Railserve locomotives headed to Africa
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief
A shipment of six sustainable locomotives built in the U.S. by Railserve is on a 6,000-mile ocean voyage to Africa where they will soon be in operation as freight locomotives in Gabon.
The Intermarine M/V Ocean Grand departed from Houston Oct. 3, 2015 with six 110-ton Railserve DUAL LEAF® Gen-Set locomotives—each individually shrink-wrapped—on board. The Ocean Grand is destined for Libreville, Gabon.
The LEAF locomotives were purchased by Société d’Exploitation du Transgabonais (SETRAG), the state railway of Gabon, as part of a long-term modernization of the country’s freight rail operations. The sustainable operating features of the LEAF locomotive were attractive to a country that is committed to climate change mitigation.
The Railserve LEAF uses two Cummins QSX15 gensets to minimize fuel usage and significantly reduce emissions while maintaining the performance of a traditional switching locomotive. The DUAL LEAF is programmed to operate with only one genset under lighter loads, further reducing fuel use and emissions.
“This is Railserve’s first delivery of LEAF locomotives to a destination outside North America,” said LEAF Program Manager TJ Mahoney. “In addition to its requirement for sustainable operations, SETRAG was looking to modernize its locomotive fleet and have readily available parts for future maintenance needs. The LEAF Locomotive from Railserve met those requirements.”
Railserve successfully modified the standard LEAF locomotive design for operation in Gabon, where specifications are different than those in North America. All cab interface markings and screens are in French. Couplers are SA-3 type—common overseas but not used in North America. They are also a different height than couplers in the U.S. Finally, the plows required slight modifications to fit African gauge requirements. Otherwise, the units are virtually identical to the more than 50 Railserve LEAF locomotives currently operating in the U.S. and Canada.
“It took a cohesive effort—starting with our Railserve team at the manufacturing plant in Longview, Tex., and including the excellent crews from Intermarine and Breakbulk Transportation on the docks in Houston—to get the product ready to ship,” Mahoney said. “Once they reach Gabon, Railserve staff will be present to commission the locomotives, and put them in service working with the SETRAG engineers.”
The African locomotives were hauled by rail from Longview to Houston. In Houston, Breakbulk Transportation handled logistics—including cleaning, packing and prepping. Then, Intermarine took over the loading onto the Ocean Grand.
“With its box holds and 450-ton cranes, the M/V Ocean Grand is an ideal vessel for the safe handling and carriage of these state-of-the-art locomotives,” said Intermarine Vice President, Africa Services James Jackson. “We have worked with Railserve to ensure that we could provide the most capable vessel available to meet Railserve’s schedule.”
Railserve, a Marmon/Berkshire Hathaway company, describes itself as “the largest provider of in-plant rail switching and associated services, operating in more than 70 locations in the U.S. and Canada. Railserve manufactures the Railserve LEAF® and Railserve Dual LEAF Gen-Set Locomotives at its Longview, Tex. facility. Railserve uses its own locomotives and employees to safely move railcars within industrial, manufacturing, and production plants. In addition, Railserve provides other services including railcar loading and unloading; track maintenance, inspection and repair; and more.” For more information on Railserve, visit For more information on the Railserve LEAF® Gen-Set Locomotive, visit www.RailserveLEAF.biz. Railserve is.
