Railfreight Detroit delight Kneeling truck
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• Railfreight is reporting "reasonably astounding" results from its initial two-month trial of Detroit Diesel's Series 60 engine in terms of "economy, driveability, cleanliness and smoothness".
British Rail's freight arm is one of two operators currently road testing the Series 60. It is trying out the 11,1-litre version, rated at 242kW (325hp), in a Foden; Ripon-based haulier Alfred Hymas is evaluating the 272kW (365hp) 12.7-litre engine (CM 17-23 January).
Alan Wisely, Rallfreight's road fleet engineer, says the engine is producing better fuel economy than a Perkins Txpowered Foden on a similar operation, although he admits it is not a controlled test. Wisely approves of advanced features including the brushless alternator, but stresses that price will be a key factor in determining whether Railfreight opts for the Series 60 if it is offered by UK manufacturers.
Detroit Diesel is pressing ahead with plans to establish a foothold in the European market. It has fitted a Series 60 engine to a Czech-built Liaz
tractive unit (CM 25-31 October 1990), and is talking to several West European truck manufacturers. But Paul Moreton, vice-president for international affairs, says: "Type Approval in different countries is a problem."
Meanwhile, Cummins' Celect range of fuel-injected electronic engines, unveiled at the Birmingham Motor Show, will go on sale in the UK by the middle of next year.
Celect models are now in service with US operators.
Perkins is about to launch a 298kW (400hp) version of its Tx Eagle engine. Foden will be offering the engine in its 4000 Series tractive unit as an alternative to the equivalent Cummins unit (CM 30 August4 September 1990).