Beacon Rail Leasing has entered into an agreement with Ascendos Rail Leasing to acquire the latter. Pending approval from regulatory authorities, the deal is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2016. It is clear that Beacon Rail Leasing is rapidly expanding its portfolio. Earlier it had already taken over 27 diesel locomotives from MRCE (ER20 & Class 66).

With the acquisition of Ascendos again Class 66s (24) and EuroRunners (3) will be added to the fleet, as well as 145-CL 011-015 and 185 001-003. Headquartered in Luxembourg, with additional offices in London and Munich, Ascendos’ current portfolio includes a total of 35 locomotives and 100 freight wagons on lease in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, 35 passenger train units on lease in Germany (LINT and FLIRT), and 67 double decker coaches on lease in Denmark (in service of DSB).

Beacon owns and manages a modern fleet of 190 locomotives, 944 freight wagons and 20 passenger train units. Beacon’s customers include many of the top freight operators in the UK (GB Railfreight, Freightliner and DRS) and leading locomotive and rolling stock operators throughout Europe and Scandinavia.

Commenting on the transaction, Ted Gaffney, CEO of Beacon, said: “The acquisition of Ascendos allows us to continue to build our portfolio of locomotives and is in line with our strategy and commitment to being a leader in this segment of the market. Ascendos’ portfolio of rolling stock nicely complements our existing fleet of locomotives and allows us to expand our presence into the European passenger train market. Overall, we believe that the portfolio and staff of Ascendos is a great fit for Beacon and is additive to our existing platform.”

Pamplona Capital Management (“Pamplona”) acquired Beacon in May 2014 through Pamplona Capital Partners III, LP, a 2011 vehicle with $2.7 billion of committed capital. Since closing, Beacon has been an active acquirer of assets through portfolio acquisitions, the placement of new build orders and the closing of sale / leaseback transactions with various freight and passenger operators, significantly increasing the scale of the portfolio and diversifying both the lessee and asset base.

The different divisions of Captrain are getting more visible every day: Captrainized 1600 in the Netherlands, EP09s and 232s in Poland. New TRAXX DCs in Italy, new TRAXX AC3s in Germany and the Captrain Vectrons are now also traveling through in Poland (debute?) and the Czech Republic.

The title image shows the newest Captrainized electric on this website: 185 598 (picture by Thomas Salomon). Previously it had the red/white Veolia Cargo livery with ITL logos. We have listed all TRAXX AC electrics that are part of the Captrain fleet now and their current livery:

TRAXX AC
DL 145 094 > standard Captrain livery since 2013
DL 145 095 > standard Captrain livery since 2013

TRAXX AC1
Ascendos Rail 185-CL001 > standard Captrain livery since 2016
Ascendos Rail 185-CL002 > Salzgitter Mannesmann promo livery
Ascendos Rail 185-CL003 > standard Captrain livery since 2015
Alpha Trains 185-CL004 > Alpha Trains livery blue/silver
Alpha Trains 185-CL005 > standard Captrain livery since 2011
Alpha Trains 185-CL006 > Alpha Trains livery blue/silver
Alpha Trains 185-CL007 > standard Captrain livery since 2010
HML 185 517 > green/silver
HML 185 532 > Captrain livery with TRAXX care text since 2012
DL 185 533 > green/silver with Rail4Chem logos
HML 185 541 > standard Captrain livery since 2012
DL 185 542 > standard Captrain livery since 2011
DL 185 543 > standard Captrain livery since 2011
ITL 185 548 > silver with ITL logos
? 185 549 > standard Captrain livery since 2012
? 185 550 > standard Captrain livery since 2012

TRAXX AC2
ITL 185 562 > standard Captrain livery since 2015
Captrain 185 598 > standard Captrain livery since 2016
Captrain 185 649 > Veolia Cargo livery with ITL logos
Captrain 185 650 > Veolia Cargo livery with ITL logos

TRAXX AC3 Last Mile
Akiem 187 011 > standard Captrain livery since 2016
Akiem 187 012 > standard Captrain livery since 2016
Akiem 187 013 > standard Captrain livery since 2016
Akiem 187 014 > Akiem livery and Flex Panels

Bombardier has completed the R2 overhaul of the blue/white Ascendos Rail 185-CL 001 (REV 10.02.2016). The machine was released from work this morning for a test run. The machine has, like Ascendos Rail 185-CL 003, the Captrain livery now. All three Ascendos 185s have had their R2 revision now. 185-CL 002 kept its Mannesmann promotional livery. (Christian Klotz)

Not vey clean anymore, but this livery is new to us. Ascendos Rail 185-CL 003 now has the Captrain design (anyone has the REV date). Previously the machine has an eclectic red/blue/white livery, a Connex/Veolia mix.

Next to CBRail's 185-CL 001, 002 and 003 now also Alpha Trains 185-CL 008 and 009 have joined the fleet. Both engines were parked unemployed in Dessau since the RAG returned them to the leasing company. Alpha Trains Traxx AC1 Beacon Rail Traxx AC1