How and where does a steam loco produce electricity for the headlamp/number boards etc?-a turbine?
I’ve seen several exploded views but always paid attention to the steam drive flow path and not the
auxiliary systems-
a steam turbine usually located on the turrent near the safety valves…most often controlled by the fireman via a valve in the cab
One nice thing about the BLI HO model steam engines is they replicate this when you start up an engine, a whine starts up (the turbine starting up) and then the electric headlight slowly comes up.
Quite a few steam locomotives in suburban service also provided electricity for passenger car lighting, since batteries and axledriven generators weren’t steady enough in stop and go service. If I remember correctly, this was true on the Jersey Central, all Boston suburban operations, the Putnam Division, the Erie, and the Lackawanna. And the Northwestern out of Chicago.
some locos were equiped with very large or even multiple turbines for passenger service/ commuter service…and of course steam heat from the same turrent the generator is mounted to
Nice, but not prototypical, as MarkNewton and I had reason to note in the, “Prototype Information for Modelers,” thread in the Model Railroader subset to the Forums. Mark, who is an Australian “driver” with substantial steam experience, said that Pyle National recommended against starting the turbine under load. I noted, from my own observations, that the headlight was hardly the only electrical device on a modern steam locomotive, so the turbine would be running (and virtually silent) even if the headlight was dark.
Sometimes the location of the turbogenerator isn’t anywhere near the turret. Both of my favorite 4-8-4s (NYC Niagara and N&W J) caried them below the running board just forward of the firebox, due to a lack of clearance atop boilers that pretty well filled the loading gauge.
OTOH SP’s GS-4 had its turbogenerators topside - all three of them!
Chuck
Steam locomotives had a small steam powered generator. it was small and only supplied power for the locomotive. Passenger cars had a genetrator under it driven by a belt from the axle. They also had a large battery box. it supplied power when stopped for a short period of time under full load.
Heat was supplied by steam from the engine. First Diesels came equipted with steam generators for heat.
New diesels are equipt with head end power HEP for all heating and lighting needs.
The generator isnt silent at all if on.When you first crank it up it makes a whine till the impelers are at a constant speed( based on the amount of steam allowed in the turbine) Then while sitting there running it sounds most like a fan running and has a whoosh kinda sound as the steam vents.Hardly silent but it doesnt sound like a whine the whole time.
Mine runs power to the cab lights and of course the head and rear light.Plus lights down by the ash pans.
Silence is, “Relative.” Comparing the whine of a Pyle National turbogenerator spooling up to the whine of a J57 spooling up is rather like comparing a beaver dam to Hoover Dam.
When listing electrical power uses aboard a steam loco, don’t overlook the classification lights (if leading section or extra) and the markers (pusher or running light.)
Interestingly enough, the JNR routed the turbo exhaust through a muffler or diverted it to an auxiliary blast pipe. Those were really quiet, easily drowned out by the hiss of the inevitable microscopic steam leaks.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September 1964)
Passenger car lighting was from axle-driven generators with battery operation during stops on long-distance trains, but this was not enough for suburban service where stops were frequent. Thus steam engines in suburban service had larger generators and supplied head-end power. Many coaches were equipped for both systems, having both train line connections for head end power and axle-ddriven generators and batteries (B&M, NYNH&H-Boston). On coaches, generally only one generator was used driven by the inside axle on both four-wheel and six-wheel trucks, and the battery was close by on one side of the car under the floor in a large rectangular container.