Conversion of 3 Euro Class 66 Locomotives to UK Specification

Fishbone has worked closely with Electro-Motive Diesel over several years on various consultancy projects related to Class 66 engineering and maintenance optimisation.

This project delivered 3 locomotive conversions (66749, 66750 and 66751) into service in a timeframe meeting with the OEM and operators expectations.

Fishbone led the project management, technical delivery and approvals / commissioning process with the following support:

• Utilise recognised Project Management Office (PMO) techniques to control and visualise project status, issues and roadblocks
• Reviewing the status of the distressed project at the outset and established a plan to recover the project and control timing, cost and quality
• Confirm the Bill of Materials (BoM) to confirm costs and identify long-lead items presenting risk to the delivery
• Apply electrical technician resources to decommission obsolete safety systems, and refit and test new UK-spec safety systems
• Apply mechanical fitter resources to decommission obsolete exterior components, and refit and test new UK-spec components (buffers, light boxes etc.)
• Conduct a controlled programme of trial running to shakedown, debug and test the units
• Fishbone led the approvals and certification process by directly liaising with the nominated Notifiable Body (NoBo). We developed a framework for collating evidence and this technical file was subsequently used to gain approval for the units to enter service

Fishbone joined the project when it became clear that the project was in distress.  We were able to quickly ascertain the baseline status and put a plan and project controls in place to recover the project.  By adding extra technical resources, and by working very closely with the customer and other stakeholders we were able to successfully introduce the locomotives into service.