This is the first picture I’ve seen of the new JS37ACi locomotives, 30 of which are being built for Freightliner (UK) where they will be known as “class 70”. The outwardly projecting handrails are presumably temporary as they appear to be out of gauge. They are to be C-Cs, so the truck is presumably temporary too. I am sure we will all come to accept the aesthetics in due course…
Possibly not… but it must look better when painted, won’t it?
M636C
Getting a message that this image doesn’t exist anymore. It’s OK as of now.
A locomotive in search of esthetics’s…while art may be in the eye of the beholder…it looks like something out of super hero cartoons.[tdn]
Found this on the Freightliner/UK web site.
Artists rendering is much better than the beast pictured in the original post.
The original link is still working, and yes I agree with the comments there. Not exactly pretty.
That makes a BL2 look like a PA by comparison.[xx(]
Diesel Truck!
No. Too ugly for that.
There’s now a video clip as well - first test
(but it’s hard to tell if the engine noise is from the new loco or the one behind it - the JS37ACi uses a new, high-speed diesel engine from GE Austria)
Tony
Part of the aesthetic problem is that the “Box” is of necessity, small. To stuff in all the components takes all the available space.
I agree - squeezing everything into a hood unit which needs to have twin cabs and to fit the small British loading gauge must be pretty challenging, and for freight power appearance is always going to be some way down the priorities list. These are also the first British locomotives to have dynamic brakes, which can’t help - DB was considered for the EMD class 59 and 66 carbody units but was rejected because of the difficulty finding room for it. The only previous attempt at a British twin-cab hood unit was the BREL class 58, which wasn’t exactly a looker either (http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=132669&nseq=15), though IMHO it wasn’t quite as unfortunate as these new GE class 70s in this respect.
For small loading gauges like that in the UK I think a traditional carbody unit is almost always going to have more pleasing proportions than a hood unit. Conversely, for really large locomotives like those in North America a covered wagon can appear very boxy and plain - consider the GE E60 family.
YIKES!!! Lets hope that the preformance will overshadow the looks…Beyond a doubt, they did not waste any monies on style/esthetic design.
Gives the term “UGLY AMERICAN” a whole new perspective.English steam designers must be rolling in their graves ROFLTAO.[2c]
There’s a nice video on YouTube of the first revenue run of a class 70 loco in the UK - the noise makes a nice change from all the EMD class 66’s…
Tony
Ah! A “Deltic” (or, perhaps, a Baldwin “Centipede”) fan heard from!
Hays
I quite like Deltics, but I’m more of a deep-throated 4-stroke fan e.g. ES44s/AC6000/old GE/Alco/English Electric/Sulzer (and old non-turbo EMDs) but I’ll take anything as a break from endless DMUs on this side of the pond…[:)]
Tony
Small train…what is the capacity of those cars?
My thoughts exactly!
28 tonnes tare / 74 tonnes capacity. British coal trains don’t come much longer than about two-dozen bogie hoppers.