NORWAY: Vossloh Locomotives has delivered a G1000BB diesel-hydraulic to Sydvaranger Gruve, which is restarting iron ore production at a mothballed mine at Kirkenes in the far north of Norway. The locomotive will make up to 20 trips a day along an 8 km isolated standard gauge railway which links the mine to Kirkenes harbour.
It is powered by an MTU 8V 4000 R 41L engine rated at 1·1 MW, and is designed to operate in temperatures from -25 to 35°C without a reduction in power output. Customer-specific requirements include software limiting the normal 100 km/h top speed to 45 km/h, snow ploughs, an air supply for opening wagon doors, radio remote control and AAR centre couplers in place of UIC screw couplings.
As a back-up, Sydvaranger Gruve has retained the MaK G1203 locomotive which was used at the mine until operations were suspended in 1997. The existing fleet of wagons has also been refurbished and tracks relayed with concrete sleepers as part of the reopening project.
