About this event

The EMD JT42CWR, better known as the Class 66, has its origins in EMD’s North American road switcher diesels. Designed for the UK, it is therefore a much more compact locomotive. In the early 2000s, the ruggedness and low cost of this design caught the attention of freight haulers in mainland Europe and a plan was formed to create a variant that could run in several European countries. But despite the efforts at harmonising standards, each national railway involved had its own, seemingly incompatible, safety and signalling demands to make. This is the story of how those demands were satisfied.

Lex van der Valk has been a train enthusiast from his childhood. After his degree in mechanical engineering he worked for 24 years at the rolling stock department of Dutch Railways (NS). Starting at the Central Engineering Department he transferred to the more practical side. First to the Maastricht workshop and later to the Tilburg workshop, home of locomotive overhauls since 1868. The last ten years he spent in the Central Maintenance and Reliability department looking after the oldest rolling stock series. He has a lot of international railway experience.

The photo by Lex van der Valk shows one of the 66 locos for Freightliner Poland at the works in Tilburg in 2007.

This event is in person, and guests are welcome at Keen House. The bar will be open before, in the interval and after the lecture with a range of drinks and snacks. We also intend to stream it live on line, and record it for ‘on demand’ viewing later. Please use the form on this page to register for the online Zoom link in the month before the lecture.

Finally, please note there are stairs to all rooms. If you have any accessibility concerns, please contact us so we can advise and make appropriate arrangements.