GB Railfreight 66751 Inspiration Delivered Hitachi Rail Europe has been modified with a retractable Scharfenberg Coupler. This is for use hauling Hitachi Class 800/801 Intercity Express Programme (IEP) trains to and from the Old Dalby test track.
The coupler, manufactured by Dellner, is mounted onto the locomotive’s drawgear and is secured in place using the eye of the draw hook, having removed the conventional screw coupling.
The new coupling is raised and lowered using a winch that is fitted onto a secure bracket. This is fitted to the transportation rings, which were used when the ‘66’ was transported to Germany from America when built.
The coupler is semi-permanent, and GBRf said it is likely to remain in place until December 2015. It can haul IEPs at up to 60mph.
The ‘66’ is air-braked, and this air supply feeds a ‘translator’ unit built into the nose of the IEP. This translator converts the ‘air brake’ into an ‘electrical signal’ that then operates the brakes of the IEP.
GBRf said 66751 “will be used as a dedicated resource to haul Hitachi Rail Europe’s Class 800 pre-series train for the Intercity Express Programme between the Rail Innovation and Development Centre and the East Coast Main Line”.
- For more on this subject, see RAIL 774, published on May 13 2015.
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