TRACTION & STOCK
The trailblazing red ‘Sheds’
First in class fitted with ETCS equipment, No. 66039 is prepared for dynamic testing and company’s first regeared Class 66/6 enters service.
Compiled by Graeme Pickering
SIXTEEN months after the process to fit European Train Control System (ETCS) in-cab signalling equipment to DB Cargo Class 66 No. 66039 began at Progress Rail in Doncaster, the locomotive was moved (April 26) to Network Rail’s Melton Mowbray Rail Innovation & Development Centre (RIDC) in preparation for dynamic trials.
The ‘Shed’, which has already undergone static testing, is the first in its class to be fitted with ETCS. To date, from the design stage, four years of work has gone into the project, which will form the blueprint for equipping other Class 66s and Class 67s.