How are Demonstrators Evaluated?

[ClassA]

Good day folks. I have long lurked, but had a question come up and figured on asking here. 

 

I have seen lots of examples of where EMD / GE / Alco, etc demonstrators will run on potential customer's lines for periods of time. In some cases, the potential customers decline to buy them. 

How are the demonstrators evaluated when in use on a potential customer's network? Do they have a customer rep ride along? Do the customer crews fill out surveys? Are specific crews selected to run these? What metrics are used by the customers to inform their decision process? 

Thank you in advance for your insights. 

Paul 

[oltmannd]

Any, every, all.  New locomotives come with claims about performance - speed, tractive effort, fuel consumption.  RRs will try some level of evaluation to see if these claims are true.  The builder most always has their reps active in the process just as they do when new locomotives are delivered.  If there are claims about crew comfort, etc, the evaluation can also included gathering feedback from them.

Sometimes the trials are rather informal such as just running trains and evaluating the event recorder output against TPC results, for example.  Sometimes it can get rather elaborate and include insturmentation and a test car.  

Often it is accompanied by some analysis that tries to show X of these new ones can replace Y of your old ones.

[mudchicken]

It's also what the locomotive does to the track structure. In the 1990's and 2000's we at ATSF saw what the newer  limited throw couplers and newer trucks were doing to our track structure (not good, way to stiff and too much lateral force .... SD40/45-2s and GE C30/C36-7s could go places the new power could not go without climbing or turning over rail due to the geometry....mechanical got wary of flange wear for a similar reason) along with a warning from the local (LA) Amtrak track engineering people were seeing their new locos do with tight curves and 6-1/2 turnouts causing small derailments in the engine facilities. (Being their track in LA was a former ATSF roundhouse and commissary, we took notice)

[rdamon]

During a demo does the road or the vendor pick up the fuel costs?

I assume some demos are in response to RFPs to add or replace units and others are "Hey check out our new .. " that the vendor wants more testing than can be done in Pueblo 

[tree68]

rdamon

During a demo does the road or the vendor pick up the fuel costs?

I'm guessing the road, as the demos tend to wander.

I should think that a road's evaluation of a demo would depend on where they plan to use it.  Nowadays, you've got a choice between a six axle and a six axle, for the most part.  Back in the day, there were multiple vendors and I'm sure it was a matter of who built what the railroad wanted.

[BaltACD]

rdamon

During a demo does the road or the vendor pick up the fuel costs?

I assume some demos are in response to RFPs to add or replace units and others are "Hey check out our new .. " that the vendor wants more testing than can be done in Pueblo 

Railroads fuel 'demos' as they are actually moving freight that they are getting paid to move with the 'demos'.  Manufacturers build 'demos' when the feel they have the 'next big breakthrough' in some critical area of performance - pulling power, fuel economy, emissions performance, steerability - issues that carriers have mentioned their dissatisfaction with in the past.

Pueblo testing is more of a 'proof of concept' testing - Demos are subject to real world day in, day out tests in revenue service and their performance is charted against know performance metrics on the territories where the demos are operated.

[mudchicken]

TTCI still does all the accelerated run to failure stuff, but also takes on targeted verification of the manufacturer's claims in place of the railroads.