The Vossloh G1700 BB is a four axle B′B′ medium power diesel-hydraulic locomotive manufactured by Vossloh Locomotives GmbH. in
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...
.
The locomotive type is operated by private rail operators in Germany and Austria. In addition, a large order from the Swiss Federal Railway resulted in a variation of the locomotive, designated Am843, now also operated by other rail companies in Switzerland; this variant represents the majority of the locomotives of this type produced.
Locomotives equipped with a Caterpillar engine are sometimes referred to by the sub classification ''G1700-2''.
Background, design and history
The design is based on the
MaK G1206,
the first locomotive was built with a 1.5 MW MTU 12V4000 engine, a later version first presented at the 2002
InnoTrans was longer, with a raised engine centre section with a 45° edge
chamfer to accommodate a larger 1.7 MW
CAT
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
3512B engine. The lower powered 1.5MW MTU engined version did not remain in production; later orders for this power range being fulfilled by the already numerous G1206.
The design resulted in an order from the
Swiss Federal Railways for 59 G1700 type locomotives with a CAT 3512B engine rated to 1.5 MW. The Swiss design specified very low emissions, and to comply with this requirement versions of the G1700 built for
Switzerland have a
diesel particulate filter
A diesel particulate filter (DPF) is a device designed to remove diesel particulate matter or soot from the exhaust gas of a diesel engine.Tom Nash (May 2003) "Diesels: The Smoke is clearing", ''Motor '' Vol.199 No. 5, p. 54, Hearst Business Publ ...
built in.
Operators
1.5 MW MTU engined G1700
Six of the MTU engined versions were built between 2001 and 2003, the transmissions were
Voith
The Voith Group is a German manufacturer of machines for the pulp and paper industry, technical equipment for hydropower plants and drive and braking systems. The family-owned company, which operates worldwide and has its headquarters in Heid ...
L5r4zU2 as used on most of the G1206 locomotives.
Two were delivered to
COMSA
COMSA Corporación is a Spanish global group focused on infrastructure development, industrial engineering and services, whose main business historically has been railway infrastructure work.
History
Comsa
The groups beginnings can be trac ...
(Spain), one to ''Lucchini S.p.A.'' (Italy), two to German companies ''Siegener Kreisbahn GmbH'' and ''Neusser Eisenbahn'', and one locomotive owned by Vossoh and hired to private companies eventually working long term for
Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft mbH (AVG) as No.468.
1.7 MW CAT engined G1700
From 2002 onwards
CAT
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
3512B-HD engined G1700s of 1.7 MW rated power with a two speed Voith L620reU2 hydraulic transmission were sold to various private European railway operators.
[Lieferliste G 1700-2 BB](_blank)
locomotive factory numbers 1001153 and above, ''www.loks-aus-kiel.de''[In some sources this tranche of the production is referred to as Vossloh G1700-2 BB]
Twenty one have been sold to leasing companies and operators in Germany including five to ''
Häfen und Güterverkehr Köln AG'', five to ''Mittelweserbahn'', one each to ''Berliner Hafen- und Lagerhausgesellschaft mbH'', ''Graz-Köflacher Eisenbahn GmbH'', and ''Wiebe Logistik GmbH'', as well as five to leasing company Angel Trains Cargo (now
Alpha Trains
Alpha Trains is a rolling stock leasing company operating in the European Union and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) regions of mainland Europe.
It was created as ''Angel Trains International'' as a spin-off from the British rolling stock ...
) for rental to various German operators including ''Niederrheinische Verkehrsbetriebe Aktiengesellschaft'' (NIAG), ''Siegener Kreisbahn GmbH.'' (now called ''Kreisbahn Siegen-Wittgenstein''), ''Mittelweserbahn'', ''Neusser Eisenbahn'', ''Rurtalbahn GmbH.'', ''
Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft'', BASF, ''Häfen und Güterverkehr Köln AG'' (HGK) and ''Verkehrsbetriebe Peine-Salzgitter GmbH''. Leasing company
Mitsui Rail Capital also acquired three units.
Two were sold to Austrian companies ''Logistik- und Transport GmbH'' and ''Graz-Köflacher Bahn und Busbetrieb GmbH'',
and one to the
railways of Kosovo.
1.5 MW CAT engined G1700
SBB-CFF-FFS Am843
An order with the Swiss Federal Railways for 59 diesel locomotives to replace the
Bm 6/6 and
Em 6/6 types for heavy shunting in freight yards, and trip and construction work resulted in the SBB Am843. The locomotives use a Caterpillar Inc. 3512B DI-TA SCAC engine rated at and Voith L5R4zseU2 two speed hydraulic transmission giving a top speed in the lower gear.
[Am 843 locomotive of SBB Cargo with L 5r4 zseU2 turbo reversing transmission, VTDC and highly flexible coupling](_blank)
''www.voithturbo.com'' The locomotives also have a
particulate filter engineered by Hug Engineering of Switzerland which reduces NOx and particulate emissions to low levels.
Initially the order of 59 locomotives was for 40 for SBB Cargo, 14 for infrastructure and 4 for passenger services,
as the order was fulfilled the locomotives assigned to passenger train work were reassigned to SBB Cargo, and. with the increase in cross border traffic, fitted with the
Indusi safety system for German operations. 14 more locomotives were ordered in 2005.
Locomotives numbered Am843-001 to Am843-028 are assigned to the infrastructure division (SBB Infra), Am843-041 to Am843-043 were delivered in 2009 and assigned to passenger division ''SBB Personenverkehr'', and Am843-050 to Am843-095 were assigned to SBB Cargo.
[Lieferliste Am 843](_blank)
''www.loks-aus-kiel.de''
Other Swiss Am843 operators
Sersa Group ordered 3 Am843 type locomotives for work on the
Lötschberg Base Tunnel
, line = Lötschberg Line
, location = Traversing the Bernese Alps in Switzerland
, coordinates = –
, system = BLS, SBB CFF FFS
, status =
, start = Frutigen, canton of Bern,
, end = Raro ...
construction.
They were delivered in 2004 and named ''Trudy'', ''Barbara'' and ''Cinderalla''.
In 2006 for operations on the same tunnel
BLS AG received 3 Am843 types; these were fitted with
ETCS
The European Train Control System (ETCS) is the signalling and control component of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). It is a replacement for legacy train protection systems and designed to replace the many incompatible s ...
level 2 safety systems.
Other versions
Four units were built with 1,668 mm
Iberian gauge
Iberian gauge ( es, ancho ibérico, trocha ibérica, pt, bitola ibérica) is a track gauge of , most extensively used by the railways of Spain and Portugal. This is the second-widest gauge in regular use anywhere in the world. The Indian gauge, , ...
bogies for use by
Arcelor-Mittal
ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourgian multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed in 2006 from the takeover and merger of Arcelor by Indian-owned Mittal Steel. ArcelorMittal is the second larg ...
's Spanish operations at
Avilés,
Asturias
Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain.
It is coextensiv ...
. They have the same engine and transmission as the Swiss locomotives, but lack the additional particulate filter.
Lieferliste G 1700 BB
Locomotive numbers 5001712,5001723,5001495,5001496, ''www.loks-aus-kiel.de''
Miniature models
The G1700 and Am843 has been reproduced as a model railway model by Mehano and Piko
Piko (stylized PIKO, pronounced "peek-oh") is a German model train brand in Europe that also exports to the United States and other parts of the world.
History
Founded in 1949, PIKO was once a state-owned enterprise in the German Democratic R ...
in HO scale
HO or H0 is a rail transport modelling scale using a 1:87 scale (3.5 mm to 1 foot). It is the most popular scale of model railway in the world. The rails are spaced apart for modelling standard gauge tracks and trains in HO. NMRA"Mo ...
.
Notes
References
Literature
*
*
External links
*
The EST CRASH BUFFER
Images of Vossloh G1700 and Am843 (and other vehicles) built and retrofitted with the '' Eisenbahn-Systemtechnik GmbH.'' crash buffer system, ''www.crashbuffer.com''
Detailed description of Am843 design, ''www.lokifahrer.ch''
{{Standard gauge locomotives of Switzerland
Vossloh locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 2002
Standard gauge locomotives of Switzerland
5 ft 6 in gauge locomotives