Premat transports locomotives on NICOLAS MDEL TP complete with special deck for rail vehicles

STP Premat has long been a satisfied customer of the French special vehicle manufacturer, NICOLAS. Ten heavy-duty vehicles from NICOLAS take pride of place in STP Premat´s fleet of vehicles, and are responsible for handling the toughest assignments. For example, as recently happened, for the transportation of several locomotives which were destined for the railway repair workshop facility in Saint Avold.

The 50-tonne locomotives were loaded on the transport vehicle in Les Mureaux in order to be taken a distance of 424 km on the main roads in the direction of  Saint Avold. The entire convoy reached a length of around 35 metres. The heaviest combination (2 +4 axles, 65 t locomotive) weighed a total of 101 tonnes. Thanks to the rails that had been embedded in the deck of the MDEL TP, the locomotives could easily be loaded and unloaded without any problems.

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The NICOLAS MDEL TP, shortly after the start, in a 1 +4 combination. The 60° steering angle ensures excellent manoeuvrability whilst the integrated rails on the deck keep the load securely in place.

"STP Premat did an excellent job here. The customer can completely rely on the MDEL TP which provides planning reliability and allows such a high level of performance," according to Eduard Pointeau, Area Sales Manager at TII Sales, the sales division of the TII Group to which NICOLAS belongs. "In recent years, we have accomplished a great deal in recent years and a lot of production processes, quality management and customer service have been completely restructured", added Sebastien Porteu,

Managing Director at NICOLAS. Integrating NICOLAS into the global leader TII Group also helped with the transition.

 
Precision work on arrival: the NICOLAS MDEL TP effortlessly lifts the 101 tonnes over a wall standing in the way. 680 mm axle compensation provides a "buffer" in order to be able to respond in critical situations.


 
The deck of the NICOLAS MDEL TP is fitted with guide rails.


Having arrived at the repair workshop, the NICOLAS MDEL TP is then positioned over the rails on the ground.


 
The locomotive is safely driven off the NICOLAS MDEL TP by means of a specially-designed connecting piece.



Almost done: even when asymmetrically loaded, the NICOLAS MDEL TP is securely positioned thanks to the hydraulic pendulum axles.