New locomotives for Tata Steel

RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE 51

New Equipment

Below: The CBD90 at Port Talbot.

Above: The CBD90 locomotive inside the despatch end of the Tata Steel works at Port Talbot.

Below: The line of sight looking forwards along the locomotive’s bonnet.

In business for over 88 years, ClaytonEquipment is now the only independent

locomotive manufacturer in the UK capable ofdesigning and manufacturing locomotivesfrom 1.75 tonnes to 135 tonnes, for trackgauges from 457mm to 1,676mm.

The company designs and builds a widerange of products including battery, diesel,overhead (trolley), rubber-tyred, battery-dieseland battery-diesel third-rail hybrid locomotivesas well as bespoke rail construction equipmentsuch as tunnel drilling rigs. It has suppliedequipment to over 60 countries, supporting theindustrial depot, metro, main line, tunnelling andmining industries.

Clayton has witnessed a particular marketshift over the last few years with customerslooking for alternatives to operating traditionaldiesel-powered shunting locomotives. There area number of reasons why this is the case:n Reliability. Old locomotives, particularly‘08’ shunters, are now over 50 years old withspare parts being near impossible to source.n Cost. Operational maintenance costs aregoing up while the customers’ locomotive fleetavailability is going down (not good if yourlocomotive is key to your 24-7 operations!).n Environment. Old locomotives do not emitclean exhaust emissions, often remain onidle, burning fuel and chucking out smokewhen stationary, just to ensure that they areready when needed, and constantly drip oileverywhere they go.n Noise. Old diesel locomotives, operatingin depots near domestic housing throughoutthe night, are not popular with the neighbours!

Tata Steel orderSome of these issues were acknowledged byTata Steel, based in Port Talbot. It operates amixed aged and fleet type of diesel locomotives,which are critical to its operation. They movemolten iron in refractory-lined ‘torpedoes’ fromthe blast furnaces to the Basic OxygenSteelmaking (BOS) plant through to movingfinished rolled steel using main line railwagons. With its locomotive fleet, Tata

Description of the new shunting locomotives being supplied by Clayton to the South Wales steelworks.

Steel loads up to 2,500 tonnes and workson gradients up to 1:60 (1.7%). Through a tender process, starting in late

2018 into 2019, Clayton successfully won thecontract by proposing the optimum locomotivedesign for Tata Steel’s operations and siteconditions. Together with a competitive priceand delivering a solution that would reduceoperational costs, the locomotive allows TataSteel to increase its locomotive availability yetdeliver environmental benefits withsignificantly lower emissions.

The CBD90The Clayton CBD90 locomotive is a 90 tonne,hybrid Bo-Bo locomotive. In fact, this is thelargest locomotive designed and built in the UKfor over 16 years with a similar tractive effort toa main line Class 68, albeit limited to the slowerspeeds found in depots and industrial sites.

Power is delivered by the low-maintenance traction battery and fourmaintenance-free, high-torque electric motors.The locomotive is self-contained, with an on-board battery charging from a low emission,EU Stage V compliant diesel engine. Theengine is only 55kW and used only for batteryrecharging. It operates at the optimum speedfor maximum fuel and emission efficiencies,automatically stop/starting when the batterycharge drops below a preset level.

Lead acid batteries are still used inClayton shunting locomotives, despite the‘trend’ for lithium-based batteries. There are anumber of reasons for this use:n They are proven to last beyond theirexpected life.n They are a stable technology, so have noobsolescence concerns. Lithium batteries arerapidly changing as the technology develops,and are mainly led by the automotive industry.n They are durable in heavy-duty demandapplications. Clayton battery locomotiveshave been used for over five decadesincluding underground hard rock mining.n They have a significantly lower cost - atleast a fifth of the price of lithium batteries.n Unlike lithium, they are very low fire risk.n They are heavy, which is ideal for shuntinglocomotives requiring tractive effort!

Delivering benefitsThis CBD90 locomotive configuration enablesTata Steel to realise significant financialsavings from reduced fuel costs and nearmaintenance-free operation. It also allows ahigher service availability to support its 24-7,365 days-a-year operation and for the company

to maintain and grow its planned productivity.Clive Hannaford, Managing Director,

Clayton Equipment, said: ‘We are pleased towork with Tata Steel, designing this locomotiveto meet their specific needs. As with all of ourlocomotives, the design of this bespokelocomotive (with manufacture, test andcommissioning taking just over 24 weeks)allows Tata Steel to quickly realise thebenefits needed.

“This locomotive is the largest designedand built in the UK for over 16 years, withClayton Equipment being the only UKindependent OEM that retains this ability.Clayton Equipment and Tata Steel are alsoproud to be using high-quality steel for the 30tonne frame, supplied by Tata Steel’s PlateProfiling Centre in Wednesfield.’

Other locomotivesHowever, traditional diesel locomotives stillhave their place. This is shown by the recentlocomotives delivered by Clayton - including

seven CD40 locomotives for use on Crossrail(the world’s first Stage IV diesel locomotives)- and a CD45 locomotive for use at Ford’sDagenham site.

Another option Clayton offers is tooverhaul the customer’s existing shuntinglocomotives rather than purchasing new ones.By replacing the old mechanical transmissionsand diesel engine with a clean, maintenance-free electric solution, the capital costs arelower as the locomotive structure and wheelsets can be retained. An added benefit, ofcourse, is low emissions, reduced noise, lower operator and maintainer training,all with lower operational costs. A primeexample of this was the fleet of 10locomotives converted by Clayton on behalf ofLondon Underground. These are powered by alead acid traction battery and alsothird/fourth rail traction current.

New Equipment

52 RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE

Right: One of the hybrid locomotives suppliedby Clayton to London Underground.

Above: The main frame of the locomotiveunder construction in Clayton’s workshops.

One of the bogies (below) and the battery box(right) from the CBD90 locomotive.