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Brandt Road Rail is a division of Brandt Equipment. The company is based in Regina, Saskatchewan, and is a leading manufacturer of Maintenance of Way (MOW) equipment. Its entry into the genset locomtive market, though, is targeted at a broader audience.

So far, Brandt has been very quiet about the genset locomotive they are producing, but they did provide this site and the Canadian Railway Observations' "Green Locomotive Report" (which is written by this site's creator) an exclusive look at the unit in late 2008.

It was previously reported in the August 2007 issue of CRO that Canadian Pacific sent retired GP9 CP 1592 to Brandt's plant in Regina, SK in June 2007. The unit was missing its prime mover and several other appliances, and was expected to be used as a platform for the Brandt unit. But the unit was scrapped, and the prototype genset sits on an entirely new frame. The 1592 was scrapped at Regina, probably for certain components (like trucks).

According to information released by Brandt, the prototype weighs in at 270,000 pounds, and uses CCB-26 brakes. Its number and official designation isn't available as of Nov. 2008, but there is some additional information that they have provided. They say that other build-to-order options like dynamic brakes wil be available as well.

Brandt's prototype genset uses a trio of John Deere 6135H engines for propulsion power. Those engines generate 600 horsepower each for a total of 1,800 hp cumulative. The prototype is undergoing testing internally in anticipation of a public unveiling. Brandt says it will be testing on CP at some point as well. Hopefully we will learn more soon.

Brandt Road Rail