Co-Co is a code for a locomotive wheel arrangement with two six-wheeled bogies with all axles powered, with a separate motor per axle. Co+Co is the code for a similar wheel arrangement but with an articulated connection between the bogies. The equivalent UIC classification for this arrangement is Co′Co′. Co-Cos are most suited to freight work as the extra wheels give them good traction. They are also popular because the greater number of axles results in a lower axle load to the track.
Notable examples include the British Rail Class 47, the Soviet M62 locomotive and the EMD Series 66, mainstay of many current European heavy rail haulage fleets, over 500 having been built to date. The very strong IORE locomotive has this also, but to allow higher locomotive weight, 30 tonnes per axle.
Famous quotes containing the word locomotives:
“The flower-fed buffaloes of the spring
In the days of long ago,
Ranged where the locomotives sing
And the prairie flowers lie low:—”
—Vachel Lindsay (1879–1931)