Английский язык. Никитина С.Я. - 7 стр.

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7
The strategy itself was fine, but a railway in the late 1990s was using power
adequate for the 1970s – that is, about 20 years obsolete! The railways were facing
heavy competition from modern highways – usually built during the last 40 years and
thus designed to more modern standards than the railways – on which heavy nine-axle
lorries are now allowed. The railways soon realized they needed something more
modern if they were to survive and prosper.
Modern locomotives are available, built either in Brazil by the GE
1
-controlled
Gevisa plant or imported. Other than the cost involved, there is little to be said against
them.
The ALL company came up with a new solution, certainly cheaper than
upgrading engines as MRS was doing. It took retired GV G12s, rebuilt them as
boosters, placed each one between two normal GM
2
G22s, and thereby increased
tractive effort by 50 per cent at low speeds. Boosters are used in the United States for
switching. ALL decided to use them on main lines with steep grades.
ALL has so far converted 17 retired locomotives to boosters. It estimates that a
retired locomotive can be converted into a booster for $US 250,000, which is
considered to be a profitable bargain
3
as locomotive prices go up these days!
Both FCA and MRS have announced they would test the concept. FCA will take
a retired Montreal GE-built 160kW locomotive and convert it into a booster to operate
between two similar locomotives. MRS is still studying what will be the first prototype
it will build.
Boosters can’t always be used, which explains MRS’s recent import of used
locomotives, even at the cost of regauging.
MRS Logistics bought the richest part of RFSA, which wasn’t as dilapidated as
much of the rest of the railway. RFSA, however, lacked the resources for much needed
modernization. As a result MRS Logistics took over lots of obsolete locomotives. One
of its first steps was to pay local rebuilder, Tecfer to rebuild and upgrade GM Sd40s
and Sd40-2s. MRS then signed a contract with Gevisa for 19 GE U23Cs retired
locomotives to be rebuilt and upgraded to C30-7MPs, i.e. C30 with microprocessor
control.
Meanwhile United States Class 1 railways sold some of their older locomotives
to regional railways. As GM and GE will finance new locomotives even for regionals,
MRS decided to take advantage of the fact and buy these locomotives.
In fact, some of the locomotives the Class 1 were selling dated from the 1980s,
have much more modern equipment than the power inherited from RFSA. RFSA had
stopped buying locomotives in the 1970s with very few exceptions, a problem that
occurred in many developing countries.
But what about regauging? This can be costly, but MRS tried to solve the
problem buying second-hand standard-gauge locomotives and fitting them with the
bogies of old broad-gauge units. The mechanical parts of the standard-gauge bogies
were installed on the old broad-gauge bogies. A standard-gauge locomotive runs on
broad-gauge bogies without the cost of regauging!

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