Using a pair of bespoke five-axle, power-steered low loaders from Andover Trailers, along with a third Goldhofer trailer, Allelys collected the Hitachi Class 800 train carriages for their journey from ship to test track.
Allelys liaised with Andover's design team on the trailer specification. Both have a payload of up to 80 tonnes and can be extended to a length of 28m. To move the train carriages, they ran at almost 26m and operated under STGO category 3 load conditions.
Both low loaders have a 40-tonne capacity neck and a 60-tonne rear bogie, with each axle rated at 15 tonnes and built by Tecma in Italy. The trailers also feature Goldhofer's steering system, which can reach full lock even when loaded and stationary.
The specification includes a hydraulic suspension, which allows for 260mm of travel and can cope with the action of driving across rail lines with a heavy load. A Knorr Bremse road-train module helps to improve braking response times, and the EBS has been programmed to work with the hydraulic suspension.
Both trailers also feature rail lines mounted in the floor, and a winch for loading and unloading.
"This was a very high profile movement and the trailers performed well throughout," says Robert Ford, transport manager at Allelys Heavy Haulage.