INTRODUCTION:

The Diesel Locomotive

The modern diesel locomotive is a self contained version of the
electric locomotive. Like theelectric locomotive, it has electric drive, in the form
of traction motors driving the axles andcontrolled with electronic controls. It also
has many of the same auxiliary systems forcooling, lighting, heating, braking and
hotel power (if required) for the train. It can operateover the same routes
(usually) and can be operated by the same drivers. It differs principallyin that it
carries its own generating station around with it, instead of being connected to
aremote generating station through overhead wires or a third rail.
The generating stationconsists of a large diesel engine coupled to an alternator
producing the necessary electricity.A fuel tank is also essential. It is interesting to
note that the modern diesel locomotiveproduces about 35% of the power of a
electric locomotive of similar weight.
The Diesel Engine
The diesel engine was first patented by Dr Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913) in Germany
in 1892and he actually got a successful engine working by 1897. By 1913, when
he died, his enginewas in use on locomotives and he had set up a facility with
Sulzer in Switzerland tomanufacture them. His death was mysterious in that he
simply disappeared from a ship takinghim to London.The diesel engine is
a compression-ignition engine, as opposed to the petrol (or gasoline)engine,
which is a spark-ignition engine. The spark ignition engine uses an electrical
spark from a "spark plug" to ignite the fuel in the engine's cylinders, whereas the
fuel in the dieselengine's cylinders is ignited by the heat caused by air being
suddenly compressed in thecylinder. At this stage, the air gets compressed into
an area 1/25th of its original volume. Thiswould be expressed as a compression
ratio of 25 to 1. A compression ratio of 16 to 1 willgive an air pressure of 500
lbs/in (35.5 bar) and will increase the air temperature to over800F (427C).The
advantage of the diesel engine over the petrol engine is that it has a higher
thermalcapacity (it gets more work out of the fuel), the fuel is cheaper because it
is less refined thanpetrol and it can do heavy work under extended periods of
overload. It can however, in a highspeed form, be sensitive to maintenance and
noisy, which is why it is still not popular forpassenger automobiles.

Parts of a Diesel-Electric Locomotive

The following diagram shows the main parts of a US-built diesel-electric
locomotive. Click on the part name for a description.
Diesel Engine
This is the main power source for the locomotive. It comprises a large cylinder
block, withthe cylinders arranged in a straight line or in a V. The engine rotates
the drive shaft at up to1,000 rpm and this drives the various items needed to
power the locomotive. As thetransmission is electric, the engine is used as the
power source for the electricity generator oralternator, as it is called nowadays.

Main Alternator
The diesel engine drives the main alternator which provides the power to move
the train. Thealternator generates AC electricity which is used to provide power
for the traction motorsmounted on the trucks (bogies). In older locomotives, the
alternator was a DC machine,called a generator. It produced direct current which
was used to provide power for DCtraction motors. Many of these machines are
still in regular use. The next development wasthe replacement of the generator
by the alternator but still using DC traction motors. The ACoutput is rectified to
give the DC required for the motors. For more details on AC and DCtraction.
Auxiliary Alternator
Locomotives used to operate passenger trains are equipped with an auxiliary
alternator. Thisprovides AC power for lighting, heating, air conditioning, dining
facilities etc. on the train.The output is transmitted along the train through an
auxiliary power line. In the US, it isknown as "head end power" or "hotel power".
In the UK, air conditioned passenger coachesget what is called electric train
supply (ETS) from the auxiliary alternator.

Motor Blower
The diesel engine also drives a motor blower. As its name suggests, the motor
blowerprovides air which is blown over the traction motors to keep them cool
during periods of heavy work. The blower is mounted inside the locomotive body
but the motors are on thetrucks, so the blower output is connected to each of the
motors through flexible ducting. Theblower output also cools the alternators.
Some designs have separate blowers for the group of motors on each truck
and others for the alternators. Whatever the arrangement, a modernlocomotive
has a complex air management system which monitors the temperature of
thevarious rotating machines in the locomotive and adjusts the flow of air
accordingly.
Air Intakes

The air for cooling the locomotive's motors is drawn in from outside the
locomotive. It has tobe filtered to remove dust and other impurities and its flow
regulated by temperature, bothinside and outside the locomotive. The
air management system has to take account of thewide range of temperatures
from the possible +40C of summer to the possible -40C of winter.
Rectifiers/Inverters
The output from the main alternator is AC but it can be used in a locomotive with
either DCor AC traction motors. DC motors were the traditional type used for
many years but, in thelast 10 years, AC motors have become standard for new
locomotives. They are cheaper tobuild and cost less to maintain and, with
electronic management can be very finelycontrolled.To convert the AC output
from the main alternator to DC, rectifiers are required. If themotors are DC, the
output from the rectifiers is used directly. If the motors are AC, the DCoutput
from the rectifiers is converted to 3-phase AC for the traction motors.In the US,
there are some variations in how the inverters are configured. GM EMD relies
onone inverter per truck, while GE uses one inverter per axle - both systems
have their merits.EMD's system links the axles within each truck in parallel,
ensuring wheel slip control ismaximised among the axles equally. Parallel control
also means even wheel wear evenbetween axles. However, if one inverter (i.e.
one truck) fails then the unit is only able toproduce 50 per cent of its tractive
effort. One inverter per axle is more complicated, but theGE view is that
individual axle control can provide the best tractive effort. If an inverter fails,the
tractive effort for that axle is lost, but full tractive effort is still available through
the otherfive inverters. By controlling each axle individually, keeping wheel
diameters closelymatched for optimum performance is no longer necessary
Electronic Controls
Almost every part of the modern locomotive's equipment has some form of
electroniccontrol. These are usually collected in a control cubicle near the cab for
easy access. Thecontrols will usually include a maintenance management
system of some sort which can beused to download data to a portable or handheld computer.