Here they are. Series 334 from RENFE, wich are capable of reaching 200 km/h. Here's a video of them in action (with some high speed passenger Talgos that in this video reach speeds in the vicinity of 95 mph)
watch?v=nZPI3UTukZo&feature=relmfu
Cool, thanks for sharing!!!!!!!
Darren (BLHS & CRRM Lifetime Member)
Delaware and Hudson Virtual Museum (DHVM), Railroad Adventures (RRAdventures)
My Blog
Mario_v Here they are. Series 334 from RENFE, wich are capable of reaching 200 km/h. Here's a video of them in action (with some high speed passenger Talgos that in this video reach speeds in the vicinity of 95 mph)
Mario:
Thanks for sharing the video here. To many of us European railroad equipment is a mystery. Out here n the Midwest you don't too much variet. A locomotive is either GE or Not GE
Since Caterpillar now owns what was once a GM subsidiary ( Electro-Motive Diesel) and what ever they are choosing to call it this year. And it seems all are saying they offer some kind of Passenger Commuter Engine, with "Green" being the current, politically correct adjective to call whatever kind a manufacturer is building. The definition of what defines a 'passenger locomotive' is now open to conversation.
We even have a group of scientists who want to build a steam locomotibe capable of 200 MPH. I think they are going to fire it with some kind of compacted fuel product they will produce and sell... some kind of an Organic Buffalo Chip. Here in Kansas some refer to them as Cow Patties.
We have a government that is throwing bushels of money at anything they think will produce "energy". So about the only thing they have not tried is firing a 747 with Hay Bales. While at the same time trying to fund Passenger Rail [AMTRAK] as one would give money a Bum standing on a corner, with pencils and a tin cup. But I digress.
Found this link to the 334 Diesel. Kind of interesting history:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RENFE_Class_334
and this at RailPictures:
http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?locomotive=Vosloh%20334
Having a cab on either end sure solves the problem of turning the engine for the Return Trip.
Thansk, Mario for sharing the video link and information.
wonder if can meet all FRA requirements ??
In reference to another thread Did notice several grade crossing with only cross bucks and no automatic protectionl. Mario have any idea of how many grade crossing accidents in Spain?
200 kph is equivalent to 124 miles per hour.
The tight clearance diagram in Continental Europe and the UK all but precludes the use of hood units and double cabs are the norm.
In the past (60s, 70s and 80s), I remember seeing a lot of archived news mentioning some very serious grade crossing accidents. Today, those are very limited, and this kind of unprotected crossing is somehow rare. In this case, when such crossings exist in the spanish network, speed is limited to 155 Kmhr when a train passes thru it.
These are the engines that wre replaced by the 334's. These units were more powerfull (4000 HP diesel hidraulics) built by Krauss Maffei specifically for Talgo services, although they could haul regular trains, something that happened in an episodical manner. Due to accidents most were destroyed and only one unit exists, being today in the railway museum of Villanueva I la Geltru wich is close to Barcelona, and sadly it is not in operational condition
watch?v=oROT2osHrDE
The catenary might be similar, but it's very different from PRR's. Curiousely or not, it has some very distnt (GN) influence (the first DC electrification in Spain was installed in the Pajares mountain passs, in the early 20s, and it was 100% US and GN influenced, hence the 'distant' moniker I used. This went all the way from locomotives - boxcabs built by Alco -, to the searchlight type signals used).
The catenary shown in this last video is 3000 volt, DC, and it's already a modernized version (that station seems to be Villalba de Guadarrama in the old 'North' mainline, and the train shown is the daily Talgo going to Vig/A Coruña (it has two sets that split at Ourense), wich now uses the new Madrid - Valladolid high speed line), since the original one, isntalled between Madrid and Avila in 1946 used different poles and also a differente voltage (1500 DC, changed to 3000 in the 70s, but keeping the originl poles ).. Normally the trip between Madrid and Avila was a nice one, with 2,2 grades in between, and this Talgo was the fastest train (took 1hr14mins to cover 120,6 kms in the late 90s). I don't know why but my spanish neighbours have a tendency of using disel power under long streches of wire
3,000VDC electrification would imply a Milwaukee (St Paul) influence. The original Spanish electrification was covered in CERA's Electrification by GE.
From what I've heard in Spain, normally the influence that everyone interrested in rail history there, was the fact that the influence of the Pajares electrification project came from GN, although a couple of times Milw has also been mentioned. It is interesting to mention taht the company that owned the line (up until 1941 when RENFE was formed), the so called 'Norte' Railway, had more influences to wich electrification is concerned than meets the eye,a nd it was some sort of bipolar one. Besides this specifical project for a mountain pass, it also choose 1500 V, DC to electrify another mountain pass, in this case the section from Miranda de Ebro to the french border in Irun. In this case it was a very strong french influence (there were french shareholders ...), visible also in other aspects (station buildings, freight stations, locomotives). It was also the same reason that took the same company to start it's electrification project of the Sierra de Guadarrama pass (Madrid to Avila) using the '1,5 Kv' option, tehse one never terminated, due to local civil war of 1936-39 (it was completed by RENFE using Norte's plans).
About that CERA publication. Where can I get it ?
Coing back to the 334 diesels, I don't know why, but I have the tendency of calling it F60PHs
Mario,
The CERA book is bulletin 116 (B-116) and unfortunately as been out o print for a number of years (I got my copy spring of 1977). The book is essentially a series of reprints from various articles from the General Electric Review covering the BA&P, Milw, NYC, DL&W, IC and others.
You may have luck finding a copy from a used book dealer.
- Erik
CSSHEGEWISCH The tight clearance diagram in Continental Europe and the UK all but precludes the use of hood units and double cabs are the norm.
The reason for the double cabs is that most European railroads run trains with one or two locomotives on shorter runs than North America. And rarely there are turntables/triangles for turning around the locomotives.
There were many hood units in Europe (example: MLW MX636 in Greece), but these depended on having a turntable at the end of the run (or running back-to-back with a class sister)
N.F.
These are not EMD locomotives. These locos were constructed by Vossloh, Espana and are based upon Alstom designs. Yes, they do have EMD component sets.
Recall that Vossloh was an unsucessful bidder for the most recent MBTA loco order-which went to MPI.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.