Iranian clone 16-645 crankcases

[renrut44]

This mob are claiming to be cloning 16-645 crankcases

http://www.taamlocomotive.com

If you have difficulties digging deep into this site

http://www.taamlocomotive.com/tla-succe ... e-in-iran/
http://www.taamlocomotive.com/tln-201/

I would have thought that they would have imported core from the USA through 3rd countries with large fleets of geriatric EMD locos, and rampant corruption, like South Africa.

[renrut44]

These two Canadians were arrested in 2015, for illegally shipping railroad spares to Iran
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal ... -1.3268414

Their company was dissolved in 2019
https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/scr/cc/Corpora ... Id=3776409

[Allen Hazen]

Renrut44--
Thank you for posting those! (The links indoor second post give a good indication of what the incentives are for someone like TAAM Locomotive to try to come up with a domestic Iranian source for 645 engines!)
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Technically, I would guess that the problem wasn't all that difficult in principle, though obviously the details would require a fair bit of engineering to work out. "Clones" of the EMD 645 engine have been around for ??a couple of decades??. (I think GE, of all people, were marketing 645 engines for rebuilding EMD locomotive early this millennium, using CAST crankcases form a foundry in ??Poland??.) TAAM is willing to produce 16-645 engines rated at 3,000 hp: so, equivalent to the engines in EMD's 40 and 40-2 series locomotives (new production 1966-1985). The crankcases are welded structures, so probably easier to "counterfeit" than the cast crankcases of GE FDL engines. Still, given the reliance of Iranian railways on more or less elderly EMD locomotives, a very worthwhile project, assuming the welding (etc) are done right. One would hope that Iran and the countries of North America will, in a few years time, be on friendlier terms than they are now: who knows-- maybe, by the end of this decade, TAAM will be able to export engines to U.S. locomotive rebuilders!
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(The first link in your "explanatory" post, b.t.w., is illustrated by nice photos of what look like a GE C30-7 (domestic) locomotive and a GE FDL engine.)