This is FLW's first-ever express
locomotive, designed to help keep the railways competitive with the surge
in air travel nationwide. This locomotive was the predecessor to the doubly-fast
HP-40e (built with the same chassis and shell). The HP-40 is revolutionary
among Legoland locomotives, in that the locomotive chassis is designed
for diesel and electric operations. Just adding the pantograph and inverter
makes the chassis suitable for overhead lines, and likewise, adding the
diesel powerplant makes it suitable for non-electrified areas. In fact,
the HP-40 has even been outfitted with third-rail shoes for dual operation
. This is almost never done with the HP-40e because the space behind the
cab is usually used for baggage and storage space, since the HP-40e is
used on lines designed to support it. Using diesel equipment on the express
lines is widely considered to not exploit the full potential of the infrastructure.
This locomotive also features the Automatic
Signal Repeating System to improve operation safety, as well as non-locking
brakes, and GIS repeaters to slow the train down upon detection of a break
or obstruction in the track. |
