The 10 ¼” gauge EVolution Class ‘double’ locomotive utilizes a 55kWh liquid cooled Lithium-ion battery pack and a pair of 90HP motors capable of regenerative braking and traction control. Light engine the loco has a range of 800 miles on a single charge, and the prototype at Audley End miniature railway comfortably hauls the 13 ton trains up 1 in 65 gradients for 10 consecutive service days (150 miles) on that single charge. With an electricity cost of around £1.20 per day it is an extremely capable and cheap locomotive to operate.
The design has been fully resolved in CAD, and although strictly not required for locomotives under 15” gauge, we put the prototype locomotive and the design through ROGS certification for type approval.
Ergonomically everything has been thoroughly considered. The footwell and valances are extremely low, at only 2” and 9” respectively above the floor to make access in and out of the cab easy. The fan heated cab is wide enough to comfortably accommodate two people, and there are heated seats and a heated dashboard to make sure it’s a warm spot in winter. The duel sided driver controls are machined in solid stainless so they feel both robust and high quality, and the single lever control for both acceleration and regenerative braking makes smooth driving easy. The regen brakes are capable of locking the locomotive wheels and although the locomotive has an onboard compressor for the air train brakes, the regen braking reduces the train brake use to emergencies and for use as a parking brake in the platforms to stabilise the carriages. This saves a huge amount of wear on both the brakes and the tyres of the carriages. There is a colour LCD screen displaying the speed, battery charge status, motor revs, temperatures and other customisable feedback, and a second colour display for the 4 cameras that monitor the rear view of the train, the rear coupling and the view in front.
Visually there are nods to design features from various full size, historical prototypes that are quite deliberate. We were keen to produce a locomotive that felt coherent and designed to consider both form and function throughout, but the essential engineering and general layout began as a blank sheet and ultimately derived directly from the performance requirements.
Crucially we are enthusiasts at The Steam Workshop with a wealth of experience within the heritage and miniature railway world and are therefore passionate about creating locomotives that go beyond the basic outline and customer’s brief. It’s important to us that everything we create feels coherent, resolved and authentic, particularly when creating a locomotive for a passenger hauling commercial miniature railway. There’s a clear opportunity to play to that sense of theatre the passengers expect, which we recognise and are excited to satisfy.
