Revolution Trains has been able to go and visit the first of the new Class 93s – 93001 – at the depot being used by its owners Rail Operations Group as a base for the approvals procedures now needed before the locomotives can enter service.
The Class 93s are tri-modes – able to draw power from 25kV OHLE, from an onboard battery pack or from a 1200hp Caterpillar diesel. They are designed as a flexible go-anywhere option (one reason why, unlike early renders, the finished loco has a yellow front panel) and this week ROG have been displaying the new arrival to a succession of potential users.
Our visit is going to be the first of several as we adapt the CADs we already have (derived from information sent by Stadler) to match the locomotive as it is built and incorporating alterations made during that process.
For example, some parts of the underframe have been altered or reconfigured and initially the design followed European practice in not having cab door windows; these have since been added and will be to our CAD of course.
For ROG the next stage is a combination of testing both in Britain and abroad and there may well be further changes to ensure the locomotive conforms to any further gauging, safety, operator or staff requirements and these will be incorporated.
While we are keen to develop this model as quickly as possible we will not begin the expensive tooling until the locomotive is in its ‘service’ condition; furthermore the licence we have with Stadler and ROG stipulates that the models must not be released before the locomotives begin to enter service.
We’d like to thank the team at ROG for welcoming us yesterday, and for a rather nice guidebook, and look forward to providing further updates as the project develops. In the next week or so look out for a short video giving more detailed information about this trip and the next stage of the locomotive’s development and introduction.