A manufacturer with its headquarters in North Bay has been contracted to supply a Japanese steel plant with its first 140-tonne locomotive.
Schalke Locomotives GmbH announced the agreement with Tokyo-based Kyokuto Boeki Kaisha Ltd. on Jan. 2.
Though the agreement is currently for one locomotive, Schalke said the purchase of a second locomotive is planned for 2020.
The company said the locomotive will be used in Kyokuto’s steel plant to pull trains with weights of up to 1,400 tonnes. This is the heaviest four-axle locomotive fabricated by Schalke – 10 times heavier than the 130-tonne locomotives supplied to Codelco’s copper-mining operations in Chile.
“This diesel-electric locomotive will be equipped with all Schalke typical features like electrodynamic braking up to standstill,” Schalke said in the release.
“A further special requirement of this vehicle is the narrow gauge of 1.067 millimetres. Delivery of this first locomotive is scheduled for 2021.”
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Schalke Locomotives GmbH is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nordic Minesteel Technologies Inc. (NMT).
NMT purchased the rolling stock assets of Germany-based Schalker Eisenhütte Maschinenfabrik GmbH, including all intellectual property rights, in December 2018.
Schalker’s locomotives division manufactured rail vehicles specifically designed for tough working conditions, including urban rail transportation systems, welding vehicles, rail grinding machines, and platform vehicles.
“We have been integrating our equipment with Schalker Eisenhütte Maschinenfabrik GmbH since 2012, on projects from Sweden to Indonesia, and have been the North American representative for them since 2014,” NMT’s vice-president of business development, Richard DeRuiter, said at the time.
“Acquiring Schalke assets will enhance NMT’s ability to provide a ‘one stop shop’ to our customers for reliable, continuous, automated rail haulage systems.”
NMT provides a number of solutions to the mining industry in the areas of haulage, shafts, loading and unloading, and tunnelling.
