Protected Species
GB Railfreight's Belmond Royal Scostman-liveried Class 66, 66743 working in multi with Class 73/9, 73969 stand at Inverness having arrived with the Caledonian Sleeper Down Highlander service (1S25) from London Euston.
The Class 73/9s are currently running with Class 66s on both the Inverness and Fort William portions to reduce the risk of failures and wear and tear on the EDs following recent reliability issues. These issues have been compounded with two of the micro-fleet of six GBCS Class 73/9s being on the long-term casualty list, namely 968 (fire damage) and 966 (severe wheelflats).
The 73/9 work in multi with the Class 66s (via the AAR system) and provide traction power as well as ETH and the Dellner coupling to the MK5 stock. However, the presence of the 3,300hp EMD on the front means the 73/9s don't need to work on full power and thus there is less strain on the EDs.
Protected Species
GB Railfreight's Belmond Royal Scostman-liveried Class 66, 66743 working in multi with Class 73/9, 73969 stand at Inverness having arrived with the Caledonian Sleeper Down Highlander service (1S25) from London Euston.
The Class 73/9s are currently running with Class 66s on both the Inverness and Fort William portions to reduce the risk of failures and wear and tear on the EDs following recent reliability issues. These issues have been compounded with two of the micro-fleet of six GBCS Class 73/9s being on the long-term casualty list, namely 968 (fire damage) and 966 (severe wheelflats).
The 73/9 work in multi with the Class 66s (via the AAR system) and provide traction power as well as ETH and the Dellner coupling to the MK5 stock. However, the presence of the 3,300hp EMD on the front means the 73/9s don't need to work on full power and thus there is less strain on the EDs.