Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

For improved passenger Safety against fire and smoke, Sensor to detect this is to be installed in every passenger coach...



In order to get over the problem of High Hotel Load requirements of A C Coaches in LHB coaches, separate power generators (Self Generating)for EACH coach to take care of the requirement is being explored.....the Testing and Improvement by RDSO is underway....

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

A new coupler with heavy duty spring is introduced to buffer traction and bounce shocks, and it can rotate on the axis a full 360 degrees .

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

New Safety measures in the construction of the Stainless Steel coach are now being tested for implementation to improve Passenger Safety...

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

PSR Sir, some questions arise in my mind. Indian Railways just conducted a high speed trial from Delhi to Agra at 160 kmph. And I saw some details of the Railway budget.

My questions are:

1. I think they used WAP5 for this test, as it appeared to be a white engine. Am I right?

2. If yes, then why don't they modify WAP7 for top end speed, and create new records of speed? Obviously it has more power, so regearing it should help...

And thirdly, wouldn't we all be benefitted more, if instead of the ambitious super expensive Bullet Train Project, we just go ahead and create 200 kmph capable WAP7. Because from what I understand, even Shinkansen's of the earlier generation like model 0, JR100, JR300, etc. had not too much power, their power was around 6000-11000 hp over the times. And even they touched 220 kmph (earlier models) - 270 kmph (JR300). (Of course, their coaches could be lighter but still 7000 hp is a lot, if managed well).


According to a news channel, laying a 1 kms track for bullet train costs Rs. 100 crore, compared to just Rs. 14 lacs for ordinary tracks.


So, is it actually wise going for Bullet Trains? Even in 2019, will India deserve it, given the fact that the same money (60,000 crore approx) could be used in a better manner, and we're a developing country?

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

A WAP-7 was tested for high speed run on a long good track,of more than 50 Kms ,did achieve 180 Kmph...... Besides Power, adhesion , tractive effort and Chassis stability are more important for attaining higher sustainable speeds....
Indian Railway is looking at increasing passenger train speeds to 160 and then 180 and later to 200 Kmph..This necessitates not just the Loco capability alone...It involves track(material and quality), support routing,ballast, and infrastructure besides Bogies and their construction capable of such higher speeds .
I had already mentioned that higher speeds will need better Tracks, and more importantly Track and rolling stock protection , due to the nature of the speeds involved .
Bullet trains are proposed more for creating impression than practicality...though we should achieve it one day..
Time is money so a travel between two points at lesser time, will benefit everyone...
To day people in Metros travel 50+ Kms everyday to work and back....made possible by better roads, and faster trains..in essence faster means of transport. The cost of such an exercise will be enormous due to the cost layout including infra development , but will become viable over a period of time.
India is a Developing Country and to develop further needs efficient man management including efficient man power movement...so the cost will justify the end results.
An elevated track will become essential for the Bullet Train to avoid collision with humans, cattle etc., which will be disastrous. So the cost of track is also high .

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

The LHB Stainless Steel coaches come in many variants .. Here are the main variants.....

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

INDIAN Railways (IR) is working on plans to adopt Common Rail Electronic Direct Fuel Injection (CREDI) technology for diesel locomotives with the aim of reducing fuel costs for its 4500-strong fleet.

A prototype unit is being developed by Ganser Common Rail Systems, Switzerland, and is due to make its first run next March. IR plans to equip 50 locomotives with CREDI by end 2014. The cost of equipping each locomotive is expected to be around Rs 5m ($US 100,000).

IR says it estimates that equipping the entire fleet will generate annual savings of Rs 6bn on its Rs 160bn diesel bill and reduce emissions by 30%.

Diesel prices have risen several times since January, when the government permitted the state-run oil companies to fix diesel prices independently, and IR has struggled to accommodate the higher costs, which cannot be offset by increased fares.

In recent months, IR been experimenting with a series of technologies to cut costs, and it has appointed Westport Innovations, Canada, to convert a locomotive to run on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) – which it is hoped will bring down fuel costs by up to 40%. Initial plans are to build 20 LNG-variant locomotives, and the contract for the first new-build prototype is likely to be awarded shortly.

IR is also looking at the use of genset locomotives as well as Auxiliary Power Units (APU), which are estimated to generate savings of approximately Rs 2m per locomotive per year. On an APU-equipped locomotive, the main power unit shuts down after 10 minutes of idling and all systems are powered by the much smaller APU, which consumes just 3 litres of diesel per hour, compared with 25 litres per hour for an average-sized diesel engine.

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Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

sir... any diff between CREDI and CRDI ?? I guess Hyundai terms their Diesel engine as CRDi

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

They are both same..just different terminology to describe the same Common Rail Diesel Injection system... The Injector is Electronically operated and so IR had chosen to call it Electronic Direct Fuel Injection... World over it is used by many manufacturer including Big Trucks like Man , Volvo, etc... A common rail feeds the Diesel to the Injectors, and the required pressure is maintained in the common rail itself...If you want more clarification please do post your queries.

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

More number of older Alco 4 stroke Diesel Locos are being converted to Electronic Fuel and Power Management . This had led to lesser maintenance, higher tractive effort,and quicker turn around of Service.

With the availability of thyristor of higher power handling capability use of tap changer is being eliminated making the equipment entirely static. This will not only reduce attention required but also enhance reliability. Other very important benefit achieved by the thyristors is the capability they offer to control individually the supply to each motor permitting full utilization of the adhesion existing between the wheels and the rails. This is again modified to Latest IGBT Technology leading to better efficiency, less heat,lower loss and Greater power.

With the advent of solid state devices in general, and microprocessors in particular, more and more sophistication has become possible. Other things remaining the same, with step less control and consequent non-pulsating torque offered by such controls, higher average tractive effort can be achieved . The solid state control is fast acting and methods are now available to detect incipient slip and take corrective action before the slippage becomes uncontrollable and curative action is called for by reducing the tractive effort applied. Thus the locomotives can be made to develop tractive efforts to very high levels of adhesion co-efficient.

One of the severe restrictions imposed on the capability of electric locomotives is the dc series motor( early DC drive). These motors have limitations on their use because of windings on the rotor and assembly of commutators, making it vulnerable against centrifugal forces and requirements of satisfactory commutation.
The 3-phase asynchronous motor with a bar rotor does not have the surface speed limitations. The useful portion of its speed torque characteristics is only near its synchronous speed. This useful portion can be spread over a wide range by varying the synchronous speed through frequency control.
With the advent of Gate Turn Off (GTO) thyristors and IGBTs ,problems associated with conversion of dc into multiphase ac system have been eliminated and use of 3-phase synchronous / asynchronous motor has become feasible. "Variable Voltage and Variable Frequency" (VWF) control has been developed and use of induction motors as traction drives has been tried successfully on the different railway systems.

In the circumstances, adoption of 3-phase induction motor for traction application has been tried for the past 12 years and has now become commercially viable proposition. The control is being achieved through variable voltage and variable frequency briefly referred to as WVF. Originally thyristors were used with commutation requirements for cut off. With the advent of GTO, the control has been made much simpler and more efficient thus use of 3-phase asynchronous motors for traction could also become financially viable. The use of IGBT had further reduced Losses in switching and reduced device heating..This had resulted in doing away with the Air Blower used to cool Power devices, Resulting in a Saving of Rs. 2 Lakhs per Loco.

A locomotive with 3-phase asynchronous motor drive has the following advantages :

- higher power capability due to high power/weight ratio,

- regeneration capability over a wide speed range,

- lesser maintenance,

- unity power factor at pantograph,

- higher adhesion.

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

Control scheme for induction motors :

The control of the ac induction motor drive in traction application is achieved in 3 stages .

i) Constant torque mode : The torque developed by a motor is proportional to the product of the magnetic flux in the air gap, and the rotor current. The applied voltage is proportional to the synchronous frequency and the magnetic flux in the air gap. To keep the magnetic flux constant, therefore, the applied voltage to the traction motor is to be made proportional to the synchronous speed.

The rotor current depends upon the slip frequency of the rotor. By keeping this constant, the rotor current is also kept constant. This is possible till the voltage is increased to the rated terminal voltage of the traction motor. Thus in this mode the control is achieved by increasing the voltage and frequency uniformly with respect to the actual speed of the rotation of the rotor and the required slip frequency.

ii) Constant power mode : In this mode the voltage is already reached to the rated voltage. By increasing the frequency, the magnetic flux in the air gap is reduced proportionately. By keeping the slip frequency constant, the motor current is kept constant. Thus the motor is made to give constant power output till the maximum service speed is reached.

iii) Balancing speed stage : Once the maximum pre-determined speed is achieved, the same power output from the traction motor may not be required and the output is to be matched to meet the resistance of the train for running at the balancing speed. This is achieved by suitably reducing the terminal voltage of the traction motor.

These functions are performed through micro processor control giving various inputs of parameters like voltage, current and speed.

iv) Converter/Invertors System : In order to achieve the above control requirements, the converter/ invertors system with a dc link is adopted. The converter rectifies the ac voltage to dc and feeds it to the dc link. The dc link supplies power to the invertors. The converter output power is controlled by controlling the output current keeping the dc link voltage constant. The invertors output power is controlled by varying the terminal voltage initially till the full voltage is achieved. However the motor output current is kept constant.

The control of output current of the converter and output voltage of the invertors is achieved by pulse width modulation control.

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.



The Roper steam velocipede was a steam-powered velocipede built by inventor Sylvester H. Roper of Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, United States sometime from 1867–1869. It is one of three machines which have been called the first motorcycle

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

Many of the passenger coaches in Kerala are found to be old and dangerous ,since 70% of them are about 30 years old and not maintained well. Cases of several coaches breaking while shunting and lower and upper body separation are becoming Alarmingly frequent. A few picture to show the kind of failures ...the first one is of a 1989 built coach breaking while being attached to a train formation in the yard...



This second picture shows how a Whole top of a compartment separated from it's anchoring and slid away from it's under carriage...this coach was manufactured in 1988..



Luckily in both incidents there were no passengers present inside...

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Indian Railways are on an exercise to build 6,000HP Diesel Locomotives . In this effort the Prime Power will be the GE Two stroke Diesel engine. The 20 Cylinder 5,000 HP engine is already upgraded to 5,500 HP and safety trial runs have been successfully completed. We will soon see the "Bheem" 5,500 HP WDG5 in use on the Indian Railways .
The planning towards the 6,000 HP Diesel Electric Loco had been done since 2005. An extract from the IR planning at RDSO is shared ....

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

To make Indian Railways more cost Effective and increase it's Passenger Traffic cost lower, IR had envisioned running the Diesel Locos on Natural Gas. Study had been undertaken from the early 2000 and a few trial runs were done to finalise on the Conversion Kit . The initial oulay was 60 Lakhs per Loco, but over a period of time the cost had gone up now to approximately 75 Lakhs to 1+ crore Rupees per Loco. The benefits accrued from the conversion is high, and as a trial run the DEMUs were targeted for the first batch of experiment and finalizing of design.
Concerned over the slow pace of conversion of DEMU power car (DPC) into CNG-diesel dual fuel mode, Indian Railways has decided to give a push to manufacturing of such engines at its Integral Coach Factory at Chennai. This will do away with the procedure of conversion of engines to CNG-diesel dual fuel mode thus making such engines available for use in near future.



“The execution of conversion works has been slow on account of non-availability of spare power car for conversion. Now, it has been decided to provide CNG-diesel dual-fuel mode at ICF, Chennai on new DPCs being manufactured, so that making available DPCs for conversion is not a bottle-neck,” a Railway official said.
Incidentally, one DPC of Shakurbasti Diesel Shed has been converted to CNG-diesel dual-fuel mode and is running successfully for the last few years. The Indian Railways Organisation For Alternate Fuels (IROAF) has placed three contracts for CNG conversion of 50 another DPCs.
Officials claim the cost of fitment on 50 DPCs is about `55 Crore and savings in fuel consumption can be assessed only where these kits are positioned. The cost of conversion of DPCs varies from `80 lakh to `1.2 crore each.

“The expected advantages of this conversion would be lower fuel cost as CNG is cheaper than diesel and lower emissions level of CNG operated engines,” official said.

To-day the first CNG / Diesel duel fuel DEMU rolled out of Integral Coach Factory . Followers of IR Loco engines development over the years, were perplexed over the use of Cummins fuel efficient Diesel engine in developing DEMU and WDM5 . The answer is now emerging in the form of the CNG DEMUs with Duel fuel capability..





The first CNG DEMU comes with the mechanism to run on a duel fuel engine that uses the CNG as an alternative to diesel. The CNG DEMU power car has a driver’s cabin, engine room, radiator room and passenger compartment, like any other power car, but has a CNG cascade room at the rear. The CNG cascade has 40 cylinders, each with a capacity to store 15 kg of CNG at 255 bar pressure.
CNG emits fewer toxic and carcinogenic pollutants and no particulate matter and also helps to cut carbon monoxide emission by 90 per cent, carbon dioxide by 25 per cent, nitrogen oxide by 35 per cent and non-methane hydrocarbon by 50 per cent.
The eco-friendly technology has been developed by the Indian Railway Organisation for Alternate Fuels (IROAF). The IROAF has placed with Cummins India Limited an order for eight CNG-conversion kits that will be fitted into the ICF-made DEMUs. The DEMU has been sent to Northern Railway.