NSB Di 6
Encyclopedia
NSB Di 6 is a class of twelve diesel-electric locomotive
s built by Siemens
for the Norwegian State Railways from 1995 to 1996. Twelve engines were built at the MaK
plant in Kiel
whilst it was part of Siemens Schienenfahrzeugtechnik
, and numbered Di 6-661 to 6-672.
, in particular for freight and passenger trains on the Nordland Line. In 1980, the company had taken delivery of five Di 4
from Henschel, and NSB wanted a similar, albeit slightly more modern, locomotive. A MaK DE 1024
was test-run in Norway during 1990, and on 23 November 1992, the board of NSB decided to order ten similar units. This was later expanded with another two, because the price was lower than initially estimated by NSB. The Di 6 would have motors from Siemens, who had bought MaK, and would be optimized for Norwegian conditions and standards. The contract was worth NOK 380 million, or NOK 32 million per unit.
The contract called for the first delivery in February 1995. The contract called for several of the components to be manufactured by NSB, including the fuel tanks, sandboxes, engine frames, generator and some components for the bogies. The first locomotive was delivered on 7 March 1996. The locomotive proved to not meet the specifications in the contract. In particular, the locomotives had too high fuel consumption and the bogies had faults, not being sufficiently strong for the locomotive's weight. Both of these issues were difficult to solve. The Di 6 also had problems with overheating, in particular the main generator, the oil cooler and the brakes. The on-board computer failed when the temperature became too low.
NSB's administration recommended on 23 September 1996 that the purchase be terminated, but this was put on hold by the board. Instead, a renegotiated contract was made, where Siemens was obliged to deliver the locomotives, as specified, by mid 1997. If not, the two parties were agreed that the contract would be terminated. By then, five locomotives had been delivered, and these were returned to Kiel
for upgrades. The first returned on 30 November, after the ventilator motors had been upgraded, new oil coolers installed and other minor upgrades had been done. From January 1997, they were put into regular use with freight trains on the Nordland Line. In mid-1997, no. 664 had been damaged in a fire caused by an incorrectly mounted exhaust system.
NSB's board decided on 17 December 1997 to purchase eleven of the locomotives, but not no. 664. This was based on an agreement where NSB would receive compensation for the incurred losses due to late delivery and under-performance. Siemens guaranteed that ten of eleven locomotives would have be operational at any time. But technical problems continued to haunt the class, and in April 1998, NSB's board announced they would terminate the agreement from 1 July 1998, if the locomotives had not achieved nominal regularity. This was rejected by Siemens, and NSB started preparing a court case, and signaled that it would require NOK 500 million in compensation.
The issue never reached the courts, after the parties announced on 5 May 1999 that they had reached an agreement for the trains to be returned to Siemens, and NOK 485 million be compensated to NSB, after about NOK 80 million had already been given in discount previously. The locomotives were immediately dismounted of any NSB-owned equipment and sent by ship to Hamburg on 20 May.
, a division of Siemens that offered short-term leasing of locomotives. They were rebuilt to meet German standards and UIC profile. They were given the designation ME 26. Among the leasers were Cargolink
, Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois
, CTL Logistics
, Hoyer Railserv, HSL-Logistik, KEP Logistik, NetLog Netzwerklogistik, Neuss-Düsseldorfer Häfen, Norddeutsche Eisenbahngesellschaft, Nord-Ostsee-Bahn, Osthavelländische Eisenbahn, RSE Cargo, Regental Bahnbetriebs, Schneider & Schneider, Seehafen Kiel and Verkehrsbetriebe Peine-Salzgitter.
In November 2003, the locomotives were sold to the transport technology manufacturer Vossloh
and given the designation DE 2700. The main contract for leasing was then the Veolia-owned Nord-Ostse-Bahn, that operates a commuter rail in Schleswig-Holstein
, Germany. They operate hauling six to ten-car passengers trains. In 2008, three locomotives returned to Norway, when Cargolink
leased them for their new autorack
freight operations.
s, each with three powered standard gauge
axle
s, giving a Co'Co' wheel arrangement. The wheel diameter is 1.06 metres (3.5 ft) and the bogie center distance is 11.75 metre. The motors are delivered by Siemens, and give a maximum speed of 160 km/h (99.4 mph). The fuel capacity is 5000 litres (10,566.9 US pt). The locomotives can be run in multiple with NSB's Di 3, Di 4 and Di8.
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s built by Siemens
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
for the Norwegian State Railways from 1995 to 1996. Twelve engines were built at the MaK
Maschinenbau Kiel
Maschinenbau Kiel GmbH designed, manufactured and marketed marine diesel engines, diesel locomotives and tracked vehicles under the MaK brand name. The three primary operating divisions of Maschinenbau Kiel GmbH were sold to different companies in the 1990s.Rheinmetall acquired the military...
plant in Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
whilst it was part of Siemens Schienenfahrzeugtechnik
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
, and numbered Di 6-661 to 6-672.
Construction
During the late 1980s, the Norwegian State Railways was looking for a new locomotive to replace the aging Di 3NSB Di 3
NSB Di 3 is a class of 35 diesel-electric locomotives built by Nydqvist och Holm for the Norwegian State Railways . The class was built between 1954 and 1969, and delivered in two series, Di 3a and Di 3b. They are based on the Electro-Motive Division F7 and are equipped with EMD 567 engines...
, in particular for freight and passenger trains on the Nordland Line. In 1980, the company had taken delivery of five Di 4
NSB Di 4
The NSB Di 4 is a diesel-electric locomotive used by Norwegian NSB railways to haul passenger trains on stretches which are not electrified. They are used mostly on Nordlandsbanen, since the other unelectrified stretches are usually served by diesel multiple units.The five Di 4s which were built...
from Henschel, and NSB wanted a similar, albeit slightly more modern, locomotive. A MaK DE 1024
DB Class 240
The DB Class 240 are a class of Co'Co' diesel electric locomotives which were produced in the 1980s by MaK in collaboration with Krupp and ABB as DE 1024 as prototypes/technology demonstrators for a possible future order from the Deutsche Bundesbahn....
was test-run in Norway during 1990, and on 23 November 1992, the board of NSB decided to order ten similar units. This was later expanded with another two, because the price was lower than initially estimated by NSB. The Di 6 would have motors from Siemens, who had bought MaK, and would be optimized for Norwegian conditions and standards. The contract was worth NOK 380 million, or NOK 32 million per unit.
The contract called for the first delivery in February 1995. The contract called for several of the components to be manufactured by NSB, including the fuel tanks, sandboxes, engine frames, generator and some components for the bogies. The first locomotive was delivered on 7 March 1996. The locomotive proved to not meet the specifications in the contract. In particular, the locomotives had too high fuel consumption and the bogies had faults, not being sufficiently strong for the locomotive's weight. Both of these issues were difficult to solve. The Di 6 also had problems with overheating, in particular the main generator, the oil cooler and the brakes. The on-board computer failed when the temperature became too low.
NSB's administration recommended on 23 September 1996 that the purchase be terminated, but this was put on hold by the board. Instead, a renegotiated contract was made, where Siemens was obliged to deliver the locomotives, as specified, by mid 1997. If not, the two parties were agreed that the contract would be terminated. By then, five locomotives had been delivered, and these were returned to Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
for upgrades. The first returned on 30 November, after the ventilator motors had been upgraded, new oil coolers installed and other minor upgrades had been done. From January 1997, they were put into regular use with freight trains on the Nordland Line. In mid-1997, no. 664 had been damaged in a fire caused by an incorrectly mounted exhaust system.
NSB's board decided on 17 December 1997 to purchase eleven of the locomotives, but not no. 664. This was based on an agreement where NSB would receive compensation for the incurred losses due to late delivery and under-performance. Siemens guaranteed that ten of eleven locomotives would have be operational at any time. But technical problems continued to haunt the class, and in April 1998, NSB's board announced they would terminate the agreement from 1 July 1998, if the locomotives had not achieved nominal regularity. This was rejected by Siemens, and NSB started preparing a court case, and signaled that it would require NOK 500 million in compensation.
The issue never reached the courts, after the parties announced on 5 May 1999 that they had reached an agreement for the trains to be returned to Siemens, and NOK 485 million be compensated to NSB, after about NOK 80 million had already been given in discount previously. The locomotives were immediately dismounted of any NSB-owned equipment and sent by ship to Hamburg on 20 May.
Operation
Following the return to German, the locomotives were transferred to DispolokDispolok
Siemens Dispolok Ltd. was a locomotive leasing company wholly owned by Siemens Transportation Systems offering locomotives for hire to European rail operators. On the 21st of September 2006 it was bought by Mitsui Rail Capital Europe BV a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Mitsui & Co...
, a division of Siemens that offered short-term leasing of locomotives. They were rebuilt to meet German standards and UIC profile. They were given the designation ME 26. Among the leasers were Cargolink
Cargolink
Cargolink AS is a Norwegian railway company. Owned by the automotive distribution company Autolink, Cargolink has operated both autorack and container trains since November 2008. Cargolink has a fleet of ten diesel locomotives, five shunters, 100 autoracks and 60 container cars...
, Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois
Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois
Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois is the national railway company of Luxembourg. In 2005, the company carried approximately 14.1 million passengers and 11.7 million tonnes of goods...
, CTL Logistics
CTL Logistics
CTL Logistics is a Polish rail JSC company operating mainly in freight transport. It consist of several dependent companies responsible for different areas of railway business. It is the biggest private railway company in Poland.-Share in local market:...
, Hoyer Railserv, HSL-Logistik, KEP Logistik, NetLog Netzwerklogistik, Neuss-Düsseldorfer Häfen, Norddeutsche Eisenbahngesellschaft, Nord-Ostsee-Bahn, Osthavelländische Eisenbahn, RSE Cargo, Regental Bahnbetriebs, Schneider & Schneider, Seehafen Kiel and Verkehrsbetriebe Peine-Salzgitter.
In November 2003, the locomotives were sold to the transport technology manufacturer Vossloh
Vossloh
Vossloh AG is a German transport technology manufacturer based in the Westphalian town of Werdohl. The group has 4,700 employees , and generated sales of €1.2 billion, of which approximately 60% came from the rail infrastructure division, and the remainder from the motive power and components...
and given the designation DE 2700. The main contract for leasing was then the Veolia-owned Nord-Ostse-Bahn, that operates a commuter rail in Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
, Germany. They operate hauling six to ten-car passengers trains. In 2008, three locomotives returned to Norway, when Cargolink
Cargolink
Cargolink AS is a Norwegian railway company. Owned by the automotive distribution company Autolink, Cargolink has operated both autorack and container trains since November 2008. Cargolink has a fleet of ten diesel locomotives, five shunters, 100 autoracks and 60 container cars...
leased them for their new autorack
Autorack
An autorack, also known as an auto carrier, is a specialized piece of railroad rolling stock used to transport automobiles and light trucks, generally from factories to automotive distributors...
freight operations.
Specifications
The bidirectional locomotives are 20.96 metre long, 3 metre wide and 4.38 metre tall. The operating weight is 122 tonnes (120.1 LT). The prime mover is a MaK 12-cylinder 12M282 that provides a power output of 2650 kW at 1000 revolutions per minute. The locomotives have two bogieBogie
A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage/car or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar...
s, each with three powered standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
axle
Axle
An axle is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to its surroundings, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearings or bushings are provided at the mounting points where the axle...
s, giving a Co'Co' wheel arrangement. The wheel diameter is 1.06 metres (3.5 ft) and the bogie center distance is 11.75 metre. The motors are delivered by Siemens, and give a maximum speed of 160 km/h (99.4 mph). The fuel capacity is 5000 litres (10,566.9 US pt). The locomotives can be run in multiple with NSB's Di 3, Di 4 and Di8.