A Diesel Locomotive Is a Type of Railway Locomotive in Which the Prime Mover Is a Diesel Engine
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A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotive have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels (drivers). The InterCity 125, the current confirmed record holder as the fastest diesel-powered train at 148 mph (238 km/h); is made up of two power cars, one at each end of a fixed formation of carriages; capable of 125 mph (201 km/h) in regular service. Twin-section diesel locomotive 2M62M-1198(rebuilt with CAT engines), near Kyviškės, Lithuania. Contents [hide] 1 Overview 2 History o 2.1 Adaptation of the diesel engine for rail use o 2.2 Advance of diesel traction in USA o 2.3 Early diesel locomotives and railcars in Europe o 2.4 Early diesel locomotives and railcars in Asia o 2.5 Early diesel locomotives and railcars in Australia 3 Diesel’s advantages over steam 4 Transmission types o 4.1 Diesel-mechanical o 4.2 Diesel-electric o 4.3 Diesel-hydraulic o 4.4 Diesel-steam o 4.5 Diesel-pneumatic 5 Multiple-unit operation o 5.1 Cab arrangements o 5.2 Cow-calf 6 Flameproof diesel locomotive 7 Lights 8 Environmental impact o 8.1 Mitigation 9 See also 10 References o 10.1 Sources 11 External links Overview[edit] This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2013) Early internal combustion engine-powered locomotives and railmotors used gasoline as their fuel. Soon after Dr.Rudolf Diesel patented his first compression ignition engine [1] in 1892, it was considered for railway propulsion. Progress was slow, however, as several problems had to be overcome. Petrol-electric Weitzer railmotor, first 1903, series 1906 Power transmission was a primary concern. As opposed to steam and electric engines, internal combustion engines work efficiently only within a limited range of turning frequencies. In light vehicles, this could be overcome by a clutch. In heavy railway vehicles, mechanical transmission never worked well or else wore out too soon. Experience with early gasoline powered locomotives and railcars was valuable for the development of diesel traction. One step towards diesel-electric transmission was petrol-electric vehicle, such as the Weitzer railmotor (1903 ff.) [2] Steady improvements in diesel design (many developed by Sulzer Ltd. of Switzerland, with whom Dr. Diesel was associated for a time) gradually reduced its physical size and improved its power-to-weight ratio to a point where one could be mounted in a locomotive. Once the concept of diesel-electric drive was accepted, the pace of development quickened, and by 1925 a small number of diesel locomotives of 600 horsepower were in service in the United States. In 1930, Armstrong Whitworth of the United Kingdom delivered two 1,200 hp locomotives using engines of Sulzer design to Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway of Argentina. By the mid-1950s, with economic recovery from the Second World War, production of diesel locomotives had begun in many countries and the diesel locomotive was on its way to becoming the dominant type of locomotive. It offered greater flexibility and performance than the steam locomotive, as well as substantially lower operating and maintenance costs, other than where electric traction was in use due to policy decisions. Currently, almost all diesel locomotives are diesel-electric, although the diesel-hydraulic type was widely used between the 1950s and 1970s. The Soviet diesel locomotive TEP80-0002 lays claim to the world speed record for a diesel railed vehicle, having reached 271 km/h (168 mph) on 5 October 1993. History[edit] Adaptation of the diesel engine for rail use[edit] A WDM-3A diesel locomotive of Indian Railways, used to haul both passenger and freight. A string of four diesel locomotives haul a long freight train in the U.S. state of Washington. Earliest recorded examples of an internal combustion engine for railway use included a prototype designed by William Dent Priestman, which was examined by Sir William Thomson in 1888 who described it as a "[Priestman oil engine] mounted upon a truck which is worked on a temporary line of rails to show the adaptation of a petroleum engine for locomotive purposes.".[3][4] In 1894, a 20 h.p. two axle machine built by Priestman Brothers was used on the Hull Docks.[5] [6] In 1896 an oil-engined railway locomotive was built for the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, England, in 1896, using an engine designed byHerbert Akroyd Stuart.[7][unreliable source?] It was not, strictly, a diesel because it used a hot bulb engine (also known as a semi-diesel) but it was the precursor of the diesel. Following the expiration of Dr. Rudolf Diesel’s patent in 1912, his engine design was successfully applied to marine propulsion and stationary applications. However, the massiveness and poor power-to-weight ratio of these early engines made them unsuitable for propelling land-based vehicles. Therefore, the engine's potential as a railroad prime mover was not initially recognized.[8] This changed as development reduced the size and weight of the engine. The world’s first diesel-powered locomotive was operated in the summer of 1912 on the Winterthur-Romanshorn Railroad in Switzerland, but was not a commercial success.[9] In 1906, Rudolf Diesel, Adolf Klose and the steam and Diesel engine manufacturer Gebrüder Sulzer founded Diesel-Sulzer-Klose GmbH to manufacture Diesel-powered locomotives. Sulzer had been manufacturing Diesel engines since 1898. The Prussian State Railways ordered a Diesel locomotive from the company in 1909, and after test runs between Winterthur and Romanshorn the Diesel-mechanical locomotive was delivered in Berlin in September 1912. During further test runs in 1913 several problems were found. After the First World War broke out in 1914, all further trials were stopped. The locomotive weight was 95 tonnes and the power was 883 kW with a maximum speed of 100 km/h.[10] Small numbers of prototype diesel locomotives were produced in a number of countries through the mid-1920s. Advance of diesel traction in USA[edit] Early American developments[edit] Adolphus Busch purchased the American manufacturing rights for the Diesel engine in 1898 but never applied this new form of power to transportation. Only limited success was achieved in the early twentieth century with direct-driven gasoline and Diesel powered railcars.[11] General Electric (GE) entered the railcar market in the early twentieth century, as Thomas Edison possessed a patent on the electric locomotive, his design actually being a type of electrically propelled railcar.[12] GE built its first electric locomotive prototype in 1895. However, high electrification costs caused GE to turn its attention to Diesel power to provide electricity for electric railcars. Problems related to co-coordinating the Diesel engine and electric motor were immediately encountered, primarily due to limitations of the Ward Leonard electric elevator drive system that had been chosen. A significant breakthrough occurred in 1914, when Hermann Lemp, a GE electrical engineer, developed and patented a reliable direct current electrical control system (subsequent improvements were also patented by Lemp).[13] Lemp's design used a single lever to control both engine and generator in a coordinated fashion, and was the prototype for all diesel-electric locomotive control systems. In 1917–18, GE produced three experimental diesel-electric locomotives using Lemp's control design, the first known to be built in the United States.[14] Following this development, the 1923 Kaufman Act banned steam locomotives from New York City because of severe pollution problems. The response to this law was to electrify high-traffic rail lines. However, electrification was uneconomical to apply to lower-traffic areas. The first regular use of diesel-electric locomotives was in switching (shunter) applications. General Electric produced several small switching locomotives in the 1930s (the famous "44-tonner" switcher was introduced in 1940) Westinghouse Electric and Baldwin collaborated to build switching locomotives starting in 1929. However, the Great Depression curtailed demand for Westinghouse’s electrical equipment, and they stopped building locomotives internally, opting to supply electrical parts instead.[15] First American series production locomotives[edit] General Electric continued to be interested in developing a practical diesel railway locomotive, and approached Ingersoll-Rand in 1924. The resulting 300 horsepower locomotive was fitted with an electrical generator and traction motors supplied by GE, as well as a form of Lemp's control system, and was delivered in July 1925. This locomotive demonstrated that the diesel-electric power unit could provide many of the benefits of an electric locomotive without the railroad having to bear the sizeable expense of electrification.[16] The unit successfully demonstrated—in switching, road freight and passenger service—on a baker’s dozen of railroads, and became the prototype for 33 units of 600 horsepower AGEIR boxcab switching locomotives built by a consortium of GE, I-R and the American Locomotive Company for several New York City railroads.[17] In June 1925, Baldwin Locomotive Works outshopped a prototype diesel-electric locomotive for "special uses" (such as for runs where water for steam locomotives was scarce) using electrical equipment from Westinghouse