INDUSTRIAL

CLAYTON EQUIPMENT

FOLLOWING on from the supply of two CDB80 Bo-Bo hybrid locomotives for Sellafield Ltd, Clayton has now signed a contract to supply a CB40 40-tonne 0-4-0 battery locomotive. The locomotive is self-contained, with on board charging. Battery charging is undertaken from a three-phase supply, providing 100% maximum emission free solutions. It will also include regenerative braking, which results in reduced brake wear and reduced charging times. If this is successful it could lead to the replacement of the other smaller shunters currently employed by Sellafield Ltd. Clayton has also begun shipping the first of four hybrid CBT 30-tonne emission free mining locomotives to Russia. These can take power from batteries or an overhead electric supply.

METEOR POWER

IN 2020 Meteor Power took on

No. 08649 as a test bed, with a view to replacing the original diesel engine with batteries. The new hybrid system comprises a Euro Stage 3A compliant (potentially upgradable to Stage 5 compliant) John Deere 6.8 litre diesel engine connected to an alternator to recharge the battery pack. The latter consists of recycled batteries from Tesla Model 3 cars. The contract was awarded in July 2019 and testing was due to be carried out in 2020 at the Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway, once work at the Silverstone site was completed. However, things have now moved on. Working with its Silverstone partner Motive Zero, Meteor has now relocated the ‘08’ (along with recently acquired No. 37207) to the Very Light Rail Innovation Centre at Dudley to use the site’s facilities and test track as they look to hybridise both locomotives. Motive Zero moved to the VLR site at the start of August. The projects are receiving support from the Department for Transport and Innovate UK’s ‘First of A Kind Rail Innovation Fund’.