Westinghouse Gas Turbine - Electric Locomotive 3

Here's our final look at the Westinghouse Gas Turbine locomotive which was first operated in road service in May, 1950. Our primary source is a previously described (see older posts on this blog) specification book produced by Westinghouse in June 1952.

Westinghouse drawing number 55-J-87, described below.

It appears that in terms of test or prototype gas turbine powerplants for locomotives, Westinghouse was first out of the box with its 2000 HP prototype being operated from September 1946 until December 1948 at its plant before being shipped out to the field, modified, as a stationary plant for further evaluation (which Westinghouse of course monitored.) General Electric's prototype gas turbine plant for locomotive service operated at its plant in Erie from September 1947 until August 1948. Westinghouse indicates that its test unit operated 1500 hours; Railway Age reported in 1949 that GE's test unit operated 700 hours. Unlike Westinghouse's test unit, though, the GE unit was placed immediately in a newly-designed locomotive, lettered and numbered as "ALCO-GE 50" and placed in test operation very shortly. Extensive testing of this ALCO-GE prototype on the Union Pacific in 1949 revealed that the locomotive worked; according to Don Strack, UP had already ordered a production batch of locomotives before the end of 1950. The first was delivered in January of 1952, several months before this specification book was issued by Westinghouse covering its gas turbine locomotive.

It would then appear that Westinghouse re-issued the specification with slight revisions (the book indicates that the diagrams and line drawings supersede previous data) and put this binder out to the railroads in hopes of getting some action, as it were, before it was edged out of the gas turbine locomotive market. The fact of the matter was that all of the members of this locomotive family (Westinghouse, offering straight electric locomotives including Ignitron rectifier units, Baldwin and Lima-Hamilton, and Whitcomb) were essentially only marginal players at this point. Further, GE had an advantage with the gas turbine locomotive in simplicity and very likely in fuel economy in developing 4500 HP for traction with a single gas turbine powerplant while Westinghouse chose to use two powerplants to develop a total of 4000 HP for traction.

AS AN ASIDE, a very interesting notation appears on Westinghouse Drawing Number 55-J-87 which is included in the specification book. This drawing is labeled as "4000-4500 Locomotive Arrangement." If this carries any weight it would appear that Westinghouse was considering a 2250 HP net output for its gas turbine plant. However, Railway age reported in 1949 that while the locomotive rating ALCO-GE was publishing was 4500 HP, the gas turbine's nominal rating was 4800 SHP at highest normal altitude (for railway service) and temperature, and 5000 SHP at sea level but that the unit could possibly tolerate operation with higher turbine inlet temperature at 6000 HP and finally that in testing in cold weather the unit had actually been tested at 6400 HP. Clearly then, while it is possible that Westinghouse may have uprated slightly to match the as-built 'first generation' GE turbines, GE also had plenty of horsepower growth available - far in excess of what Westinghouse could have matched, without major redesign.

Getting back to our story line, having covered much of the operational data and the developmental story all that's left is to describe the mechanical layout of this prototype gas turbine locomotive. For that we'll use Westinghouse drawing 57-J-844 from the specification book, which is the Layout & Servicing diagram.

Starting at the left side of the drawing, we note that there are two large air brake equipment racks in the nose of the locomotive, flanking the vertically mounted front traction motor blower serving both front trucks. The blower motors are Westinghouse Y-400A units; each blower was rated 12,000 cfm air flow. Central also is the heavy fuel filler pipe, above which is a hinged door in the top of the nose. Also present in the front compartment is the UE-23 Traction Motor Blower Alarm relay, warning of blower shutdown. In the cab, the engineer's position is fairly typical for road locomotives of the time, including a pneumatic throttle. In front of the fireman's position are a remote steam generator control panel and a hand brake.

Moving into the engine room through a centerline door we find, each side, a large 5000 gallon water tank and behind these two electrical equipment cabinets. Outboard of these, and accessible are various control and indicating panels and the TS-31-D Load Regulators, part of the complex load control scheme required by the nature of the gas turbines' load profile. The front end of each powerplant is a Westinghouse 2-cylinder air compressor; inboard of these, flanking the central walkway are the operating handles for the two XC-623-H Starting Controllers. We imagine these are used only for individual powerplant startup. Outboard and below the air compressors are the YG-53-A Pilot Exciters, which have mounted on front shaft extensions A-80 Tachometers. Behind these we see the large auxiliary generators mounted directly to the front of the main traction generator groups, and on top of these are the four exciters. On top of the front end of the actual gas turbine compressor housings are turning gear motors, used to operate the turbine shafts at very low speeds (required during cooldown for prevention of rotor bowing) and alarm lights indicating dirty intake air (probably a D/P cell.) While the locomotive has three engine room ventilating fans, the larger one over the turbines is a Y-44D motor providing cooling for the turbine lube oil. Below the turbines are Y-109A auxiliary lube oil pump motors and Y-202A fuel pump motors. Overtemperature thermostats, with resets, are located in the engine exhaust pipes; under the left-side exhaust elbow is an auxiliary air compressor driven electrically by a Y-204-A motor. The unit on the left of the engine room behind the left turbine is a standard Vapor steam generator, and on the right is a Babcock & Wilcox custom exhaust heat generator; water is supplied to the exhaust steam generator by a Y-109-B motor driven pump.

Next are two further large water tanks, with the rear traction motor blower at center, sanitary facility at right rear, 75 HP auxiliary diesel left rear, and auxiliary and signal power cabinet at centerline. Item 65 on the drawing is a TK-168-A Hostling Switch, probably used to direct power from the auxiliary generator to a traction motor or pair of them for hostling moves.

The drawing indicates a total capacity of 3850 gallons of heavy fuel in main, or underbody tank, and I-beam tanks. Total diesel fuel capacity 500 gallons. Traction motors labeled as model 370K. The rear traction motor gear cases, #7 and #8 were using an experimental lubricant (Sinclair Jet Lubricant TM) in place of the normal prescribed lubricant. The cab was heated only by steam.

THAT about covers the Westinghouse 4000 HP Gas Turbine Electric Locomotive in as much detail as we need to get a good idea of its design, history, construction, and competitive position in the field at the time. I hope you've enjoyed it!

Even MORE General Electric brochure photos

Yet another round of GE sales brochure photos. Hopefully this will help occupy our many snowed-in friends in the Eastern half of the US.

Let's lead off with another view of the locomotive that heads this blog, namely the experimental General Electric road locomotive no. GE 750.

General Electric 750. Four unit experimental road locomotive, built in 1955. Length overall 212 feet, weight in working order total 490 tons- all on drivers. Rated 6000 horsepower. Operations totaled over a million unit miles under testing, mainly on the Erie Railroad (for which the locomotive was painted.) Two units contained Cooper-Bessemer FVBL-8T engines rated 1200 HP for traction; two units contained Cooper-Bessemer FVBL-12T engines rated 1800 HP for traction.

Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific No. 206, General Electric model U25B.







Assembly of FDL-16A diesel engines. General Electric decided immediately upon separating from the old ALCO-GE agreements to develop the Cooper-Bessemer F series engine for locomotive service, namely in 1953. In 1954-1955 GE built a diesel engine lab at Erie, and in 1958 took design and development responsibility for the FDL diesel series from Cooper-Bessemer, who still built the engines for GE at its Mount Vernon, Ohio plant until early 1963 when assembly was transferred to Erie, Pennsylvania at GE's plant. In this illustration the nearest engine frame lacks cylinder assemblies; a technician appears to be checking or finishing the bores for pushrods and fuel pumps. The next most distant engine is having its last cylinder assembly installed in the frame by overhead hoist.

Cylinder assembly, seen in cutaway. From sales brochure for U30 locomotives; depicts FDL-16D assembly. Note valve box on top, with valve spring visible; steel cylinder head is visible in center, containing valves and injector nozzle (hidden inside) while removable cylindrical cylinder liner is seen at bottom.








Detail of (circular) cover illustration for U33 sales brochure. Unit closest camera is GE 301, one of the original four U30 test/prototype/demonstrator units that was converted to U33 by the time of this brochure's printing. More interesting is the unit at left, obviously another U33 but numbered "308." There was no GE 308 that we know of; either this number was applied (very well) by an artist for this photo and perhaps the unit was built for, perhaps, NYC or perhaps there was going to be a GE 308 which ended up being one of the two pre-production U33 units built for NYC that were mixed right in with a large order for U30 units. Pure speculation, but this illustration has puzzled me for years.

MUCH more to come!

More GE pictures, and a cab shot as well

I hate to just put up technical jargon - so it's time for a few more pictures, as always from actual sources. Let's use some of the early GE sales brochures.

At left is a small shot included in the 1960 brochure announcing the U25B locomotive. This shot is of unit 751 coupled to what appears to be an ERIE F3B, obviously during the testing period that preceded announcement of the model. Note the original configuration with no front rails or platform. GE 751 and 752 carried the designation "FG-24" under their road numbers during this period, indicating "Freight, GE, 2400 HP." That FG-24 label is clear in another detail shot we won't show here, which was meant to show under-cab compartment details.

Here are GE 751 and 752 together, after modification and during the period in which they were demonstrating as U25B units, prior to construction of the four-unit set of production U25B demonstrators, units 753 through 756, in early 1961.



At left is a great color shot included in a large binder that GE issued to advertise the U25B, showing the lowest numbered unit of the 1961 U25B demonstrator set. GE seems to have used this shot with at least one other airbrushed background. This large binder includes a sales brochure, a specification booklet, and several transcripts of technical lectures delivered concerning the U25B and its development. In the sales brochure is an interesting illustration, shown next.

This shot seems to depict a control stand and instrument layout between two of the previously shown ones (see the older post on GE control stands.) Judging by the layout of switches, the addition of a power limit switch but the placement of the ammeter on the bulkhead instead of in the instrument panel below the front window, it would appear that this exact control stand and instrument layout would apply perhaps only to the four-unit demonstrator set 753-756 considering that the operating manual shows the layout with ammeter in the front panel. This might be splitting hairs, but it's sensible guesswork and provides an interesting in-depth addition to our study of early GE control stand layouts.

Stay tuned to our blog for MANY more materials from all of the locomotive builders.

GE FDL Diesel Engine - Installment 3

FDL-16D... There is evidence to suggest that the C and D engines are for all practical purposes identical, with the exception of governed engine speeds (the A and C engine both had idle speed set at 400 RPM and full speed at 1000 RPM) with an increase in full speed to 1025 RPM. Idle speed remained the same.

While I'm at it, I should mention that all FDL engines from A through F series had a compression ratio of 12.7:1. We cannot be sure as to when or how camshaft profiles may have changed; this is not referred to generally and you'd need a parts manual to get that detailed information.

Returning to the near identical features, mechanically, of the C and D engines: An interesting blurb in The Railway Gazette, October 1, 1965 (provided us by Steve Palmano) announces the introduction, expected in May 1966, of the GE models U28B, U28C and U56. The short article states that while these models will be introduced at a 2800 HP rating, due to the limits of DC transmission (in particular generator size) GE was developing an AC/DC transmission to be employed at first in test units and then later in production locomotives (which we now know to all have been pre-production U30 units.) At that point, ALCO had developed, and EMD announced, 3000 HP units. What's important here is to note the concurrence in development of the 2800 HP powerplant and the 3000 HP powerplant, and considering the lack of any hard data in our mountain of manuals to indicate that other than governed speeds and fuel rack settings there's a difference of any significance between the "C" and "D" engines, we'll have to assume they were just different designations for essentially the same engine.

The sales brochure we have for the U30 actually for once mentions engine model by name, calling the engine "FDL-16D." Interestingly, the brochure also says that the engine's fuel-air ratio was properly maintained by monitoring the engine air supply - but we cannot find any such indication in either the Diesel Engine manual for the U30 (we have several, the earliest being GEJ-3847 printed 3-67) or the Educational Manual for the U30 (our earliest being GEJ-3849, printed 4-67.) This sounds like either a reference to an early two-slope pressure-bias engine control governor or to the overspeed / derater link which both actually appeared on production "E" engines, which we'll describe shortly. The sales brochure is, by the way, GED-5646 dated 2-67.

A large number of changes were introduced with the "E" engine. Following the introduction of the "E" engine, the same engine was used for both the new U33 locomotives and for the already in-production U30 locomotives. Up until this point, GE had dropped lower horsepower models when higher power units were developed, but popularity of the U30 caused it to remain in production alongside newer models. Thus, while the U30 began production with the FDL-16D, it progressed to the FDL-16E and later even the FDL-16F all the while being rated 3000 HP for traction. This may be the root of the old railfan saw that says that all GE models were alike except for fuel rack settings, but as we see now the situation was far more complicated.

FDL-16E This engine was that developed for production use at about the time the U33 was introduced, and apparently it included a very large number of test-proven developments GE had been working on in a wide variety of areas. We will not attempt to list these in any specific order but will use first the U33 sales brochure we have, printed 11-67 to hit key points that GE thought worth advertising heavily.

The "E" engine finally did away with the original overspeed protection system, in which an overspeed governor caused, on trip, a butterfly valve to shut in each intake manifold to cut off intake air. On the "E" and later engines, an overspeed - derater link is installed in the linkage between the governor control arm (or mechanical output) and the fuel rack linkage. On this device, trip of the overspeed governor will dump oil from this large, more complicated than it looks inside than out, coffee-can shaped link device causing it to expand under its own spring pressure (which the governor oil was overcoming) and pull the fuel rack linkage in the "less fuel" direction. This motion is enough to kill the engine. With oil pressure applied the device was a simple mechanical link. The other function of the device was to derate the engine if intake manifold temperature was too high (signaling a turbo problem, or plugged intercoolers, etc.) Wax filled actuators, inside the unit and supplied with a bleed of intake air, served to expand the actuator and reduce fuel rack setting if intake manifold temperature was too high.

The "E" engine also included a two-slope pressure-bias load control scheme governor, which simply means in GE parlance that the governor was able to control load on the engine, and fuel rate if needed, based on the actual intake manifold pressure. This both reduced engine wear and reduced smoke. The governor was set up so that if limit were needed, the load regulator would be operated to reduce load before the governor acted to reduce actual fuel rate. This type governor was capable of reducing both to the point that engine operation with a totally failed turbocharger was possible without engine overheating.

It appears that on the "E" engine, the Elliott H581 turbocharger was replaced with the Elliott BCO65, and that intercooling capacity was increased. A new cam profile was introduced on the "E" engine, according to the sales brochure: "New valve timing and new high-lift cam contour to improve engine breathing and reduce temperatures." On the fuel side, a new high-capacity fuel pump was included and this forced a change in the engine frame deck design to accomodate it. This is always called the "large fuel pump" or "large style pump" in GE literature. Engines were now also set to use a lower fuel header pressure (33-37 psi tolerance for old 'small fuel pumps' with the new "E" "large" pump system using a fuel header pressure of 22-24 psi.)

THAT'S IT for this installment. In the next, and final, installment we'll detail the upgrade to the "F" engine, and some later changes as well as trying to detail the confusing and non-matching progression of FDL-12 model numbers.

Early General Electric Control Stands

Yesterday's post on the FDL engine progression was a bit dry.. so today let's have some pictures! We'll examine the early control stand setups of the U25, U28 and U30 locomotives.

Many people are not aware (anymore) that the U25 locomotives that had high short hoods used controller cabinets that were mounted very high up on the cab wall, leaving space BELOW the controller for the brake equipment. This design was not used on any of the early Universal series locomotives that we know of; rather, it was introduced on the test U25 prototype units numbered GE 751 and 752 along with the new 16-notch KC-99 Master Controller that it contained.

We have here with us a rare find - and a large one! It's a huge GE manual titled GEI-92215A Maintenance Manual Model U25B Diesel-Electric Locomotive 2500 HP. This manual is specific to the New York Central System, and covers road numbers 2500-2529 and 2530-2559. Publication date is 12-64 and only 50 copies were made. We'll use this to give details on the controllers (such as can be found, anyway) after we see the pictures from various operator manuals.

First up.. GEJ-3807, covering prototype U25B locomotives 751 and 752.

Here is the first of two control stand illustrations from this manual. Units 751 and 752 had both different control stand arrangements and different air brake equipment. The manual (oddly) doesn't tell which was which, so we'll just describe this as the first illustration, which of course it is. This unit had 24RL brake equipment, operating handles of which are seen at lower left. Note the controller cabinet location, with throttle handle on the right and selector on the left. The reverser handle protrudes from the slot below and to the left of the speed recorder. Note overhead horn cord. Note also the load meter located on bulkhead, below throttle; the panel below the front window contains brake gauges only. Sand, and slip suppression button, on right below side window. Now let's see the second unit's control setup.

The other unit of this pair was equipped with the new panel mounted No. 26L brake equipment, clearly visible to the left of the engineer's position. Note the many small changes overall that give this the look of being a different model locomotive; while the controller is in the same location essentially, almost all of the other controls have been moved around. Gauge locations are the same; this photo for some reason was taken with the air brake panel's front cover opened and pulled down, but the panel is the same as that shown above. Major controls, including throttle, selector lever and reverser remain the same - and on this unit, as well as the other, and all U25, U28 and U30 units using this controller, the throttle handle controls both power in motoring and braking effort in dynamic braking.

At this point there's no way to tell if originally both units had control setups that were identical, and we might suspect they were. Perhaps one unit was modified with improved control layout and the new brake equipment at the same time, or perhaps not. We don't know. Date of this manual is 5-60.

This illustration is that found in manual GEJ-3810, issued 12-60 which covers high-hood production model U25B locomotives like those furnished to Union Pacific and the Frisco. Note the overall more "finished" look that this illustration shows - no doubt, some further changes as a result of having worked out the design with the experimental 751/752. Most important to note is the addition on this picture of a "Power Limit Switch" (on front of controller, next to the two black headlight switches) that limits the unit to Notch 7 output even if the throttle is above this setting to limit slip on the unit while trailing units respond to the full throttle range. Note also that the load meter has joined the air brake gauges in the panel below the front window.

This setup naturally wouldn't work with a low-nosed or "low short hood" unit. GE then redesigned the whole control setup to not only get everything mounted on the floor but also to provide a totally unobstructed view through the very large one-piece windshield it originally fitted to the U25B and U25C locomotives. Originally this stand had a very short, stubby throttle lever but this was quickly changed to a much longer design more suited to the extreme stiffness associated with the strong latch spring fitted to the controller. It is this slightly later design we'll show now.

This illustration would be generally typical for late U25, all U28 and many U30 locomotives. It is taken from GEJ-3834, the operating manual for the U28 when built in the U25 style carbody, and which was printed 1-66. This is essentially the "classic" early GE control stand since as we know the vast majority of units were NOT high-short-hood. Although it's obvious, we should note that high-hood U28 and U30 units (Southern, N&W) had floor-mounted stands. We also are almost certain that the few PRR U25B units that had dual controls used two floor mounted stands.

What's not too obvious here is that there were several submodels of the KC99 controller differentiated by their mounting and internally contained equipment. This is where the aforementioned NYC manual comes in handy with this description of the various models of KC99 controller, at least as of 9-63 when this manual's section CE-1 / Master Controller was printed. Remember that sometimes these manuals foreshorten model numbers for ease of reference, and officially the "KC99" controller is GE model series 17KC99. Here are the model delineations:

17KC99A: This controller is overhead mounted. Braking and accelerating is controlled by one handle (THROTTLE). The controller housing contains the control switches, circuit breakers, lights, and braking-throttle control resistors.

17KC99B: This form has a different cover and wiring, and it contains three more resistor tubes than the form A controller. The form B controller is wall mounted.

17KC99C: This controller has no resistors. It is floor mounted.

17KC99D: This controller omits the console, the switches, and the resistors. It is floor mounted.

17KC99E: This controller is floor mounted. It contains switches which are designed differently than those found on other forms of this controller.

17KC99F: This controller omits the console, is overhead mounted, and contains a dynamic braking commutator and resistor as shown in figure 1.

The above is RIGHT OUT OF THE MANUAL, word for word. We won't show "Figure 1" here but I can tell you, looking at the illustration that it's my best guess that this controller was for use in either the UP's or the Frisco's U25B units for controlling field loop dynamic brake systems in EMD locomotives. (Normally GE units were potential control.)

If we look at the first two pictures of 751 and 752's cabs, we might guess that these are showing two different mounting styles and might be the A and B models of controller -- although that's a very hazardous guess. What seems clear is that between the illustrations I've shown, and those I haven't, there are more than enough to cover all of these stated model changes in the U25 series alone.

I hope you've enjoyed this little in-cab look - when we return to GE locomotives it's back to the FDL engine series.

GE FDL Diesel Engines - installment No. 2

In our first installment, we noted that the differences between GE prime movers employed during the production of the Universal series are rarely discussed and gave as a matter of introduction the briefest of tables indicating what the letter submodels were and in which locomotives they were used. There are exceptions of course, and we'll go into that and more in some further detail in today's installment.

Keep in mind that there is not a lot of data to be found - but also know that we have practically all that CAN be found. While this description isn't all inclusive, it will probably be more complete than anything in print or on the net so far.

FDL-16A This is the engine that GE used to power the production U25 locomotives. It is known that there were further sub-variations of the model numbering that correlated to modifications; for example, the engine model given in manual GEJ-3814 is 7FDL16A1. None of the exact breakdowns are known as far as the sub-letter number designations and these are almost never seen. In general it's very safe to say that in any GE manual, drawing numbers E-9900, E-9900A and E-9900B cover the "A" model and that it was production standard during all of the U25 and U50 runs. There were numerous changes in the engine during this time- most important was a change in firing order that appears to have occurred between 2/62 and 5/63. Perhaps concurrent with this was a switch in orientation of master and articulated connecting rods; at some point during "A" production, the rods were changed from master rods in the right bank of the engine to master rods in the left bank; E-9900B reflects this change which occurred before 10-64. Also at some point during "A" production, small check valves in the oil passages in both master and slave rods were omitted; E-9900B is also the first to show this change as well. Another alteration in the "A" series was the change from individually replaceable, keyed camshaft lobes on the camshafts to sectionally replaceable camshafts with non-removable lobes and again E-9900B is the earliest to reflect this change; a GE service bulletin in our large U25B Maintenance Manual (issued to the NYC) indicates this change occurred 5-64. Sometime before 5-62 the early one-piece crankshaft was changed to a two-piece design and mounting of the vibration damper was altered. In 1-64 a low water pressure shutdown was added to the engine governor. In 2-64 the Elliott H-588 turbochargers began to be delivered with increased thrust bearing area to extend service life. Also in 1-64 improved radiator panels, with improved core and tube design began to be applied to new production U25 locomotives; there were two different types of improved design, both interchangeable with the original. These radiator units appear to have been designed to reduce leakage due to expansion and shock. In 2-63 a field modification order was issued to change the setting of the lube oil pressure regulating valve, and later all engine made after August 15, 1963 had a new style lube oil pressure regulating valve. In 6-64 a new style of engine and generator hold-down attachment was employed, designed to reduce transmission of shock from the underframe to the diesel engine.

FDL-16C No "B" series engines were used in domestic locomotives, although for reference it seems as if the reversal in location of connecting rod mountings (from one bank to the other) happened with introduction of the "B" series. The "C" series powered all locomotives of model U28 in the US; it also was employed on various pre-production, field-test locomotives built in the midst of, or in place of, conventional U25 locomotives prior to the official introduction of model U28. The most important changes on this engine are the alteration of the cylinder unit design to include a removable, steel head section that contains all four valves (two intake, two exhaust) and the injector nozzle. This head was bolted into the cylinder assembly. Also, the exhaust system was altered from a somewhat complicated design of individual pipes for pairs of cylinders to a single-pipe exhaust in which cylinders simply fed a large tubular manifold. Engine speeds for the "C" remained the same as for the "A" although of course there was the increase in rated power, from the 2500 HP for traction / 2750 gross HP of the "A" to 2800 HP for traction / 3050 HP gross for the "C." Increased fuel rack travel was employed with exactly the same fuel system top to bottom. The cross-sectional drawing for the FDL-16C is E-13461. Apparently, the new style of cylinder unit, with steel head, was designed to interchange with earlier "A" units so that it could be backfitted to U25 or U50 locomotives, although one manual notes that old engine frames should be checked for proper depth of bore clearance to ensure that the cylinder units would fully enter into and properly seat in the engine frames; some small amount of grinding of bosses in the frame was all that was needed in some cases to clear this up. It also appears that the "C" model (although it might have been the "B" first, for export) introduced a new style of cylinder liner. The new style - first shown in a manual actually for the U25B/U25C and included after E-9900B - had a jacket applied to the cylinder liner that GE would later describe as the "Belly Band" type of cylinder liner. This was essentially a modification to further reduce exposure of larger engine parts to water; on the A, none of the frame was exposed to water at all, but the inside of the cylinder assemblies along the bore formed the outer water barrier for liner cooling (the liner itself being the inner barrier.) On the "C" engine, or should I say on the belly band liner, the cylinder assembly was protected against water exposure because the cylinder liner now had both inner and outer surfaces to contain cooling water.

That's enough for now on this topic. Next time we'll introduce the FDL-16D that appeared with the U30.

"V" type EMC 201A Diesel Engines

Continuing with our theme of showing diesel engines either never shown anywhere before, or seen rarely, we now bring out (from the David A. Davis collection) EMC Bulletin 118A, with an issue date of February 1, 1941 and which is titled "Operation and Maintenance Instructions for 12-201A and 16-201A Diesel Engines for Railway Equipment." We won't reprint the whole huge thing here but instead we'll give somewhat of a general idea of the nature of these pioneering engines.

Our first illustration is an exterior view of the V-12 version of the 201A.

In this view the engine is sitting on top of some sort of base which appears not to have been for locomotive installation. The near end is the blower and auxiliary end; the far end is the generator end. Note that the water pumps are mounted on the end of the large blower housing, on top of which is the large cylindrical air cleaner; note also the housing at the opposite, or generator, end, for the timing chain and gears. The engine has one exhaust stack for each cylinder, and these can be seen sticking up at the center of the engine. The governor (Woodward SI) is in evidence on the near corner of the engine.

Next, the 16-201A - largest and most powerful of the 201 line.

Clearly evident on the 16-201A are the dual air cleaners, required because of the increase in volumetric flow rate of air. Otherwise, this engine is largely the same except for one very interesting fact: The block angle on the 12-201A was 60 degrees, but on the 16-201A the block angle was 67-1/2 degrees. Surely this was a requirement to balance the engine against torsional vibration. One further interesting difference between the 12 cylinder and 16 cylinder engines was that the 12 cylinder engine had a firing order in which pairs of cylinders fired simultaneously, but the firing order of the 16-201A was individual like you'd find in most other engines.

Basic specifications applicable to both engines are as follows:
BORE 8 inches
STROKE 10 inches
COMPRESSION RATIO 16 to 1
IDLE SPEED 250 RPM
FULL SPEED 750 RPM
CYLINDER DISPLACEMENT 502.65 cubic inches

RATED POWER OUTPUT 12-201A 900 HP / 16-201A 1200 HP

Here is an overhead diagram of the 12-201A engine. Notable immediately is the staggering of the cylinders, like you'd find in any four-stroke Vee engine. The 201A did not use fork and blade connecting rods, but rather side by side rods as was conventional practice which naturally dictates this arrangement. Note the blower housing on the bottom end of the illustration. Weight figures for the engines are given, although not indicated is whether they're wet or dry: 12-201A, 18,500 lbs; 16-201A, 22,100 lbs.





Here is a fascinating cross section view of the 12-201A. Notable are the flat bottomed cylinder heads; combustion space is in the piston crowns. The original one piece heads were at printing of this manual being replaced with "pot type" heads in which a removable insert containing the exhaust valves and injector nozzle was inserted into the head. This is exactly the kind of modification that General Electric would introduce many years later on its production U28 series locomotives incorporating the FDL-16C engine ("Steel Head / Single Pipe Manifold" variant, which there will be lots more about on this blog in the near future.) At print, the original pistons were being replaced with forged pistons (material is not specified) but the manual states that the difference in mass between the two styles was not enough that pistons could not randomly be refitted as needed to individual cylinders (although it was recommended to fit at least a whole bank at once.)

This brief overview should give all who are interested at least a basic idea of the arrangement and design of the pioneering 201A locomotive engines; we can answer more specific questions using the 'comments' feature on this blog if need be.