PAGE 21
The SNCB has ordered 95 mainline diesel-electric locomotives which should be put into service early next year.

This order has been made thanks to numerous tests overseas and after a meticulous analysis of what was needed for the network and the present possibilities of diesel. Nevertheless a practical experience was missing on the Belgian network.

This deficiency was filled thanks to the courtesy of the American Army in Germany: a mainline diesel-electric loco has been used on many lines of the SNCB for a few days.

This loco is a MRS-1 builts by EMD. It has a Co-Co wheel arrangement and weighs 112 tons. It is powered by a 16 cylinder-diesel 2-stroke engine of 1700-1750 hp. The wheel power equals 1400-1440 hp (I'm really satisfied with the sentence, hope it's OK). It is a single-cab road switcher. The engine, the generator and the auxiliaries are under a hood and a steam generator can be accommodated under a second hood. The loco that ran the tests in Belgium was not equipped with a steam generator which prevented it from being used in regular passenger services.

You may take notice that this loco #1818 has also been tested on the SNCF network. It had been based at the depot of Saintes (West Region) where it was assigned to various services with an average 924 km daily run. Engine #1818 arrived in Belgium on Tuesday April, 20th and the maiden route occurred between Aix-La-Chapelle and Ronet without passengers. The day after it made a round route between Ronet and Latour hauling freight mineral wagons of 870 tons which is above the reference hauling charge of any Belgian steam locomotives on such lines. The average speed is 19-22 kph on long ramps/grades of 16°/°° and 25-30 kph on 13°/°° ramps/grades. On Thursday 22nd, #1818 run between Ronet and Stockem hauling a 550-ton freight train. On this occasion it was clear to check that this loco would be able to accomplish its duty with the performances imposed on the next generation of Belgian diesels. No use to say that it did more than well.

On Friday it run empty between Ronet and Schaerbeek and again in the evening hauling a 400-ton passenger train to Libramont with a further return to Ronet.

On Saturday #1818 was in front of a 600-ton passenger train from Namur to Liège then from Namur to Charleroi and a return to Namur. It ran at a top speed of 90 kph which is not common in our country with such an uncommon heavy passenger train.  

It ran from Namur to Schaerbeek with that same 600-ton train, 20 minutes separating its departure from Namur to its arrival at Gembloux which is a very interesting performance due to the steep grade (16°/°°) between Namur to Rhines at a top speed of 33 kph.

PAGE 22
On Sunday the diesel loco hanged about between Namur and Ougrée with a 1 713-ton mineral train.

It began the next week along the Amolève and Salm rivers hauling a 900-ton train from Angleur to Trois-Ponts  and 500 tons from Trois-Ponts  to Gouvy. It was an easy task since this loco did it again during the same day.

Tuesday was a glorious day for #1818. It was assigned to regular passenger trains between Liège and Herbestal and creme de la creme it hauled international trains (trains # 134 and 135 from Amsterdam to Bâle) between Liège and Gouvy in both directions.

Its stay in Belgium ended on Wednesday  April, 28th hauling a 439-ton passenger train between Liège and Marloie then a regular freight train between Marloie and Kinkempois. On Thurday it ran back to Aix-La Chapelle.

These series of tests proved that this loco was able to haul any types of trains on the undulating lines of the Ardennes and as a consequence on the whole lines of the network. They fulfilled without discussion the demands imposed by the SNCB. The recorded time savings on all routes prove that it will possible to increase commercial speed on many routes that need it the most.

The average consumption of diesel oil was around 3,5/4 kg per train kilometre and the temperature never reached above 70°: it proves that this locomotive has never been overcharged.

PAGE 23
The 40 locomotives ordered by the SNCB to the Anlgo-Franco Belge located in La Croyère will be almost identical to #1818 as far as the engine and the mechanical aspects are concerned because they will be twin-cab style locomotives. This style of locomotive is needed on winding lines with a single engineer on board as it is the rule in our country.

The other 55 diesel-electric  mainline locomotives ordered by the SNCB to the A. John Cockerill company located in Seraing. They will also have twin cabs but with a Bo-Bo 2-bogie Pennsylvania wheel arrangement. The engine will be a 8-cylinder 1750 hp Cockerill-Baldwin. We will come back on it later.

Special thanks to Cyrille Ospital for translating this from Belgian French into French French and French French into English English and English English into American English.