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NRE building Watco Australia locomotives
Written by Railway Age StaffLocomotive manufacturer NRE has released details of its recent contract with Watco Australia for eight light-axle locomotives to support the latter's new contract in Queensland.
The eight six-axle 42 inch-gauge locomotives will be fitted with new NRE trucks and limited to a maximum axle load of 15.75 metric tonnes, for an overall weight of 94.5 tonnes (104 tons).
The locomotives will be equipped with an EMD 12-645E3B diesel engine rated at 1.6MW, an AR10/D14 main alternator and GE761 type traction motors. Performance specifications include at least 27% adhesion available during traction mode with 99% reliability in all weather conditions, and a demonstrated 250kN of adhesion-limited tractive effort.
Earlier this year Watco announced it would expand its Australian operations after signing a seven-year contract with grain marketer and handler GrainCorp for haulage on the narrow gauge network in the state of Queensland beginning in 2019.
– with reporting by Mark Carter, International Railway Journal