Class 93 Tri-mode Loco

[Rail Quest]

The difference from Mondays runs and Tuesdays runs are the headcode. Anytime 93001 has been moved on the network it has run under a Qxx headcode as it hasn't passed its acceptance testing. I suspect 93001 won't be out until Tuesday.

Ahh interesting, so could Monday's moves merely be crew training for ROG drivers between Worksop and Sheffield with whatever arrives from Derby, then followed by actual 93 runs on Tuesday and onwards?

 

[Suraggu]

Ahh interesting, so could Monday's moves merely be crew training for ROG drivers between Worksop and Sheffield with whatever arrives from Derby, then followed by actual 93 runs on Tuesday and onwards?

Going by the headcode changes, your theory holds substance.

 

[The_Train]

It appears that something has ran on the Worksop-Sheffield paths today - any confirmation it was the 93 under its own power?

 

[Suraggu]

It appears that something has ran on the Worksop-Sheffield paths today - any confirmation it was the 93 under its own power?

37601.

 

[Skymonster]

93001 is allocated 0Q25 this morning and the path is activated.

 

[Rail Quest]

93001 is allocated 0Q25 this morning and the path is activated.

Nice, let's hope the test goes well. Looking forward to seeing footage of her

Clip on YouTube already:

 

[Bob Price]

Railcam view of Sheffield

 

[FrodshamJnct]

Railcam view of Sheffield

Phwoar! Lovely looking loco. Hope all goes well today.

 

[Skymonster]

It works!

 

[800001]

It works!View attachment 158894

I must admit that does look good, love the livery!

Good to finally see some progress with this fleet.

 

[birchesgreen]

Fantastic to see, great looking loco.

 

[Meerkat]

Railcam view of Sheffield

I like the eyes, nose, and mouth on the front!

 

[Nottingham59]

I like the eyes, nose, and mouth on the front!

If that's a mouth, then it looks like an Ood.

Ood - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Meerkat]

If that's a mouth, then it looks like an Ood.

Ood - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The bit below the Stadler badger needs to be yellow for a better face look. The handrails even give it eyebrows!

 

[Peter Sarf]

Nickname anybody ?.

I have seen "predator" mentioned.

 

[Bob Price]

Zoidberg from Futurama with all this connection cables.

 

[birchesgreen]

Tricat.

 

[Fincra5]

It sounds like a Hair Dryer.

 

[Nottingham59]

Hopefully we'll soon learn what it's real performance is like. Stadler sold the lightweight 4-axle concept to ROG on the basis that advanced wheelslip control would give adequate tractive effort in slippery conditions. Does anyone know if this aspect of the 93 has been tested yet?

 

[ABB125]

Hopefully we'll soon learn what it's real performance is like. Stadler sold the lightweight 4-axle concept to ROG on the basis that advanced wheelslip control would give adequate tractive effort in slippery conditions. Does anyone know if this aspect of the 93 has been tested yet?

Given that most of the rest of Europe seems to be going almost exclusively for high power BoBo locomotives, I'd have thought so

 

[gingertom]

Given that most of the rest of Europe seems to be going almost exclusively for high power BoBo locomotives, I'd have thought so

are there inclines like Shap, Beattock and Lickey in Europe?

 

[North-Valiant]

are there inclines like Shap, Beattock and Lickey in Europe?

Erm, Yes?

 

[ac6000cw]

Stadler sold the lightweight 4-axle concept to ROG on the basis that advanced wheelslip control would give adequate tractive effort in slippery conditions.

Stadler will know what the performance of the 68 and 88 is like in real-world conditions, so I'm sure ROG would have been well aware what they were buying.

It's got the same axle load as a 66 but with more sophisticated wheelslip control, so no, it won't match a 66 when it's snowing etc. (or at very low speeds), but I don't think ROG were/are targeting the heavy-haul market?

are there inclines like Shap, Beattock and Lickey in Europe?

Yes. Have you ever been to Switzerland or other mountainous areas? Take a ride over the original Gotthard Pass route, the stomping ground of some of the most powerful electric locos in Europe for many decades, both 4 and 6 axle.

 

[Skymonster]

Now I’m home, I’m able to add a brief (30 second) video of 93001 to YouTube:

This may be of interest to those who like sound with their imagery.

 

[Jamesrob637]

are there inclines like Shap, Beattock and Lickey in Europe?

Ever heard of the Geislinger Steige?

 

[Rail Quest]

Now I’m home, I’m able to add a brief (30 second) video of 93001 to YouTube:

This may be of interest to those who like sound with their imagery.

Thanks for sharing. That rev up at 0:18 sounds quite loud, is that the coolant fans or the engine? I feel like I can hear a slight turbo whine during it which would suggest the latter though I can't tell

 

[Nottingham59]

Stadler will know what the performance of the 68 and 88 is like in real-world conditions, so I'm sure ROG would have been well aware what they were buying.

I understood the 93 had significantly better traction control than earlier versions.

It's got the same axle load as a 66 but with more sophisticated wheelslip control, so no, it won't match a 66 when it's snowing etc. (or at very low speeds), but I don't think ROG were/are targeting the heavy-haul market?

They were originally targetting the high-speed intermodal market, but that was predicated on developing 100mph intermodal flats for use in the UK, which doesn't seem to have happened. So I'm expecting the 93 to be most useful on standard intermodal traffic on the WCML.

The 93 on electric is supposed to have greater tractive effort than a 66 at speeds over 13-14mph. (According to the graph in the Rail Engineer article here: https://www.railengineer.co.uk/class-93-tri-mode-locos-on-order/ ). I guess we're going to have to see what sectional running times and trailing loads are assigned to the class when it comes into service.

 

[ac6000cw]

Thanks for sharing. That rev up at 0:18 sounds quite loud, is that the coolant fans or the engine? I feel like I can hear a slight turbo whine during it which would suggest the latter though I can't tell

Sounds like diesel engine to me - there's a bit of deep bass in there I think. AFAIK the 93 also has battery cooling fans, to add to the sound mix...

 

[Skymonster]

Not entirely sure. Second time it was at Sheffield I was a little further north on the platform, ready to capture it powering up. But sadly by then the window-lickers were out in force - including one who was pushing, and screaming that he hadn’t got any pictures and everyone should get out of his way. So I didn’t get any more video and I didn’t even get to really listen to the loco. And I couldn‘t be bothered to wait for the third visit.

 

[ac6000cw]

I understood the 93 had significantly better traction control than earlier versions.

Probably (as it's been 10 years since the cl. 68). Good AC traction drives in good rail conditions with high axle loads are usually reckoned to boost usable tractive effort per axle at low speeds by up to about 50% versus a good DC drive, but less so in slippery rail conditions. If you can get close to cl. 66 performance for general freight with two fewer axles, motors and inverters (= less cost) why not?

A quick illustration of DC versus AC tractive effort for a couple of US diesel locos which are basically the same 6-axle loco, other than the AC version being about 4% heavier (and both are 30+ tonne axle load):

DC drive: GE ES44DC - Tractive Effort (starting) 142,000 lbs, Tractive Effort (continuous): 109,000 lbs @ 13.7 mph
AC drive: GE ES44AC - Tractive Effort (starting) 183,000 lbs, Tractive Effort (continuous): 166,000 lbs @ 13.7 mph

(data from https://www.thedieselshop.us/DataGEIndex.HTML )

For fun, a quick US wet rails versus dry rails comparison i.e. a with long train drying out the rail head for the rear locos. Note the squealing/screeching of the controlled wheelslip is much louder in reality than it seems in the videos (I was there, holding brolly in one hand and camera in the other!):

DC front + DC rear:

DC front + AC rear, followed by AC front + AC rear (and at 11:50 there is a real DC screech-a-thon in pouring rain):