200 Publications (The Class 66 Shed) by TSResort on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

At long last, we have reached 200 deviations. WHAT A MILESTONE! As my 200th publication on Deviantart, here is a profile of the Class 66.

The Class 66 is a type of six-axle diesel-electric freight locomotive developed in part from the Class 59, for use on the railways of the UK. Since its introduction the class has been successful and has been sold to British and other European railway companies. In Continental Europe it is marketed as the EMD Class 66 (JT42CWR). These are primary used in Poland.

On the privatisation of British Rail's freight operations in 1996, Wisconsin Central Transportation Systems under the control of Ed Burkhardt bought a number of the newly privatised rail freight companies: Transrail Freight, Mainline Freight, Loadhaul, and later, Railfreight Distribution and Rail Express Systems; thus controlling 93% of UK rail freight. After a public relations exercise involving the input of the general public, the company was named English Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS).

EWS inherited a fleet of 1,600, mainly diesel, locomotives, with an average age of over 30 years; 300 had been cannibalised for spares. Typical of the fleet, the 2,580 hp Class 47s needed a major overhaul every seven years, costing £400,000; yet had an average daily availability of less than 65% with only 16 days between major failures.[2] To enable it to offer its stated lower pricing to customers, EWS needed to reduce operating costs and increase availability.

After reviewing the existing privately commissioned Class 59, which was more powerful, highly reliable and with lower operating costs, EWS approached its builder Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), then a division of General Motors. EMD offered their JT42CWR model, which had the same loading gauge-passing bodyshell as the Class 59. The engine and traction motors were different models to enable higher speeds, and the Class 66s incorporated General Motors' version of a "self-steering bogie" ("radial truck", in American usage), designed to reduce track wear and increase adhesion on curves.

Placing what was termed as "the biggest British loco order since steam days", EWS placed an order for 250 units in May 1996 to be built at the EMD plant in London, Ontario, Canada at a cost of £375 million. Financed by Locomotion Capital (later Angel Trains), the first locomotives were ready in early 1998; the fastest delivery of an all-new locomotive type by GM.

The EMD 710 12-cylinder diesel engine is a development of a two-stroke engine used for over 20 years, whilst the EM2000 control equipment is the same as that used on Irish Railways IE 201 Class. EWS reduced the locomotive's time into operation through specifying cab systems laid out like the Class 59, whilst increasing availability with a fuel tank of 8,180 litres (1,800 imp gal; 2,160 US gal) capacity, compared to 3,470 litres (760 imp gal; 920 US gal) on a standard Class 47.

The first locomotive shipped to the UK arrived at Immingham in June 1998, taken to Derby for testing. The second was taken to AAR's Pueblo Test Centre for endurance testing, before shipping to the UK. The locomotives then shipped at a rate of 11 per month into the UK via Newport Docks, until the order was completed in December 2001.After unloading, EWS engineers then simply took off the tarpaulin, unblocked the suspension, and finally as each was shipped with water and fuel, connected the batteries, before starting the engine and handing the locomotive into service. The ability to simply start up '66s' on the dockside and drive them under their own power to depots to enter service was nothing short of a revelation compared with many other BR locomotives, particularly the BR Class 60s.

Each locomotive is specified and guaranteed to 95% availability, aiming for a minimum of 180 days mean time between failures. It is designed to cover 1.6 million km between major rebuilds, equivalent to 18 years' service, with each major rebuild costed at £200,000.

The initial classification was as Class 61, then they were subsequently given the Class 66 designation in the British classification system (TOPS).[citation needed] In 1998 Freightliner placed an order for locomotives. They were followed by GB Railfreight, and then Direct Rail Services. The last of more than 500 built over an 18-year period was No 66779, Evening Star, delivered to GB Railfreight in spring 2016.

Although sometimes unpopular with many rail enthusiasts, due to their ubiquity and having caused the displacement of several older types of (mostly) British built locomotives, their high reliability has helped rail freight to remain competitive. Rail enthusiasts labelled the type "The Red Death" as they displaced many older types of locomotive whilst also acquiring the nicknames of "sheds" for the EWS (now DBS) locomotives (due to their upturned roof looking like a shed roof) with the Freightliner locomotives being called "Freds" as a portmanteau of Freightliner and Shed.

This is 66556 roaring past Harold Wood on her way out from the Port of Felixstowe towards the West Country (presumably).

The Class 66 is the last of the Classic GEML trains still running. They ain’t going anywhere for a while due to how important they are in transporting freight.

I’m happy we have made a new milestone, despite my slow publications.