A Practical Evaluation of RAILROAD MOTIVE POWER by P. W. KIEFER Chief Engineer Motive Power and Rolling Stock New York Central System June 1947 Publisbed and Distributed by STEAM LOCOMOTIVE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INC. New York FOREWORD THE story of motive po~er for American railroads has , Copyright, 1948, by P. W. Kiefer been written many times during the past. 100 years. All or parts of this book may Through most of that period only one form of prime be reproduced, provided permission' mover was available and steam reigned supreme. is obtained from the author. At about the turn of the present century the electric locomotive was introduced and after a few successful experimental installations were made several short main line divisions were electrified, followed later by some extended use of this form of motive power. Still the steam locomotive continued to handle the great bulk of railroad traffic and remained as a main source of power on the railroads of the Country. The Diesel locomotive was introduced in 1924 and proved to be a successful motive power unit-a self­ contained electric locomotive using oil fuel. Again, the steam locomotive was challenged and as more and more Diesels were utilized in all classes of service it was soon fOl:lnd that in certain assignments there were sub­ stantial economies in operation as compared with the steam power then in service. Higher availability and somewhat lower fuel cost were generally in favor of the Diesel. Much data have been published during the past ten years on comparative operation of Diesel and steam locomotives, but very little factual information has been l'RINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMER.ICA B¥ ]. 1. LITTLE a: rYES COMPANY, NEW YORK given based on modern designs in both. cases. v / ~ .......... VI FOREWORD Mr. Kiefer, in this study, has furnished what I con­ sider the best evaluation of railroad motive power that has yet been presented. Modern steam and' Diesel loco­ motives were used in the same service, both given equal AUTHOR'S FOREWORD care in maintenance; both running over the same di- VISIons. THE contents of this book, founded on experiellce de­ The results are worth the careful study of everyone rived from active contacts and direct responsibilities interested in railroad operation. Not only does· he givl: in the field of railroad motive power and rolling stock the advantages and disadvantages of each, but looking development, design and construction over the past two to the futUf.e he gives us the story of other developments decades, and with detailed material included as neces­ now under way that may have a decided influence on sarily collected and analyzed for the support of the motive power designs during the next decade. results presented, were originally used to form the basis JOSEPH B. ENNIS of a lecture of limited length which the author was invited to present before the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London, England, during the Centenary Celebrations of that Institution held June 8 to 13, in­ clusive, 1947. The Centenary program consisted of thirty-six lec­ tures on various engineering and related subjects, three of which pertained to the Railroad Industry. These three addresses, all under the assigned general title of I! "Railway Power Plant," were divided British Isles, France-Western Continental Europe, and the United States, and were for the purpose of setting forth the respective viewpoints thereon and the status in the countries indicated. The specific title assigned to this author by the Council of the Institution then was "Rail­ way Power Plant From The United States' Point of View." Because of the present period of intensive transition vii .~~ VJl1 AUTHOR'S FOREWORD in railroad motive power development, design and usage, the complete original document under the title "A Practical Evaluation of Railroad Motive Power" is CONTENTS now presented as of possible value in the advancement of this art. FRONTISPIECE The author acknowledges with appreciation and Top-"Niagara" Steam Locomotive. thanks the valuable help of James Edward Ennis, En­ Center-Typical Diesel Road Locomotive. gineering Assistant of his personal staff, in the develop­ Bottom-Electric Locomotive. ment and analyses of much· of the supporting informa­ FOREWORD by Joseph B. Ennis tion required for the preparation of this book. AUTHOR'S FOREWORD PACE P. W. KIEFER CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION New York, June, 1947· The Fundamentals of The Problem 2 ( I ) Availability and Its Dependent Coun­ terpart, Utilization 2 (2) Over-All Costs of Ownership and Usage 3 (3) Capacity for Work 5 (4) Performance Efficiency 5 II. THE RECIPROCATING-TYPE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE 7 Effects of Reciprocating Over-Balance-Slip­ ping Tests 8 Progress in Improving Availability and Econ­ omy 9 Tabie J, Principal Characteristics of Progres­ sive Designs 10 Chart A, Power Characteristic Curves 13 Description of N.Y.C. Class S-1 "Niagara" 4-8-4 ,Type 12 Large-Capacity Tenders 16 Four-Cylinder Non-Articulated Type-P.R.R. !Class, T-l 17 Pbppet Valve Gears 18 \ ix x CONTENTS CONTENTS Xl CHAPTU PAGE CHAPTER PAGE III. OTHER COAL-FIRED STEAM LOCOMO­ Comparative Annual Potential Performance TIVES 20 -Diesel Versus Steam 45 Stoker-Fired Steam-Turbine 20 New Designs and Kinds of Locomotives 46 P.R.R. Class S-2 6-8-6 Type 20 Over-All Costs of Ownership and Usage 46 C.&O. 4-8-0-4-8-4 Type-Three Locomotives 22 First Costs 46 Pulverized Coal Fired Steam-Turbine 23 Annual Operating Costs 47 Table 2, Annual Costs 48 IV. THE GAS-TURBINE LOCOMOTIVE 24 Capacity for Work 49 Coal Fired 24 Description of Test Methods 49 Oil Fired-A.T.& S.F. 4-8-4 Type 26 Valve Pilot Operation 5° Power-Gas Process 26 Chart B, Power Characteristic Curves, Re­ ciprocating Steam and Diesel-Electric V. ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES 28 Freight 52 Advantages and Disadvantages 28 Chart C, Power Characteristic Curves, Recip­ rocating Steam, Electric and Diesel Electric VI. DIESEL-ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES 31 Passenger 53 Number in Service on N.Y.C. and On All Rail­ C':Jart D, Acceleration Characteristic Curves, Reciprocating Steam, Electric and Diesel­ roads 1 3 Electric Passenger Evaluation of Freight Diesels Versus Modern 54 Td.ble 3, Acceleration, Steam, Electric and Steam 2 3 Diesel-Electric Passenger Diesels on N.Y.C. 55 33 5000 H.P. Continuous Rating Electric Loco­ Recent Designs of Diesels 34 motive facing p. 55 Co;nparative Advantages of Electric and VII. MOTIVE-POWER POTENTIALITIES 37 Diesel-Electric Versus Steam 56 Availability and Utilization 37 Pedormance Efficiency 59 Passenger Service 37 Thermal at Drawbar Referred to Fuel 59 Comparative Annual Potential Performance Over-All 60 -Diesel Versus Steam 38 Check of On-Time Record-Diesel Versus VIII. CON±LUSION 62 Steam 0 4 Sum ary of Motive-Power Evaluations 63 Electric Locomotives-New York-Harmon 1 4 Ta '\r *' Relative Evaluations 64 Difficulties Peculiar to Steam Locomd!tives .41 Diesel Troubles 43 ;( Electric Locomotives 44 Freight Service I 44 I j Ir~ I I INTRODUCTION THE purpose of this presentation is to set forth and discuss objectively what the author regards as the fun­ damentals of this subject. To eliminate complications and avoid generalities which might serve only to obscure what it is desired to portray, the discussion is developed largely from our own studies and results, particularly those of the past decade, and our relatively near term plans and objec­ tives for the further evolution of road-service motive power. However, it is believed that, basically, the fun­ damentals herein analyzed have the same significance to I the American railroads as a whole as to a System such as the author represents, with their import and appli­ cability differing only in degree. Moreover, some of the more important plans are being progressed co­ operatively with other railroads. It is here the deliberate intention and purpose to dis­ pense with lengthy repetitional and statistical compari­ sons of detailed operating and cost data from different sources because, unless all essential information is avail­ able and included for strictly comparable conditions, the results may be confusing and misleading, and re­ course to the use of assumed conditions is of little avail in reaching reliable conclusions. From present experience, it appears logical that judg- I ~ 2 RAILROAD MOTIVE POWER INTRODUCTION 3 ment of the possible economic value, utility and attrac­ and operating practices are essential, but the final results tiveness of new forms of motive power, either now in depend also on the locomotive's ability to support the use or under development, may best be predicated more intensive utilization demands. largely on certain basic considerations and dealt with The term availability does not here mean the per-' most effectively when presented in- the form of the centage of time available for a given assigned or selected aforementioned fundamentals. run which daily may require only a portion of each The Fundamentals of the Problem twenty-four hour period, with ample time remaining for necessary current maintenance attention. This is It should be understood that these fundamentals are accented because not infrequently claims for availabil­ not here set forth in absolute order of .importance be­ ity up to 100 per cent are predicated on such operations. cause, while not inseparable, they are closely related Today on the railroads of'the United States, con­ and, to a greater or lesser extent, the influence of one stantly increased availability of motive power, with op­ may affect the value of one or more of the others. portunity of correspondingly improved utilization, is an absolute necessity to keep traffic on the rails in the (I) AVAILABILITY AND ITs DEPENDENT COUNTERPART, face of the ever-mounting competition of other forms UTILIZATION of transportation, usually subsidized, and to build up Availability is here defined as the percentage of total such traffic.