Datafever wrote:pedrop, do you know what the curvature radius would be on some of those tight curves?
I´m not sure, but somebody said less than 150 meters. I will check with a friend of mine at FCA headquarters and soon I will tell you.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Murphy Siding wrote: Is there a steel plant in Brazil that the iron ore is shipped to, or is it exported?
I'm sure there are steel mills in Brazil, but the majority of the Ore is exported. China and Japan get large amounts, as does Europe, mainly through the port of Rotterdam. In fact the largest Iron Ore carrying ship in the World, the Berge Stahl, shuttles between Ponta da Madeira, Brazil and Rotterdam.
More Information on Berge Stahl
Pedro: The photos are something else!
Thanks for sharing them with us. I am curious about the bolster arangement between the locomotive trucks.
How much height does it add to the overall height of the loco; there was on photo and it looked like it might have been between two and three feet to the overall height of the B-B+B-B locomotive?
Are all the axles powered or do they have some dead axles? As in the A-1-A + A-1-A arrangements, as was used on some passenger locomotives here?
How far out will they swing when tracking on the smaller radii curves?
HI Murphy Siding,
yes, Brazil have a lot of steel plants, most of them in Soultheast. Big steel plants like CSN and Usiminas are good place to see trains because they have huge yards close the roads. CSN is served by MRS and FCA. Usiminas is served by EFVM only. Many other small plants are served by one or other railroad. China intends to build a huge steel plant here in Brazil and it could be one of the biggest in the world. The chineses want a lot of steel and here they have it.
Here is the english version of CSN site:
http://csna0004.csn.com.br/portal/page?_pageid=843,77319&_dad=ebiz&_schema=PORTAL
Here is the english version of USIMINAS site:
http://eng.usiminas.com.br/FrontDoor/
Pedro
Hello Pedro!
You were just the person who I was looking for...
This might be OT for the Trains.com forum, but do model the railroads in Brazil?
I am trying to find out if this company still produces HO models.
http://www.csclw.com.br/
The model I am looking at is the Alco RSD-8 export loco, that I want to kitbash into a US Army MRS-1. It's the closest model that I have ever found to a MRS-1.
The company also makes a GE "Little Joe" like the ones that the MILW and CSS&SB used. There is another, more advertised company that produces one, also.
I have tried e-mailing the company numerous times, with no reply. They can translate my message if they wanted to. I even translated it one time myself, and sent it. Maybe you or one of your buddies down in Brazil knows about the company.
Thanks!
Phil Martin
Murphy Siding wrote: Hi Pedro! Besides iron ore, what else moves in big quantities by train in Brazil? I've read more and more about units going to South American countries. Is this a sign of growth in the railroad industry, or just replacement of old equipment?
have
HI Murphy Siding
Brazil has a lot of minerals, like bauxite, manganese, copper, limestone, coal. The railroads here also carry coque, petroleum products, chemical produts, wood, soybean, steel, containers, cement and a lot more. My area is served by MRS, EFVM and FCA. MRS carry iron ore as a main product, but it also carry cement, containers, steel products. FCA carry soybean, limestone, cement, stone blocks, containers, steel. EFVM carry iron ore, manganese, steel, containers, soybean, cement, wood. The railroads are growing up very fast since the government privatized them in 1996. Most of the companies are buying new locos in US too, but since the companies like GE and GM do not have time to build the locos as the companies need, they bought second hand locos to support the services untill the new locos arrive here.
The photo below shows brand new MRS C38MEi loading an iron ore train at Casa de Pedra mine. These locos were special built by GE to MRS. They are havier than an C44-9W, but has just 3,800 hp because MRS do not approved locos with more than 4,000 hp.
Here is the same picture I enclose above, but in better size.
pedrop wrote: These locos were special built by GE to MRS. They are havier than an C44-9W, but has just 3,800 hp because MRS do not approved locos with more than 4,000 hp.
These locos were special built by GE to MRS. They are havier than an C44-9W, but has just 3,800 hp because MRS do not approved locos with more than 4,000 hp.
Interesting. Why doesn't MRS approve of locomotives over 4,000 hp.? That seems odd.
PBenham wrote:Mighty impressive, indeed. The scenery should attract passengers, but is there passenger service there?
Hi PBenham,
yes we have passenger service in some places here. EFVM have a daily train linking Belo Horizonte to Vitoria, a trip of 700 km long. EFC has a passenger train 3 times a week, linking Sao Luis to Paraopebas, a trip of 980 km long. We have tourist lines at ALL, FCA and soon at MRS lines too. EFA is the only standard gauge railroad in Brazil and has a daily passenger train too, linking Porto Santana to Serra do Navio, a trip of 200 km long through amazon forest. It´s great.
The photo below shows EFVM passenger train.
Murphy Siding wrote: Interesting. Why doesn't MRS approve of locomotives over 4,000 hp.? That seems odd.
MRS tested C44-9W for almost 6 months and not approved them because these locos have most HP than necessary and because they are light too. Being strong and light cause excessive wear on the rails, so the company and[ GE developed the C38MEi model that is havier than a C44-9W and a bit weak
wgnrr wrote:Hello Pedro!You were just the person who I was looking for...This might be OT for the Trains.com forum, but do model the railroads in Brazil?I am trying to find out if this company still produces HO models.http://www.csclw.com.br/The model I am looking at is the Alco RSD-8 export loco, that I want to kitbash into a US Army MRS-1. It's the closest model that I have ever found to a MRS-1. The company also makes a GE "Little Joe" like the ones that the MILW and CSS&SB used. There is another, more advertised company that produces one, also.I have tried e-mailing the company numerous times, with no reply. They can translate my message if they wanted to. I even translated it one time myself, and sent it. Maybe you or one of your buddies down in Brazil knows about the company.Thanks!Phil Martin
Hi Phil,
I am a N scale model railroader here, but I know Frateschi that have nice HO models, like the electric unit you saw in the site of CSCLW. The company csclw is the first time I heard about, but I sent an email to then asking about the models you want. As soon as they replay I will send you a priveted message or a email. I recomend Frateschi Little Joes (here they are known as V8). See tehn here: http://www.frateschi.com.br/
samfp1943 wrote:Pedro: The photos are something else! Thanks for sharing them with us. I am curious about the bolster arangement between the locomotive trucks. How much height does it add to the overall height of the loco; there was on photo and it looked like it might have been between two and three feet to the overall height of the B-B+B-B locomotive? Are all the axles powered or do they have some dead axles? As in the A-1-A + A-1-A arrangements, as was used on some passenger locomotives here? How far out will they swing when tracking on the smaller radii curves?
HI samfp,
I really do not have all answer to yuo now, but I asked my friends and they are looking up for me.
After the modification, the locos became a bit higher. The ex SD45-2 became the tallest locos in Brazil and it became a problem to EFVM, because they do not can pass under the iron ore silos at Itabira mines. The reason are the fans on the top. FCA solved this problem doing a step on the top to allow the fans be a bit lower. Actually, they cut the botton of that part, not the top. The BB40T-2 lost the fans on top and do not need the step on the roof, but the BB40-2 needed it. Look at the photo below. Note the black arrows showing the cut on the top and the increase on it too. The company lenghted the rear platform in the same lenght as you can see by that gray area on the top. Note they cut the botton of the rear part of the long rood, not the top. Note the new screens on the botton, they were added to allow better ventilation at that part.
yes, all the 8 motors are powered and the locos swing about one meter on the smaller curves. In some places you can see the first truck out of the front platform. These lcos have a problem to pull freight cars on narrow curves and FCA decided to put them between two samaller locos while running on that lines. When the loco is attached direct to the cars on narrow curves it can throw them out of the line. Thta´s why it is necessaruy to run between two locos, because the locos are havier and the BB40-2 do not throw them out of the line.
The photo below shows the dynamic fans in its new position inside the long roof and below the main fans of the engine motor.
Here is a train being loaded with iron ore at Casa de Pedra mine, at MRS line.
pedrop wrote: A rear view of 4830...
A rear view of 4830...
Note the size difference between 4830 (built to North American clearances) and the export model MU'ed to its nose.
Datafever wrote:About how long would it take to load one car (considering placement as part of the process)?
The train moves at 5 km per hour during the loading process and that structure at the side of the train also moves together with the train, so to load a car takes less than a minute. The train uses to have 138 cars, so it takes one and a half hour to load an entire train. Since the loading processe is done in a line side to mainline as you can see in the picture, it´s very fast to load a train. there.
pedrop wrote:The train moves at 5 km per hour during the loading process and that structure at the side of the train also moves together with the train, so to load a car takes less than a minute. The train uses to have 138 cars, so it takes one and a half hour to load an entire train. Since the loading processe is done in a line side to mainline as you can see in the picture, it´s very fast to load a train. there.
So does the loading structure move back and forth (both with and against the direction of the train's movement) in order to accommodate the inconsistent flow of materials? Or does it only tend to move in only one direction during the loading process?
I will have to say that I am impressed that a train can be loaded in 90 minutes.
Datafever wrote: So does the loading structure move back and forth (both with and against the direction of the train's movement) in order to accommodate the inconsistent flow of materials? Or does it only tend to move in only one direction during the loading process? I will have to say that I am impressed that a train can be loaded in 90 minutes.
Yes, that structure moves back and forth to adjust the ore inside the car. At Carajas mines the cars are loaded in just 10 seconds or less. They have huge silos there with two bay loading the car at a time. I have a video album in the link below. Soon I will add a video there showing a train being loaded at carajas mine. EFVM also can load a car faster than MRS, but not so fast like EFC (Carjas)
http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p41/pedrop_album/
martin.knoepfel wrote:Other question. If I understood you correctly, the engines with BB + BB-arrangement have four trucks with one pivot each. But what do you do with the D+D-units? Do they have radially steerable axles on the end of each truck. Otherwise, the rigid wheelbase seems to be quite long.
The photo below shows a close up on the pivoted area of BB+BB trucks. Also see the next photo showing a D truck.The D trucks have a big rigid wheelbase as you said here, but it isn´t a problem to EFVM because that railroad have very good curve radius, with more than 500 meters. But the DDM45 can´t run anywhere. FCA uses some DDM45 rented from EFVM, but just in some areas where the radius of the curves accept them.
Hi martin.knoepfel ,
Here is picture showing a close up on the D truck used by DDM45´s
Also, see the article about DDM45´s
JSGreen wrote:Pedro...I would like to add my vote of thanks for posting the cool photos and videos...and sharing information about the railroads in Brazil!
Hi JSGreen,
It´s a pleasure to me share information about railroads here in Brazil. See an article about BB36-7 below. I think it was published by Diesel Era...
Today 4 PRSX C36-7 locos arrived at Rio de Janeiro port. They came to MRSL. Nice to see more canadian lcos in my area
PRSX 3625 at Rio de Janeiro port.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.