile, also DB Regio's department Südostbayernbahn is preparing for the introduction of the Traxx DE Multi Engine locomotives. They will get eight new machines that are currently in production. The newest machine that has been seen at the Bombardier factory perimeter in Kassel is no. 245 011. The title picture shows unit 245 008 during the official presentation by the Südostbayernbahn and Bombardier on May 22, 2014.

(Bombardier/CK)

As of June 2, 2014, the Traxx DE Multi Engine locomotive is in revenue service in southern Germany. DB Regio Allgäu-Schwaben is now using the first 245 series locomotive for double deck trains running from and to Kempten, Marktoberdorf, Buchloe and Augsburg. In total, this department of DB Regio will get seven such locomotives (Unit 245 001-007).

At this moment, three of seven machines have arrived in Kempten, the home base of this regio. They have already covered 7.000 km in test service. The remaining locomotives are expcted to arrive in the second half of 2014. They will than be used on the relations Memmingen - München, Kempten - München and Füssen - München/Augsburg.

The German railways also provide the time table of the first locomotive in service:

RE 57433 von Kempten nach München, Kempten ab 4:28 Uhr RE 57436 von München nach Marktoberdorf, München ab 6:20 Uhr RE 57339 von Marktoberdorf nach Augsburg, Marktoberdorf ab 8:25 Uhr RE 57564 von Augsburg nach Buchloe, Augsburg ab 10:15 Uhr

In late May, Rotterdam Rail Feeding returned 653-05 to MRCE and now leases Ascendos PB 06. PB 06 is better known under its former HGK service number DE 64. As such, it was in service for the German operator for nearly 12 years!

(MF)

Meanwhile, Colas Rail 70810 has arrived in the UK. It was unloaded on May 26. 70810 is the last unit of a batch of ten. An image of the machine on solid ground: link.

(TL)

Today, Bombardier and the Südostbayernbahn will officially present the Traxx Multi Engine diesel locomotive in Mühldorf (DE). Meanwhile, test runs are made in normal service. The image shows locomotive 245 008 with a RegionalExpress ready to go in Munich.

(MH)

Yesterday, Colas Rail 70808 and 70809 were released from Liverpool Seaforth Docks. Both units arrived there on May 18 on board of the Atlantic Compass. The two PowerHauls left the Docks and headed for Crewe on their own power. At Crewe, 70808 left 70809 behind and subsequently headed for Bescot.

(MB)

This afternoon, Crossrail DE 6312 collided with a truck that tried to pass the tracks. Fortunately, those involved were only lightly wounded. More info and images can be found here: link.

(Gazet van Antwerpen)

(BT)

Good initiatives always get our support, check out this high quality magazine: Railway Portraits. Issue 2 is out now and available for download. Various reports about railways from all over the world, with high quality photography:

Two portraits of two GBRf Class 66s with distinctive liveries: GBRf 66721 in London Tube livery and GBRf 66750 in hybrid Beacon Rail / GBRf livery.

(RG)

METRANS 761 004 is hired by SŽ to help out on the Pivka-Borovnica section. This section suffered from heavy ice rains last February, resulting in a destroyed overhead electrical infrastructure.

(IL)

METRANS Danubia currently operates a second 753.6 series locomotive next to CZ LOKO demonstrator unit 753.604. It concerns 753.603, which is owned by SD-KD. For images, see here and here.

Update: It seems that 753.603 was only temporarily used by METRANS Danubia to evaluate multiple working on container services between Dunajska Streda and Haniska, in particular on the Zvolen - Haniska section.

(MG/JS)

Yesterday (2014-05-17) the Atlantic Compass docked at Liverpool Seaforth with 70808 and 70809 on board. The last unit of the batch, 70810, is to arrive later this month / early June. Pictures of 70808 and 70809 can be found here: link.

(TL/TM/VT)

(HZ)

...the tests with PowerHaul locomotive HHPI 29008 have continued. The locomotives has made various trial runs under its own power to test the Memor 2+ train protection system. For images, check out this link: click!

Impressions by Neil Aitken

MRCE 653-05, currently on hire to Rotterdam Rail Feeding (RRF), is to visit Germany where it will receive an overhaul.

...and it concerns these locomotives!

Yesterday, a freshly overhauled Freightliner 66607 was sighted at Leeds Midland Road, awaiting its return into revenue service. Freightliner 66419 could be seen as well, but without DRS logos now. Although 66419 has been on lease to Freightliner since 2011, it still carried its DRS livery. The locomotive is at Midland Road for repairs.

(RM)

Colas Rail 70810, the last PowerHaul locomotive of an order for ten, has been sighted while it was underway to a port for further shipment to the UK: link.

Leasing company Beacon Rail has been sold by BTMU Capital Corporation to Pamplona Capital Management. All Beacon Rail locomotives on our websites:

Beacon Rail Traxx F140 AC2 (185.2)
Beacon Rail JT42CWR(M/-T1) (Class 66)
Beacon Rail EURO 4000
Beacon Rail UKLIGHT (Class 68)
Beacon Rail UK DUAL (Class 88)

The complete press statement:

London/New York - Pamplona Capital Management LLP (“Pamplona”) is pleased to announce that it has signed a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Beacon Rail Leasing (“Beacon”), a UK locomotive and rolling stock leasing company from BTMU Capital Corporation, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. The consideration, including commitments for firm future deliveries of locomotives is approximately $450 million.

Beacon was acquired through Pamplona’s Private Equity Fund III. Last month Pamplona acquired, through the same fund, a majority stake in Alvogen, one of the fastest growing generics companies in the pharmaceutical industry.

(Beacon Rail)

Siemens Vectron DE testbed locomotive 247 901 has returned to the Austrian Steiermark region for testing. Last week, brake tests were performed on the first steep track section of the Koralmbahn. The GKB (Graz-Köflacher Bahn und Busbetrieb GmbH) was partner during the trials supporting the project with personnel and locomotive 1216 922.

An image can of the loco on a test run can be found here: link. Note that the stickers of the boy and its toy train have been removed.

(Bahnbilder.de/KAR)

Yesterday, the recently delivered 70806 and 70807 ran from Liverpool Seaforth to Bescot on their on power. Former Turkish demonstrator (ex-70099) 70801 subsequently joined both new machines from Bescot to Westbury.

(RM)

Meanwhile in Israel, EURO 3200s 1317, 1318, 1319 and 1320 have been seen in service. With at least 20 of the 24 units ordered now delivered, the deliveries of new units by Vossloh are coming to an end.

Of the four units still to be delivered, we received a report that 1322 is still in Valencia together with two units in white undercoat. The latter two are most likely 1323 and 1324.

(DVD/MR)

The news about Class 68s keeps on coming. Railway Gazette International reports on Facebook that the first operational tests with a Class 68 will be held next week. The trials will take place in Schotland on a revenue service.

More Class 68 news today! According to a DRS publication at the Multimodal 2014 tradefair, DRS is to receive 25 Vossloh UKLIGHT locomotives in total.

(MB)

At the Multimodal 2014 trade fair at the NEC in Birmingham (April 29 - May 1), Beacon Rail / DRS 68005 Defiant will be on display. The locomotive was transported from Crewe by road on the 24th.

(BA/MB)

Today we received some information from Valencia, where the future E4027 was sighted inside the Vossloh works again.

Something more special is the sighting of three new Class 68s for Beacon Rail / DRS. One unidentified machine was still white, while another had already received a base blue livery without logos or numbers. Last but certainly not least, locomotive number three has been spotted in a Northertn Belle brown and cream livery!

Update: 68008 was mentioned to be in Northern Belle livery, but this appears to be a misjudgement. 68008 is still to receive a paint job, the correct loco number is unknown.

(MR/Beacon Rail)

According to this link, 29008 has arrived in Luxemburg.

(DV)

On April 17, the two EURO 4000 locomotives that were used for the Marathon Project (4027 & 4028), could be spotted at Perpignan Saint-Charles. One of the locomotives will return to Spain tomorrow (May 25), the second one will head back to Albuixech on May 2.

MLD: We expect that the locomotives will be prepared for use with ETF when they arrive back at the factory in Albuixech, Valencia. It's also likely that they will finally receive plates with construction numbers there.

(TL)

This morning, two brand new Colas Rail PowerHaul locomotives arrived by ship at the Liverpool Seaforth Docks. Locos 70806 and 70807 were unloaded from the Atlantic Concert around 8 o'clock. Images can be found here: link.

There are now seven units present in the UK, three are still awaiting delivery. Of the three units still to be delivered, 70808 and 70809 have been sighted in the USA while being transported to a port.

Read the complete press statement here.

MTU has received an order from Polish rail vehicle manufacturer Pesa Bydgoszcz SA for ten Series 4000 locomotive diesel engines. The Type Gama 111Db locomotives from Pesa are to be fitted with 16-cylinder Type 4000 R84 units from MTU, a subsidiary of Rolls Royce Power Systems AG. The engines are certificated for EU Stage IIIB emissions regulations, and will go into operation in 2015, powering the locomotives and driving the passengers of the Polish rail company PKP Intercity.

Their 2,400 kW output means the diesel engines can take the Gama locomotives up to a top speed of 160 kph. The MTU drive units achieve EU Stage IIIB compliance using exhaust gas recycling, common rail injection and diesel particulate filters. The engines´ two-stage turbocharging technology delivers high charge-air pressures for enhanced power with minimum particulate emissions.

Yesterday, HHPI 29008 was transported back to Belgium by Rotterdam Rail Feeding with G2000 no. 1106. Two images can be found here and here.

(HZ)

The official Vossloh press release:

Valencia, 15 April 2014. Two EURO 4000 locomotives, designed and manufactured by Vossloh España in Albuixech (Valencia), pulled a freight train of 1,524 meters length on Saturday 12 April 2014 as part of the tests of the European Marathon project. To date, this was the longest freight train ever run in Europe.

Marathon is a Research and Development Project co-financed with funds of the European Commission within the VII Marco Program. It started in April 2011 with a small budget of 4.4 million Euros and involves 17 members: companies, universities, associations, operators and European research centers. Apart from Vossloh also Faiveley, Schweizer Electronic, SNCF and RFF are among the project partners. The project is being coordinated by New Opera.

(Vossloh)

On October 1 2013, MRCE ER 20-009 was sold to Express Rail from Slovakia. The machine has been given a new number as well: 761 101-5.

(KAR)

After a period of testing between Utrecht and Maarn, new trial runs with HHPI 29008 were performed between the Kijfhoek Shunting Yard and Uitgeest yesterday. Rens Bloom sighted the machine passing through the flower fields of Noordwijkerhout.

Today, the locomotive departed from Kijfhoek again around 09:30 for a trip to Almelo and back. Henk Zwoferink captured the loco on camera when it passed the town of Rijssen (see images below). It has been indicated that the locomotive will be transported back to Antwerp tomorrow.

(RB/HZ)

On 10.04.2014, Traxx Multi Engine no.008 left the Bombardier factory in Kassel. Meanwhile, it has arrived in Mühldorf. It is the first engine to be operated by DB subsidiary Südostbayernbahn. This operator will get eight locomotives of of the first batch of 20.

The locos will be predominantly used to haul double deck trains on the Simbach - München relation and will replace the good old 218 series DB locomotives. Currently, 008 is being used for tests. On Monday the locomotive pulled a test train to Augsburg with a top speed of 160 kph.

(CK/pnp.de)

Last night, a ship with Class 68s 68003, 68004 and 68005 on board arrived in Liverpool.

(WNXX Facebook)

Today it's exactly one year ago that MainlineDiesels.net came online. This raises the question: where do we stand now? Well, in one year we were able to build up a database of more than 1840 diesel locomotives of 30 different types. Furthermore, there are almost 4200 images of those locomotives online.

However, we couldn't have achieved this without all your contributions and efforts, so thank you all for making this project possible!

The Marathon Project trials have entered the second phase. After the tests with two Prima BB37000 electrics in January, it's now the turn of the two new EURO 4000 locomotives: 4027 and 4028.

This images show 4027 leading its 1,500 meter long train through the station of Serezin. Unit 4028 was positioned in the middle. Note that 4027 has received some small Marathon logos on its front and on its side.

(AG)

A short update about PowerHaul locomotive HHPI 29008 today. After more than a week of detection runs between Utrecht and Maarn during the nights, the locomotive was returned to the Kijfhoek shunting yard on March 27. There the loco resided until it was transported to the historic workshops at Roosendaal on April 7. Yesterday, Rens Bloom whitnessed how the locomotive was transported back to Kijfhoek again by RRF 17.

(RB)

Always wondered what the cab of a SNCF BB 60000 locomotive looked like from the inside? Well, like this:

(SA)

Today, Railway Gazette International reports that CargoNet and iron ore mining company Rana Gruber signed a contract on March 27 for the transport of iron ore from Ørtfjell to Mo i Rana. On September 1, the new contract will come into force, ending the current one with operator Cargolink.

CargoNet will use its EURO 4000 locomotives leased from Beacon Rail Leasing for the new flows. Together with the deployment of new and heavier iron ore wagons, the mining company aims to increase the capacity of the rail link between the mine and the processing plant.

(Railwaygazette.com)

Chiltern Railways is to replace the DB Schenker Class 67 locomotives currently in use on its loco-hauled services on the Kidderminster-Birmingham-London Marylebone route. Replacement comes in the form of six brand new Class 68 locomotives. The Vossloh UKLIGHT locomotives will be subleased from Direct Rail Services (DRS) that currently has fifteen units on order through Beacon Rail Leasing.

The units involved in the deal are 68010-68015. The first machines should be available for driver training in the Autumn of 2014, while the first scheduled services are planned for December 2014. Regular maintenance is to be performed at Chiltern's own facilities in Wembly and Stourbridge, heavy maintenance at DRS' own depots at Carlisle Kingmoor or Crewe Cresty Bridge.

Last Friday (April 4), Freightliner 66603 didn't stick to the tracks and derailed in Luton. Last Sunday the unfortunate machine was rerailed again, loaded onto a low loader and transported to Brush Traction in Loughborough for repairs.

Yesterday, Beacon Rail / DRS 68003 left the Vossloh factory in Albuixech by truck. The machine has been given the name "Astute". For an image of the loco, click here: link (Flickr).

At the moment, the following names are known to us:
68001 - Evolution
68002 - Intrepid
68003 - Astute

Various diesel locomotives passed through a sunny Dunkerque yesterday and Nicolas Beyaert was able to capture them on camera.

On 10.12.2013, OSE locomotive OSE 220 032 hit two cows on the line Thessaloniki - Athens. The locomotive derailed. In the past days, the locomotive was recovered using heavy cranes. Image report of the work.

(NF)

This week, locomotive 245 001, with Bombardier logos, is testing on the route Dresden - Görlitz with a double deck train.

(KAR/NG/TF)

Yesterday, Malcolm Wilton-Jones witnessed how EURO 4000 no. 4028 left the Vossloh factory in Albuixech (Valencia), Spain. Loaded onto a low loader, the locomotive headed for France by road. Just like unit 4027, it is expected to participate in the trial runs for the Marathon Project.

(MWJ)

According to this (Finnish) forum, the future Beacon Rail / DRS 68001 has arrived in the Finnish port of Vuosaari. At the moment we have no idea if this is an intermediate stop on its way back to Valencia from Velim or if it's there for other reasons, because Finland seems a bit off-route.

Update: An image of the loco on a low loader at the docks on March 28 can be found here: link. It has been indicated that for logistic reasons the detour via Finnland was chosen to get the loco to Spain, efficiently using existing shipping services.

Yesterday, Colas Rail 70804 suffered some minor technical issues and was subsequently rescued by DB Schenker 67019. Later that day, 70804 was seen back in service again with the return train.

(MB)

EUROLIGHT 284 001 has returned from Velim and is now in Kiel, home of Vossloh Locomotives. An image can be found on Eisenbahn-Nord.de: link.

245 001 with Bombardier logos. 3x DB Fernverkehr 146 in a row: 146 551, 552 and 561. These three machines left Kassel for Hannover, continuing their travel northbound.

(DSO/CK)

A new EURO 4000 locomotive, numbered 4027, turned up at a container terminal in Barcelona. We are not completely sure about its future owner yet. However, judging by its white livery with small Vossloh logos, we're 99% sure that it will be delivered to ETF from France that has two units on order.

A second white locomotive has already been sighted in Valencia. It's likely that both machines will be making trials for the Marathon Project, in which two trains are combined up to 1,500 meters in length.

Update: ETF will receive E4029 and E4030, not E4027 and E4028.

(JH/MWJ)

This image (link) on the WNXX Facebook page shows the next two Colas Rail PowerHauls awaiting further transfer in Cleveland, Ohio, USA: 70806 and 70807.

Last week HHPI 29008 has been making detection runs between Utrecht and Maarn during the evenings. This image, made by Reinhard Abt yesterday, shows the locomotive at Utrecht Cartesiusweg.

We've received some information that both DRS 68003 and DRS 68004 (Vossloh 2682/2014) could be sighted at Albuixech, Valencia on March 18. The two units carry the same DRS colour scheme as applied on unit 68002, but we've had some unconfirmed information that there are talks to give 68003 a brown/white "Northern Belle" Pullman livery in the near future.

Both machines looked to be nearly completed (e.g. 68003 did not carry any works plates yet), so shipment to the UK is expected to happen shortly or to be underway already.

(MWJ/BA)

Landesverkehrsgesellschaft Schleswig-Holstein (LVS) has its own brand identity for rail travel in this Bundesland, known as nah.sh. It has its own corporate identity. Another contract of LVS has been awarded to DB Regio. These trains will be two-tone green. Based on this style we made a first impression of the nah.sh Traxx Multi Engine locomotive:

Also note that the current 'Netz West' concession, containing the train service between Hamburg and Westerland (Sylt), is running to an end. In 2015, a new concession period will start, ending in 2025. 90 passenger coaches will be taken over from the NOB and next to the 15 Traxx locos, 3 multiple units will be acquired by Schleswig-Holstein. This presentation about the 'Netz West' concession contains an artist impression of what the new Traxx locomotives might look like: link.

With the 'Netz West' concession coming to an end and with the acquisition of new Traxx diesel locomotives, the EuroRunner era comes to an end. Various MRCE and three Ascendos Rail EuroRunners are therefore likely to become available again.

Read the complete Bombardier press statement here

It sure is the week of new orders. Today: Bombardier Signs First Order with Private Customer for Traxx Diesel Multi-Engine Locomotives. Delivery of 15 locomotives is scheduled for 2015. Contract volume is approximately 60 million euro plus service contract. Locomotives will be used by an operator that still needs to be selected by Landesverkehrsgesellschaft Schleswig-Holstein (LVS). This operator will deploy the new vehicles to transport passenger trains from Hamburg to Westerland/Sylt.

Rail technology leader Bombardier Transportation and the special purpose company Paribus-DIF-Netz-West-Lokomotiven GmbH & Co. KG (Paribus-DIF) have signed a contract for the delivery of 15 Bombardier Traxx Diesel Multi-Engine locomotives. This is the first time that a private customer has ordered the innovative Traxx DE ME locomotives.

The total contract value based on the list price is approximately 60 million euro (83 million US). The contract includes an option of up to five additional locomotives. An additional service contract for the adaption of modern control electronics in cab cars, valued at approximately 5 million euro (8 million US), was signed with Paribus-DIF-Netz-West-Waggon GmbH & Co. KG, a sister company of Paribus-DIF-Netz-West-Lokomotiven GmbH & Co. KG.

Delivery of the locomotives for Paribus-DIF is scheduled for 2015. Paribus-DIF is a joint venture of the German investment management company Paribus Capital GmbH and the Dutch Infrastructure Fund (DIF), a Europe-focused institutional investor in infrastructure assets. Paribus' subsidiary Northrail GmbH will provide all asset management services to the joint venture. Paribus-DIF was chosen in a tender by the Landesverkehrsgesellschaft Schleswig-Holstein (LVS) to lease the locomotives to an operator also being selected by the LVS. The operator will deploy the new vehicles to transport passenger trains from Hamburg to Westerland/Sylt.

The locomotives are designed for speeds of up to 160 km/h. The multi-engine concept enables four simultaneously working engines to be controlled individually to maximize energy efficiency. This means that the Traxx Diesel Multi-Engine locomotive requires less diesel fuel than other locomotives with corresponding overall power. It meets the Stage IIIB emission standards, providing more environmentally friendly operation while also emitting less noise.

Production of the locomotives will take place at Bombardier's Kassel plant in Germany. The carbodies will be produced at Bombardier's Wroclaw site in Poland, the bogies at its Siegen site in Germany, while the Propulsion and Controls equipment will be manufactured at its Mannheim and Hennigsdorf sites, also in Germany.

(Bombardier)

The Departments of Transportation for the U.S. states of Illinois, California, Michigan, Missouri and Washington have awarded Siemens a contract for the delivery of 32 diesel-electric passenger locomotives. The contract is valued at approximately €165 million ($225 million). It includes a purchase option for another 225 locomotives which will be used for regional and mainline trains traveling at speeds of up to 200 km/h (125 mph). The 32 locomotives ordered are scheduled to be delivered between fall of 2016 and mid-2017. "For Siemens this order marks our entry into the U.S. diesel-electric locomotive market and strongly underscores our long-term vision for the U.S. passenger rail market", Jochen Eickholt, CEO of the Siemens Rail Systems Division, emphasized. The diesel-electric locomotives will be manufactured at the Siemens plant in Sacramento, California.

On December, 2013, the Illinois Department of Transportation, which is coordinating the order on behalf of California, Michigan, Missouri and Washington, announced its intention to move forward on the order with Siemens. The official Notice to Proceed has now been formally granted.

The Charger locomotives will be used exclusively in passenger service. The primary traction drive, a 4,400 hp-rated diesel engine with 16 cylinders and a cubic capacity of 95 liters, will be manufactured in the U.S. by Cummins Inc., headquartered in Columbus, Indiana. These modern locomotives are powerful and efficient and will deliver a cleaner ride, with better air quality and reduced emission rates ensuring compliance with the Federal Railroad’s EPA Tier IV regulation required to be in place in 2015.

(Siemens)

For the construction of the second phase of the LGV Est in France, numerous loads of construction materials are needed. This is where the Class 66 locomotives leased by ETF from MRCE come in. Some recent impressions by André Grouillet made on March 11 at Réding.

(AG)

Today, HHPI 29008 was sighted at the Kijfhoek shunting yard in the Netherlands. It's the first time that a PowerHaul locomotive visits this country. Homologation for the Netherlands is foreseen by GE Transportation and in that light it will be performing detection runs between Utrecht and Maarn the coming week.

Bruno Batenburg was able to make a quick shot while passing the yard by train. John Liekens captured the loco on transport in Belgium.

(HZ/BB/JL)

A video impression of Colas Rail 70802 making a test run and various other (diesel) locomotive power. Thanks for the tip CR.

The 19 Class 70/0 locomotives currently in service for Freightliner will be subject to various technical modifications. The goal is to update them with the modifications that were already included in the design of the Colas Rail Class 70/8 units.

The adjustments, such as a new cooling arrangement, should take away the majority of the teething problems experienced with the original PowerHaul PH37ACmi design. Freightliner 70010 is the first machine to undergo the adjustments by Brush Traction in Loughborough.

A first image of two (75016 and 75031) of the ten Akiem Prima's that were transferred to SNCF Infra in the fourth quarter of 2013. The locomotives involved in the sale are: 75006, 009, 016, 018, 021, 027, 031-032, 034-035.

(VT/VC)

It has ended. Two days of sharing information, good conversations and meeting new people in the railway business. Thanks to everyone that has attended the European Rolling Stock Forum 2014 and we hope to see you again next year.

Simon Wijnakker & Maxime Bonnier

A small update on the diesel locomotives Pesa will build for PKP IC from the European Rolling Stock Forum 2014. The Pesa designation for these machines will be 111Db. The ten locomotives will have a power output of 2.4MW and 275 kN tractive effort. Top speed will be 160 kph and they'll weigh 84 t. The first locomotive will be available for dynamic trials next month (!), in April.

(Pesa)

Two impressions from Socx [F] made yesterday by Nicolas Beyaert, showing OSR 75014 and ECR 66239.

(NB)

Last friday RRF 653-05 took quite the detour with its empty dolime train. The train, running from Veendam [NL] and Hermalle-sous-Huy [B], normally crosses the Dutch/Belgian border near Maastricht [NL], but this time it was diverted over Roosendaal [NL] and Antwerp [B]. The image shows 653-05 with the empty dolime train near Mortsel [B].

(JL)

After the successful 2013 edition of the European Locomotive Forum, TOR conferences now presents:

European Rolling Stock Forum 2014 (ERSF)

Join us in debating topics such as EU funds for rolling stock in 2014+ perspective, the IV railway package, rolling stock pools in Poland and many more.

During this 2-day event (March 12/13) you will meet top level managers from companies such as Alstom, Bombardier, PKP Intercity, PKP Cargo, Newag, Akiem, PESA Bydgoszcz, LEO Express, Railistics, Stadler Rail, Talgo, VIS Systems and many more! ERSF is the event for the railway industry and rail transport professional.

Click here to register and to learn more.

Another new Vossloh EURO 3200 for the Israel Railways has been sighted in Valencia: IR 1319 (2659/2014). The last known loco to leave Valencia was 1316. There has been no sign of a 1317 or 1318 yet.

(MWJ)

On Twitter, Railway Gazette International reports that Tülomsas will deliver the first five GE PowerHaul locomotives to Tülomsas later this month. The Turkish manufacturer is currently working on a batch of 50 locomotives of which 20 will be delivered to TCDD. The remaining 30 are for export to unspecified Middle Eastern and North African countries.

(Railway Gazette International)

Today, DB Schenker 66184 flanked a Freightliner coal train at Garston, Liverpool and derailed. 66184 suffered considerable damage from the collision, which can be seen here: link (on Flickr).

Vectron DE test bed locomotive 247 901 is still in Austria. Currently it runs with ÖBB trains. In the picture you see the machine with ÖBB 1016 012 and LGAG 48401. BTW: Siemens hopes to obtain full approval of the Vectron DE for Germany this year.

(MR/Siemens)

The first regular services with Colas Rail's new PowerHaul locomotives have started. On February 17, 70801 performed its first runs on the British network. During the first couple of days, a Class 56 locomotive was added in case of teething problems.

In the meantime, units 70804 and 70805 made their first runs in revenue service as well. 70803's status is unknown, but it will possibly be in general service by now or will be soon.

(BA)

Today the Atlantic Companion docked at the Liverpool Seaforth Docks with the brand new Colas Rail 70802 on board. This means that the first five of ten Class 70/8 locomotives (70801-70805) are in the UK now.

(BA)

DB Schenker 67027 has been repainted at the Toton workshops in the standard DB "Verkehrsrot" livery. It's the second Class 67 to receive a red DB livery. DB Schenker 67018 preceded 67027, but with a non-standard 'Maple Leaf' DB livery.

(CX)

Artist impression made by Railcolor.net

Polish rolling stock manufacturer Pesa has won the PKP IC diesel locomotive tender, that was re-issued late last year. When the tender ended early January, only two companies had made an offer for the delivery of the ten locos: Newag and Pesa.

Remarkable is that Pesa had also won the initial tender issued by PKP IC. However, the offers by Vossloh and Newag did not comply with the requirements and Pesa's bid included unrealistically low maintenance costs, so the tender was temporarily cancelled.

Pesa has now been selected in favour of Newag, because Pesa was able to offer both a better purchase price and lower maintenance costs. Also, Pesa offered better availability and reliability of its Gama diesels compared with Newag. Delivery of the 140 km/h Gama locomotives is envisaged for 2015.

Read more on: Rynek-Kolejowy.pl.

As from today you can find all ten Sri Lankan Prima AD32C diesel locomotives (864-873) on MainlineDiesels.net. The AD32C locomotives are famous for their low availability due to mechnical and electrical problems. Although delivered in the year 2000, only three locos were in service until 2010.

Today, the three PowerHauls that had been awaiting further transfer at the Liverpool Seaforth docks (70803, 70804 and 70805) left the docks. Coupled together, 70803 led the convoy towards Eastleigh. An image can be found here: link.

Colas Rail 70802 is currently being shipped towards the UK on board of the Atlantic Companion.

They are being built for hauling passenger trains in the south of Germany, but on 17.02.2014, locomotive 245 006 and 007 made a trip to the very north of the country: to Niebüll.

On 18.02.2014, 245 007 hauled DB car shuttle trains to the island of Sylt, over the Hindenburgdamm causeway. Apparently, the German railways (DB) want to know its performances on this very specific route.

Over the years the DB already tested many mainline diesel locomotive types on this line, but still no decision has been made what type will/could replace the good old V160s here. Currently, these V160 machines haul the car shuttle trains in pairs.

Because the GKB is experiencing a shortage in available traction power, it currently operates RTS 2016 906. For more background information (in German) and an image, take a look here: link.

(KAR)

Former Turkish demonstrator loco 70099, now Colas 70801, has performed its first trial runs on the British railway network. Images can be found here, here and here.

Because Captrain CB 1000 is experiencing technical issues, Captrain 6602 will replace it for the time being.

The images show both locos at the Westfalenhütte in Dortmund on February 8. That day 6602 went to Emmerich, before heading towards Sittard. Together with 189 202 it will be used to run the chemical trains between the DSM in Geleen [NL] and Lauterbourg [F]. On the parts of the journey without overhead wiring 6602 will provide traction and on electrified sections 189 202 will pull the train. This image on Flickr shows the two units shunting at Sittard together: link.

Remarkable is that on February 9 also 6602 experienced some slight troubles. The loco stranded only shortly before the border station of Emmerich and was finally pushed into the station by BLS 186 103, as was witnessed by Martijn Schokker.

(RK/KAR/IW/MS)

Two EURO 3200 locomotives for Israel Railways seemed to have left the factory in Valencia in the last few months. Unit 1301, the all-white unit which was used for dynamic testing at the VUZ test center at Velim, left Valencia in December wearing a red/blue livery. During the last couple of days, unit 1316 has not been sighted anymore as well.

(MWJ)

GBRf 66750 has received orange logos and big numbers on its sides. For an image, check out this picture on Flickr: link. At least 66747 has been decorated with big numbers as well. It's expected that all five imported Class 66s (66747-66751) will receive these numbers, but only as a temporary measure. There are some indications that a repaint into full GBRf livery is indicated for next year.

On February 11, Beacon Rail / DRS 68001 could be seen in action at the VUZ test centre in Velim. The big image clearly shows the differences between EUROLIGHT 284 001 and UKLIGHT 68001. Also note that 68001 has the same works number as 68002. Thanks to Mark Barber for the images and a short movie.

(MB)

Late November, Akiem 75109 and 75110, its pioneers from Slovakia, were sighted at the Cottbus works. Now we know why they were there. Two days ago, the units were again sighted in Cottbus, this time by Theo Stolz. In the last couple of months both units received a paint job and now sport the silver Akiem livery. Now all Akiem BB75100 locomotives carry this silver colour scheme.

(OW/TS)

SNCF Intercités is to lease ten Akiem BB 75000 locomotives for use on overnight trains. On non-electrified lines they will replace the older BB 67400 series locomotives. The Primas will mainly see service on the relations Paris Austerlitz - Briançon and Paris Austerlitz - Rodez/Albi.

The BB 75000 units involved will receive equipment that allows the train driver and the conductor to communicate, as well as a new livery. Also, a new sub series is created for these ten locos: BB 75300.

MLD: The numbers of the locomotives involved are still unknown to us for now.

(Today's Railways Europe)

As from February 1, HTRS has stopped operating most of its services and handed them over to its partners SBB Cargo International, LOCON Benelux and Rotterdam Rail Feeding (RRF).

This also applies to the dolime service between Hermalle [BE] and Veendam [NL], which is now operated by RRF. MRCE 653-05 was the dedicated HTRS workhorse for this flow (together with an ex-NS 1600 series electric) and now RRF will use it for the same purpose.

2014 has only just started and January already marked the delivery of the first four PowerHauls of this year: three to the UK for Colas Rail and one to Korea for KoRail. Time for an overview of what else is to happen in 2014.

PH37ACmi - Colas Rail Class 70/8 - 10 units
On January 4, Colas Rail 70803 and 70805 arrived at the docks of Liverpool (image link), followed by 70804 on January 30. All three locos still reside at the docks. Placed on wooden blocks or their transit trailer, they await their delivery to Colas Rail. Meanwhile, it has been indicated that 70802 is finished and that it awaits to be shipped towards the UK.

When 70802 arrives at Liverpool, the first five of ten PowerHauls will be on British soil. The second batch and last batch of five (70806-70810) for the British operator is reported to be under construction at the moment and is expected to be delivered later this year.

PH37ACi - HHPI 29000 - 2 units
German operator Heavy Haul Power International has two PowerHaul locomotives on order with an option to increase this number to six. Both HHPI 29008 (II) and HHPI 29009 are in Belgium now for homologation trials. On January 24, HHPI 29008 (II) was underway on the Belgium network for trials (image link). Test runs in Germany and the Netherlands are foreseen as well and it is assumed that at least one of these countries will be paid a visit this year.

PH37ACi - TCDD DE 37000 - 20 units
In January 2013, the Turkish state railways (TCDD) ordered a batch of twenty PowerHaul locomotives. However, a time horizon for the production start was not given. Could 2014 be the year the first Turkish PowerHauls roll out of the Tülomsas factory in Eskişehir?

PH37ACmai - UGL 001-003 - 3 units
For the Australian market, three prototype locomotives are being built by UGL, the local partner of GE Transportation. There do not seem to be orders for this PowerHaul type yet. However, the first locomotive was sighted at the UGL works in October, 2013 (image link), so we can probably expect the other two demonstrators this year as well.

KoRail 7600 - 25 units
This year the delivery of 25 PowerHaul locomotives to Korean national railway operator KoRail will take place. Built by GE in cooperation with Hyundai Rotem, they will be used for both passenger and freight services within South Korea. Trials with the first locomotive (7601) have commenced trials last month.

This year EMD will build 23 Class 66 locomotives before European emission regulations don't allow the production of these locos for use in Europe anymore. GBRf already confirmed an order for eight of the 23 locomotives in 2013, but it has now confirmed that it will acquire another 13 units. This order will raise the number of Class 66 locomotives in the GBRf fleet to 71.

Note that of the 23 Class 66 locomotives that EMD plans to build, only two locomotives are left now. This raises the question: why did GBRf didn't purchase the entire batch? And, where will the remaining two locos end up?

Another remarkable thing is something the British magazine Rail reports about. It states that the new Class 66s will be build as modified JT42CWRM locomotives and not as JT42CWR-T1. Both types are enhanced versions of the regular JT42CWR, but the '-T1' used to be the version for the UK and the 'M' the version for mainland Europe. Currently, the recently imported 66747-66749 are the only modified JT42CWRM locos in service on the British network. 66750 and 751 are imported from the mainland and modified as well, but are regular JT42CWR locomotives.

(CS/europeanrailwayreview.com/RAIL)

On February 4, ÖBB 2016 020 performed several test runs with a rake of new CD Railjet carriages, both as pushing and as pulling locomotive. Obviously, this remarkable combination will not see regular service as the Railjet services will be operated by ÖBB 1216 series electrics in CD colours.

(LG)

Three impressions by Juraj Streber of CZ LOKO 753 604-8 in evaluation service for METRANS Danubia. For more nice pictures by Juraj, also see his website: jstrains.sk.

(JS)

Yesterday, on February 4, the first dynamic trials with DRS / Beacon Rail 68002 'Intrepid' commenced. For this purpose, the locomotive was positioned in a train consisting of eleven Mk2 carriages and electric locomotive 90020. In this consist the train performed two testruns from Carlisle to Crewe and back. This week, more trial runs will be performed with the brand new UKLIGHT locomotive.

(RN)

Yesterday, Multi Engine locomotive DB Regio 245 004-7 took two double deck coaches (DB S-Bahn Dresden) out of the Bombardier factory. The locomotive remained.

(CK)

Did you know that the Alstom locomotive plant in Albuixech (Valencia), which is currently owned by Vossloh, also produced Prima locomotives for the US? 33 PL42AC passenger diesels were constructed for operator NJT - New Jersey Transit between 2003 and 2006. The image above is our first image of these distinctive locomotives. It shows NJT 4030, 4023 and 4003 at Hoboken Terminal, awaiting their next services during the evening rush hour.

Did you also know that Vossloh will build a batch of 17 passenger diesels for the US market as well? On their website an order is visible for 17 F125 locomotives (an EMD product), which were ordered by Californian operator Metrolink.

(TS)

According to MarineTraffic.com, combined ro-ro/container carrier Atlantic Compass arrived in Liverpool this morning at 08:26 local time. The ship had brand new Colas Rail PowerHaul 70804 on board. It will accompany 70803 and 70805, which have remained at the Liverpool Docks ever since there arrival on January 4. Both locos are still placed on wooden blocks.

Update: 70804 has been unloaded and awaits further transport with 70803 and 70805. A first image of 70804 making its first meters in Liverpool on Flickr: link.

(CC/MarineTraffic.com)

Looking for an easy overview of all Bombardier Blue Tiger locomotives, including those in Malaysia?

Check it out here > link.

Six modern locomotives of the SNCF group on August 30, 2013 at Belfort, a great sight. From the front to the back: SNCF 460106 + SNCF Infra 660164 + SNCF 460110 + SNCF 427022 + SNCF 427175M + SNCF 437010. Thank you Vincent Torterotot.

(VT)

The big news about Colas Rail 70803 and Colas Rail 70805 is that there is no real news about them. Since their arrival on January 4 in Liverpool, not much has happened, except for being unloaded from their road trailers onto wooden blocks. Rumour has it that this is due to paperwork issues.

Meanwhile, Colas Rail 70804 has started its journey towards the UK on board of the Atlantic Compass.

We've been getting some reports that Beacon Rail/DRS 68002 carries works number 2680 and nót Beacon Rail/DRS 68001. However, it appears both units have plates stating 2680/2013. We find that quite confusing to be honest. Our guess is that 68001 is actually Vossloh 2679, as the Beacon Rail/VFLI EURO 4000 order (E4017-E4022) runs from 2673 to 2678.

(MWJ/SW/QV)

On 18.01.2014, the first Marathon test train ran from Sibelin shunt yard to Nimes [FR]. It had a length of 1476 m and a hauled weight of 3309 t. Prima electric 37042 was at the head and the 37002 in the middle of the train.

The tests with the electric locomotives are now completed. Later this year, similar test runs will be held using Vossloh Euro4000 diesel electric locomotives late February / early March.

Remarkable is the fact that the wagons of the 1500 meter train came from three different Kombiverkehr trains, which were remarshalled in Sibelin.

(RV/SW)

In the year 2000, a Class 66 was still an uncommon sight in Germany. In 1999, HGK was launching customer for the type in mainland Europe. The image shows HGK 9901 (now HGK DE 62) in the HGK workshops at Brühl-Vochem in August, 2000. Note the British light fittings, which DE 62 still has today, unlike HGK DE 61.

(DB)

(PS)

We've made a small error, our apologies for that. Leasing company Akiem has not leased Akiem 75037 and Akiem 75038 to ECR from France. It seems that 75038 is still in service for VFLI, while 75037 was hired to Europorte France last August, together with Akiem 75036.

The image shows 75038 in service for French operator VFLI in March 2012.

(CV)

Looking for the 250 Angel Trains Class 66 locomotives that are in use with DB Schenker Rail UK, ECR and DB Schenker Rail Polska?

Check out our brand new section with stock lists of all units, here: link.

CZ LOKO 753 604-8 has started its career as a demonstrator locomotive. It's now operated by METRANS for evaluation purposes.

(JS)

In November last year, MRCE sold a second EuroRunner locomotive. After MRCE ER 20-004 (sold to StLB), now also MRCE ER 20-006 has been sold after being on lease to LTE since July.

The loco is now known as LTE 2016 922. It is the fourth EuroRunner locomotive for LTE as the company already has 2016 903, 904 and 909 in its fleet.

Update: Picture added of 2016 922 with Stadler FLIRT EMU No. 415 502 for GYSEV (transport from Stadler works at Siedlce to Stadler works at Pusztaszabolcs). Thank you Petr Štefek.

(KAR/PS)

It has been indicated that Beacon Rail / DRS 68002 has started its journey to the UK. It should arrive there by boat sometime next week. Southampton is mentioned as the port of arrival.

After arriving by boat, the locomotive wil be transported by road to the DRS depot in Carlisle. There it will be officially presented.

On October 12, an interesting transport could be sighted in Hungary. RTS 2016 905 and a second RTS 2016 locomotive pulled a train consisting of former ÖBB 2143 and 2067 series locomotives, which are at the end of their career with ÖBB. Thanks to Peter Pacsika for the images.

Today, test runs with the recently homologated Traxx Multi engine locomotives have started. Unit 245 002 and 006 and rake of double deck coaches.

(MR)

Last year PKP IC issued a tender for the delivery of 10 new passenger diesel locomotives with a maximum speed of 140 km/h. However, of the three bidders, non placed a successful bid. Vossloh España proved to be to expensive and experienced technical issues in the bidding process. Newag's bid was also to high, while Pesa's bid incorporated unrealistically low maintenance costs.

Recently, the tendering procedure was started again for a second round. Rynek Kolejowy now reports that bidding is no longer possible and that only Polish manufacturers have submitted their offers. Pesa and Newag are the only ones left with offers worth 131 mln Zloty and 160 mln Zloty respectively. So it seems were going to see either Gama or Griffin diesel locomotives entering service with PKP IC. Maintenance is included in the price for both bids. Read more at Rynek-Kolejowy.pl.

nwrail.org.uk shows two images of Colas Rail 70804 awaiting further transport on a flatcar near Cleveland, Ohio. The locomotive will be shipped via Norfolk, Virginia towards the UK. For the images of 70804, check out this link and scroll down a bit.

A question for our Scandinavian fans: In June 2013 a PowerHaul locomotive arrived in Sweden for dynamic testing. See Postvagnen for an image of the locomotive: link. But is it still there? If you know more > mainlinediesels@gmail.com.

An impressive sight: both new Colas Rail PowerHaul locomotives (70803 and 70805) side to side, awaiting delivery at the docks of Liverpool.

70805 & 70803 at Liverpool Seaforth this morning. Please note this is not accessible to the public. Photo by S Hunter pic.twitter.com/7yI3q6RkmE

— Ian Furness (@wnxxuk) 6 januari 2014

Today we received another image of two Prima diesels awaiting their delivery to Syria in Belfort, where they were constructed. The image shows CFS 605 together with CFS 614 on September 29, 2000. Thank you Theo Stolz.