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$ UNIT FREIGHT TRAINS earn big money for railway companies. This sulphur unit train in Canada is pulled by two 2.24MW (3000hp) EMD SD40-2 locomotives. The two locos have been coupled together back-to-back. THE EVOLUTION OF ELECTRIC RAILWAYS By BRYAN MAHER US roilrood companies face fierce competition from rood, air, sea and other ruilroud companies. To stay in business, they demand locomotives which combine high pulling power with low fuel and maintenance costs. Most Australians would not appreciate the magnitude of the American railroad systems. They collectively form by far the greatest rail system on the face of the Earth. As.early as the 1900-1910 period, the US railroads were using locomotives larger, heavier and more powerful than anything ever built in Australia or England right up to the present day. PT.16: THE SEARCH FOR COST-EFFICIENCY 74 SILICON CHIP Here we regard the one rail route between Sydney and Melbourne as the norm. Why would we want more? But in America, between any two large cities, you may find up to four separate rail systems owned by four different private companies, competing tooth-and-nail for the customer dollar. Today, in a world where most passenger trains run at a financial loss, the American freight rail business is alive and well, and profitable to boot. But such is private competition that only the most costefficient railroad companies can even stay afloat. To make profits (and every private company must or go under) means ruthless cutting of costs. Today's modern diesel electric locomotives haul more tonnes while using less diesel fuel per tonnekilometre than ever before. The travelling public Compared with the heady years around 1929-1930, the latest statistics show that while Americans now travel 2,823 billion person-kilometres per year compared with 350,500 million in 1929, the railroad passenger train share of the public carrier market has dropped from 77% to a poor 4%. When statistics include private automobiles we find that cars now carry 83 % of the total traffic, airlines 14% and passenger rail a mere 0.65%. Freight traffic Over the same period, total freight business in the United States has increased from 971,800 million tonne-kilometres to today's 3,989,728 million. In 1929 railroads carried 727,680 million tonnekilometres of freight loadings, which has increased to more than double today at 1,497,600 million. But of the total freight market, so much today goes by road trucks, oil pipelines, river and canal vessels (in that order) that freight rail has only managed to capture 37.5% of the business, well down from the glorious 74.9% they once had. Cost-effective trains Many once-great US railroads have now sadly disappeared in ·~ -/4;,., ._ _ ~":.,__,-.-.-~_,.._ l:f- ,"·- ~ GENERAL ELECTRIC MADE BIG strides in the American locomotive market during the 1960s with its U-258 diesel electric loco. These were commonly , referred to as "U-boats" and set the style for 20 years. bankruptcy or have been absorbed by larger neighbouring systems. The thousands of private railroad companies which once existed are now condensed into 608 surviving organisations. Almost entirely of standard gauge, the various railroads commonly rent locomotives and track rights from each other, while one freight wagon might circulate around the whole country over many companies' lines to reach its destination. The survival of the fittest railroad company demands that the loco-motives do the following: (1). Haul heavier loads than the competitor. (2). Use less fuel in so doing. (3). Arrive at the destination sooner. (4). Run longer without engine change. (5). Require less turnaround time for refueling and cleaning. (6). Rarely need workshop attention. (7). Be easier to strip and rebuild when major overhaul is needed. To accept larger and heavier locomotives and wagons, the track beds, bridges and the rail itself have been made stronger. In eastern Australia, the heaviest rail used is 53kg/m (107lb/yd) with some 29.8kg/m (60lb/yd) relics of 1906 vintage still surviving on branch lines. By contrast, American Class 1 railroads use mostly 67.5kg/m (136lb/yd) rail, with more than a thousand kilometres laid with 77.4kg/m (156lb/yd) metals. The heavier rail used in the US allows permissible axle loadings as high as 33 tonnes per axle, compared to eastern Australia's limit of 25 tonnes. Preferred loadings In every country, all railroads would like to have " unit train loadings"; ie, complete trains of the same type wagons carrying the same commodity. Prime examples are the long coal trains of NSW and Queensland, the wheat trains running from mid-western NSW to the seaports of Newcastle and Sydney, or the huge iron ore trains of Western Australia. FEBRUARY1989 75 Alco remained in the picture for years as a manufacturer of diesel electric locomotives and diesel engines for export overseas. In Australia, their diesel engines will be found in many locomotives manufactured in Newcastle or Sydney. The 1.5MW (2000hp) NSW SRA 80 class made by Comeng of Granville in 1978-80 is an example. But in contrast to the pre-war days when they built more locomotives than the competition, today Alco does not even appear in the loco inventories of some of the largest US railroads. Lima MAIN BEARING - CRANKS AT 180'/ THIS SKETCH SHOWS THE arrangement of cylinders used in the Fairbanks-Morse opposed piston diesel engine. These were originally used in marine applications but were successfully adapted to locomotive use. In the USA, some railroads, such as the Norfolk and Western, carry coal almost exclusively. Qf all American rail freight carried in 1984, 40% or 567 million tonnes was bulk coal. This has led to some startling developments in train length and the locomotives used. Enter the new breed From about 1950, with the demise of steam, all railroads could purchase diesel electric locomotives from amongst the three or four remaining manufacturers. The EMD plant at La Grange in suburban Chicago, Illinois looked like permanently capturing the market but they still had two or three competitors: Alco, FairbanksMorse and General Electric. Famous older manufacturers like Lima and Baldwin were fading away. Alco The American Locomotive Company, Alco, at Schenectady, had 76 SILICON CHIP production diesel electric locomotives for sale before 1942 and sold them in the US and other countries. Some of their diesel electric production was notable and included designs rated up 4.lMW (5500hp) as noted last month. In 1941, Alco produced their first real road switcher diesel locomotive, the model RSl. Also in 1940 they developed their 1.5MW (2000hp) model DL109 high speed passenger diesel electric loco which used an Alco diesel engine and General Electric DC generator, motors and control gear. These two-unit machines also hauled many a freight train, though their diesel engine was heavier than that of their competitors. More than seven railroads bought DL109s, including the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The latter railroad purchased twenty in the first two years. Hartford called them the 700 class and they were used between New York and New England. Then there was Lima, a locomotive construction company of Lima, Ohio, who in the 1942-1945 period still built steam engines exclusively while their competitors were producing more diesel electric than steam. Some of their notable steam designs included the Texas class 2-10-4s built in 1925 for the Texas and Pacific Railroad. These were quite large at 208 tonnes with 38.4 tonnes (84,600lbs) tractive effort. Lima also were responsible for some odd types, like the small 84 tonne 0-4-4-0 Shay locomotives built for the Dayton, Ohio power station in 1908. Regretably, Lima ceased steam loco construction in 1949 and by 1954 had given up locomotive construction completely. General Electric In the 1940s and 1950s the demise of many rich and famous locomotive manufacturing shops was a sign of the times to come. The General Electric Company, with their wide experience in electric locomotive production since the 1920s, had less trouble in turning to mainline diesel electric manufacture than did factories like Baldwin [a name synonomous with the latest, greatest and best in steam locomotive manufacture for 120 years). The General Electric Company [USA) had been building electric locomotives from 1920, even before EMD began. The most famous American electric locomotive of all, the · 3.5MW (4 700hp) Pennsylvania Railroad THIS THREE-UNIT LOCOMOTIVE was the Fairbanks-Morse answer to EMD. The railing along the top of the leading locomotive is for a radio antenna. Fairbanks-Morse could not compete with EMD and ceased locomotive manufacture in 1964. "' LOCOMOTIVE MANUFACTURE INVOLVES a lot of heavy engineering. This photo shows a brand new EMD SD40 locomotive being lowered onto its bogies. The big diesel engine can be clearly seen through the open doors. model GGl of 1934 (designed and built in Pensy's Altoona workshops), used a lot of General Electric motors , control gear and expertise. They had a 2-Co-Co-2 wheel arrangement with twelve 292kW (400hp) traction motors (two driving each axle). The traction motors were mounted in the body (a method GE have used to advantage in some modern electric locos). The GGl class (see SILICON CHIP Nov. 1987, page 6) lasted in highspeed express service for a record 50 years . Though Westinghouse provided electrical equipment for some of the later production, GE gained valuable early experience in this eminently successful design. Their early experience together with GE's worldwide financial power and diversity, and their continuous deep investment in heavy electrical equipment research, accounts for GE being the only major competitor against EMD in today's world of diesel electric locomotive manufacture. GE is not as committed to "off the shelf" locomotive selling as EMD, yet both realize the necessity of providing a range of models for all sizes of railroads. After all it had been GE who in 1924 produced the USA's first ever diesel electric locomotive, a little 224kW (300 horsepower) Bo-Bo yard switcher. That was actually a great year in diesel electric loco history. The world's first export of a diesel electric loco took place (Mallesta & Sodermanlands, exported from Sweden) and Brown Boveri with Fiat produced Italy's first diesel electric railway locomotive. At one time in association with Alco, GE brought out their first diesel electric passenger loco late in the 1930s. Breaking their FEBRUARY1989 77 tenance workshops found the opposed piston engine design was expensive to maintain. Fairbanks Morse ceased locomotive manufacture in 1964. Electro-Motive Division (EMD) THIS PHOTO SHOWS THE turbocharged 2-stroke V20 EMD-645 diesel engine, as used in the SD-45 locomotive. The engine delivers 2.7MW (3600hp) and stands about two metres high. It has now been superseded by the 16-cylinder 710 series which delivers even more power (2.97MW or 3980hp) but has lower maintenance costs. The main alternator is at the rear of the engine. association with Alco in 1953, GE then completely reorganised its diesel electric locomotive thinking and its manufacturing facility. By the early 1960s, GE was going all out as a locomotive producer. They then unveiled their model U25B diesel electric freight loco, a technologically advanced unit that set the style for the following 20 years. Fairbanks-Morse The dark horse manufacturer was a newcomer in 1944 to locomotive construction, Fairbanks Morse. This company had produced highly successful diesel engines of the "opposed pistons" type design. Their engines were well proven, having been used widely in US submarines and smaller ships during the war. The "opposed piston" engine has two pistons per cylinder but there is no cylinder head. Fuel combustion takes place in the space between the two pistons. On the power stroke both pistons move apart, travelling in opposite directions but both are linked by connecting rods to the one crankshaft. Very large versions of this engine 78 SILICON CHIP design also appeared in Australia in 25,000-tonne (and larger} freight ships, the cylinders being up to four metres long. Such ships were regular visitors to Newcastle (NSW} harbour during World War 2, carrying silver-lead ore residue from Port Pirie smelters. Other versions of the opposed piston design also appeared in stationary engines in some dieseldriven AC power stations in western NSW in the Condobolin area. Using a compact version of their engine coupled to a DC generator, Fairbanks Morse in 1944 brought out two 746kW (l000hp} switcher locomotives, which were sold to Milwaukee Railroad. Then in 1950, Fairbanks Morse released their triple unit high speed express diesel electric locomotive known as the "C Liners". This was purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad and others. More conventional single unit diesel electrics followed. The last design produced by the Fairbanks Morse company was the 1.8MW (2400hp} Co-Co "Trainmaster" which sold to Jersey Central Railroad and others. Though powerful and reliable, the main- In 1941, General Motors Corporation established their ElectroMotive Division at La Grange, Chicago, Illinois. Electromotive soon became known to the world as EMD which today makes most of the diesel electric locomotives (89 % of American production one year}. Even when other manufacturers outside the USA produce locos, often the diesel engine is an EMD product. In the early 1980s, EMD achieved great success with its 2.24MW (3000hp} models SD40 and SD40-2 Co-Co diesel electric locomotives, which were widely adopted by the "Class 1" railroads. The SD40 uses the EMD V16 model 16-645E3 turbo-charged diesel engine which drives an alternator. Large silicon diodes rectify the AC generated to drive the six axle-hung series DC traction motors. Geared to the driving axles through a 16:61 ratio, the motors achieve a tractive effort of 37.6 tonnes (83,000lbs} at 18 km/hr. SD40s and SD40-2s are found all over the USA and Canada. The 16-cylinder engine was well received by the maintenance shops. Santa Fe by 1986 had purchased 204 of this model, while in the same period Conrail bought 275. EMD's SD45 diesel electrics Back in 1967 the record for the largest train stood at 47,000 tonnes. This train consisted of 500 coal wagons and was 8.8km long. For this huge haulage task, the Norfolk and Western Railway used six 2.69MW (3600hp} SD45 locos made by EMD. Six SD45s, each weighing 177 tonnes, together exert a total tractive effort of 226 tonnes (498,000 lbs}. To avoid breaking the headend drawgear and couplings, three locomotives were pulling at the head end and three more were positioned in mid-train and radio controlled. TWO EMO-BUILT GP38 DIESEL-ELECTRICS are shown here at the head of a train rounding Horseshoe Curve, Altoona, Pennsylvania. These locos are each rated at 1.49MW (2000hp) and use a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement. An SD45 loco uses a 20-cylinder tur ho-charged two-stroke type 20-645E3 diesel engine. Each cylinder has a capacity of 645 cubic inches (10.57 litres) so the total engine capacity is 211.4 litres. This mighty engine is direct coupled to an AR 1 0B4 type multi-pole alternator. The alternator and associated silicon rectifiers provide over 5000 amps to feed the six D77 series DC traction motors. Each motor is axlehung and drives its axle via a 15:62 ratio reduction gear, giving a maximum rated speed of 104km/h (65mph]. Maximum tractive effort of the SD45 is 3 7. 7 tonnes (83,000lbs]. Brake equipment includes engine air and handbrake, train air brakes, and "extended range tapered dynamic brake" (ie, blended with the train air brakes according to train speed]. Under dynamic braking, the traction motors (with their field coils supplied from the rectifiers] act as DC generators with the electrical power so generated dissipated in a low-resistance high-power braking resistor, which is forced-air cooled. Locomotive diagnostics Modern US railroads face a continuous shortage of the highly skilled tradesmen needed to maintain the sophisticated mechanical and electrical plant carried by their locomotives. The real cost of a locomotive breakdown - including the cost of upsetting the timetable, the inevitable delays and possibly track blockage - is so critical that microprocessor-controlled event recorders and system diagnostic analysers have been installed in many locos. The class SD45-2 locomotives may contain a digital 2-channel pulse electronic recording system as an optional extra. Any locomotives so equipped can halt at a testing stand and plug into a computer. In a few moments this can read all the data from the onboard microprocessor's memory, analyse, summarise and print out a prognosis of future mechanical and electrical reliability. It can also issue warnings of potential or imminent breakdown. These high speed test procedures can be performed by semi-skilled employees, leaving the fully skilled tradesmen for essential duties in the maintenance shops. With computer testing growing in importance, more and more locomotive functions are now being continually tested and recorded. Engine functions recorded include rpm, fuel usage, compression ratios, bearing temperatures and supercharger air compression. Also monitored are electrical measurements of alternator voltage, current, power and excitation; traction motor voltage, current, power, speed and temperature; train speed; and whether the train is under traction or braking. From these, the computer can completely analyse the locomotive's condition and the driver's skill. From figures of individual traction motor voltage, current and speed can be deduced history of wheel slip, wheel skid, weight transfer between axles in a motor bogie, traction power transfer and braking effort transfer. These axle-to-axle weight and power transfer figures can in turn be used to evaluate the success or failure of motor bogie design and to FEBRUARY1989 79 engine capacity is therefore 186 litres. Power output of the new EMD engine is 2.97 megawatts (3980hp) which is substantially more than the 2.69MW [3600hp) produced by the 20-cylinder engine in the SD45. Interestingly, the SD60 is also slightly lighter than the SD45. Note that the very important factors "power per locomotive tonne" and " train tonne-kilometres run per dollar spent" [on fuel and maintenance) are the crux of today's locomotive selling. By the way, all these EMD SD series locomotives are of the Co-Co 6-axle wheel arrangement. General Electric locos THIS DIAGRAM SHOWS A CROSS-SECTION of the General Motors EMD 645 series engine which came in VB, V12, V16 and V20 versions. The angle between the cylinder banks is 45°. indicate unevenness in the track. By no means are all locomotives so fully equipped in self-analysis gear but the trend is growing. Up to eight digital channels of multiplexed data are presently used in the latest locomotives. SD45 sales Even with all their achievements, the EMD model SD45 and SD45-2 diesel electric locomotives have not sold well. The problem has been the higher maintenance cost of a 20-cylinder engine compared to that required by a 16-cylinder engine of about equal power. Realising this, EMD subsequently 80 SILICON CHIP produced the 2.61MW (3500hp) V16 SD50 locomotive in 1980. The smaller number of cylinders and improved economy has resulted in good sales for this model. The SD60 Several years later, in 1984, EMD upped the ante with the bigger engined SD60. This loco is 21.6 metres long and weighs 177 tonnes. The SD60 still uses a turbocharged 16-cylinder engine but it has bigger bores and is designated the 16-710G3. Again, the 710 denotes the cylinder capacity in cubic inches so each cylinder has a displacement of 11.63 litres. Total GE has replied admirably to EMD's challenge by producing a high-power range of diesel electric locomotives: the model C30 of 2.24MW (3000hp), the model C32 of 2.39MW (3200hp), and the model C36 of 2.76MW (3700hp). Of these, the model C32-8 is geared for the highest tractive effort - 49 tonnes (108,000lbs). All three models and variations thereon use the Co-Co wheel arrangement and either a 12-cylinder or 16-cylinder diesel engine. Comparison of the loco manufacturers' market acceptance may be judged by a typical railroad's locomotive inventory. On the Conrail Railroad's list we see 852 road freight diesel electrics from the EMD stable, and 403 similar units from GE. No other manufacturer appears on the list. This indicates today's American locomotive scene, with just two manufacturers remaining in the American marketplace and all the rest virtually gone. No longer do American railroads use a dozen small diesel electric locos on a 3000 or 4000 tonne train, nor are they inclined to use the enormous double-engine units described last month. Rather you would see from one to six of the most modern high-efficiency diesel electric units described above hauling any US freight train, grossing from 5000 to 50,000 tonnes. Next month we will look into the present state of passenger traffic in the USA. ~