ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Change of pace - Locomotive pics and data

GP40 - 2, made by EMD [Electro-Motive Division] of General Motors.
Production Dates: 04/72 thru 11/86.

Locomotive Data:
Max. speed: 71 M.P.H.
Prime Mover [Diesel Engine]: 16V645 [16 cylinder V block] 2 cycle, turbocharged and supercharged.
3000 Horsepower @ 900 RPMs.
AC Alternator, DC Traction Motors. Has Dynamic Brakes [extended range type].
Gear Ratio = 62:15

Capacities:
Fuel: 2000 Gallons.
Lube Oil: 220 Gallons.
Cooling Water: 275 Gallons.
Sand: 40 cu. ft.

The "GP" designation stands for General Purpose. This Unit can be used for either long distance, or short
distance duties. Also very commonly used for local switcher jobs.




SD45, made by EMD [Electro-Motive Division] of General Motors.
Production Dates: 02/65 thru 12/71.

Locomotive Data:
Max. speed: 71 M.P.H.
Prime Mover [Diesel Engine]: 20-645E [20 cylinders] 2 cycle, turbocharged and supercharged.
3600 Horsepower @ 900 RPMs.
AC Alternator, DC Traction Motors. Has Dynamic Brakes [extended range type].
Gear Ratio = 62:15

Capacities:
Fuel: 4000 Gallons.
Lube Oil: 295 Gallons
Cooling Water: 295 Gallons.
Sand: 56 cu. ft.

The "SD" designates Specific Duty, or Special Duty. These units are normally found in long distance
hauls, but can also be used for short distance and local switcher jobs.




SW1500 Yard switcher, made by EMD [Electro-Motive Division] of General Motors.
Production Dates: 07/66 thru 01/74.

Locomotive Data:
Max. speed: 71 M.P.H.
Prime Mover [Diesel Engine]: 12-645E [12 cylinders] 2 cycle, supercharged only.
1500 Horsepower @ 900 RPMs.
DC Generator, DC Traction Motors. No Dynamic Brakes.
Gear Ratio[s] = 62:15 or 59:18

Capacities:
Fuel: 500 - 1000 Gallons.
Lube Oil: 200 Gallons
Cooling Water: 200 Gallons.
Sand: 20 cu. ft.

This unit would be used in yards, along with local switching jobs.
Routinely, they are included with long distance jobs, in order to give them some "Road Time"


If the images are too grainy, I'll alter the compression and re-load.

Feel free to comment!!! Hopefully, these items are a nice change of pace!!!

Scott SET posted 09/27/2001 @ 03:29:00

sand???

Thanks, Scott. It just happens that my 16 year old (almost 17) and I were discussing diesels just the other day. I will pass these along to him.
And we here at work are discussing the use of some 2000kw generators on this project. It is surprising how much diesel fuel these babies consume, 120 gph.

Scott,

Sand = Weight = Traction?

Don't know about Amtrak, but it's released onto the rails here to aid grip if the wheels are slipping.

Scott,
I'm really glad you put these up!
I've looked around on the web many times for info on locomotives and trains, and all I can seem to find are the "HO" model variety.
I like these pics alot, thx

Scott, a little bit of trivia for you. The west Main Entrance building at Disney's California Adventure ( the one right after the turn styles) has a train at it's south end that is actually part of the building. The cab is an actual cab (- the engine) of a California Zepher locomotive. The rest of the train is a facade of structural and stainless steel but the front is a real train the found somewhere in Illinois. Many of the parts (doors,light fixtures,wheels etc.) are refurbished from the real train.
It was quite an experience trying to wire a train to the NEC and Walt Disney Imagineering specs! (Where do you buy 70V lamps any way? )
I know you live near there but like many of us you probably don't go there much. If you do, check it out.
Nick

Go here for some more really cool locomotives!

WV style!

Hello everyone, happy that you like the posted images and data! I'll add a few more later.
Got photos of the DDA40X "Centennials", which were the largest North American Diesel-Electric locos [maybe still are] in 1969, measuring in at >98'-0" and using two 20-645E Diesel Prime Movers [Diesel Engines].
With 6600 Horsepower @ 900 RPMs, they were the most powerful units in North America circa 1969 to 1990.
They were extremely ineffecient, though!!! Plus very dirty [typical of 2 strokers - they pollute terribly!].
Lastly, they were Maintenance Nightmares!
FYI: Many Railroads will remove the factory installed Turbocharger from certain units, especially those used for local switching, in order to reduce a key maintanence / breakdown component.
Low speed use does not really need a Turbocharger, so removing it has little if no effect on the useful tractive effort. Tractive effort is a low speed issue anyways!

Also, if I can find my "Good" pictures of the Prime Movers [Diesel Engines] and Alternators + Traction Motors, I'll post them too! I know everyone will like those shots!

Warren and Scott [electure]:
Check out these sites!:

My Railroad Pics
An extensive library of pictures, which I shot over the years.

info on the F59PHI
This is the EMD site of General Motors, in particular - covering the F59PHI Locomotive which is commonly used by Amtrak on Commuter Trains.
Try this URL to get the EMD Locomotives Homepage
If no good, the linked page should have a "Home" link.
General Electric makes many Diesel-Electric Locos. I just haven't found too much on-line data from GE yet!

Bill and Steve:
The Sand is used for Traction [as mentioned by paul]. It is "Blasted" in front of each outer wheel, at the wheel/railhead contacting points, in order to limit the amount of slippage, or free spinning of the wheel on the railhead.
For each truck, there's two sanding hoses on each side, pointing towards the side of forward movement [units can be run any direction with equal output HP].
The primary problem with "Wheel Slip" is from a dead stop and at very low speeds.
Wheel slip can do a lot of harm - from burning out Traction Motors, causing Alternator failures, "over-rev'ing" the prime mover [bearing failures], to even causing a derailment!
It's not just simply a loss of Tractive Effort that needs to be maintained for optimal efficiency - it can put a unit out of service!

The locomotives have wheel slip detection, which automatically sands the rails when slip occurs, but there's also a Manual Sand Dump valve which the Engineer will use for extended duration, or wet conditions before starting [moving].
If there's too much wheel slip in a time period and under heavy load conditions, the Alternator's Field "Trips", which causes the Alternator to no longer produce power to the traction motors. Also the prime mover trips into idle speed.
When this occurs, the system must be reset.

Neat pieces of machinery these locomotives are, huh???
What's just as cool is the way Trackside signal systems work! This includes street crossing signals/gates and the "Block" signals.
This stuff would be great to draw up, note and post in the Tech Ref section!

Nick,
Thanks for the info about the Zepher! Next time I go there, I'll definitely head right over to that Building!
Ironically, the Zepher's "Streamline" design was a consept to gain the public's interest, and give the illusion of high speed travel. The consept worked great, so it was applied to the Steam Locomotives and Budd / Pullman Passenger cars of the era.
The irony is, the rival railroads [other than C,B&Q "Burlington"] were introduced to a locomotive which was able to go more than 500 miles without serviceing and required a smaller on-board crew, plus a fraction of the fuel than even the most dependable and efficient Steam powered units.

So began the end of the Steam era.
So began the beginning of the "First Generation" Diesel-Electric era.
So began the EMD "E" and "F" units era.
So began the technical progress of North American Railroads.

Once again, I'm glad you all enjoyed these pictures! I'll post more in the future.

P.S. Scott W [electure]:
These 3 shots were taken at the SP / UP yard on Broadway and Manchester in North Anaheim [that's why they look familiar!]

Scott SET

Thanks, Scott. Glad to see some other electricians are railfans too.