History and Design
The locomotive was unveiled at Innotrans in 2000. The initial model had an asymmetric cab (see image) with a walkway; the asymmetric cab design allows the walkway to extend all the way to each end of the locomotive; coupled with remote control operation this means that shunting can be done from an external viewpoint whilst still riding on the locomotive.
The design is modular with various components (engine, drive etc.) coming from different suppliers. External styling was by Tricon-Design.
A second variant was produced, this time with a symmetrical cab; two different versions of this model were produced - one for the Italian market (G 2000-2 BB) with left hand drive (trains in Italy generally keep to the left) and another (G 2000-3 BB) with right hand drive for Germany. The new cabs had seating for two operators, in other respects apart from the cab these two models are identical to the initial asymmetric offering.
Starting in 2004 two further sub designs were made: G 2000-4 BB with a MTU engine which increase the power to 2700 kW. This variant also included a hydrodynamic retarder (a type of braking system) as part of the Voith supplied transmission package.
The last variant is G 2000-5 BB which has the same upgrades as the fourth offering, it is designed for the Scandinavian market and as such has anti wheel slip technology, and can be equipped for service down to −40 °C (−40 °F).
Read more about this topic: Vossloh G2000 BB
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