‘Gen-Set’ switcher matches more powerful locomotive’s performance

[zardoz]

The cave is a metaphor. Not at all suprised that went right over your head.

Are you refering to Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”?

[beaulieu]

I think this whole argument loses one important point. A lot depends on what the locomotive is used for. I doubt a genset locomotive would perform as well as the best of the current road diesels in over-the-road intermodal or heavy lugging for long periods on mountain grades. But in fact, that is the service for what ALL conventional diesel locomotives have been designed for until recently. Because that is the market for which technological progress has been made, and commuter locomotives, switchers, transfer jobs, all are just versions of the over-the-road heavy freight hauler. So the genset locomotive is trying a different approach for switcher applications. I hope it and the goat are successes for the sake of the industry.

I think the test is exactly what is going to be required of the new locomotive, several times per day, 360 days per year. It will feed strings of cars into the unloading track, and then haul a train similar to the test, to either UP or BNSF’s yard. I do question the choice of 4 axles, less for pulling and more for stopping. When setting cuts of cars to the crane tracks, I wouldn’t expect the air brakes on the cars to be cut in, so the locomotive will have to stop them with its own brakes. Six axles give you more brake pads and more locomotive weight to help you stop the cut of cars. I also wonder how the air compressor is set up, electric drawing power off of a bus, or link through clutches to one of the motors? Again pumping air through that much train will take some doing.

[owlsroost]

I also wonder how the air compressor is set up, electric drawing power off of a bus, or link through clutches to one of the motors? Again pumping air through that much train will take some doing.

According to the info I’ve read, the control system is designed to equalise the usage hours on each engine (so each one has to be capable of running all the common auxillaries), so I suspect running everything off a common electrical bus is ihe only sensible option.

(But as an electronics design engineer I’m probably biased to that way of doing things [:)] )

It would be interesting to know how the load sharing is done between the three engines - the class 220/221/222 ‘Voyager’ DEMU’s in the UK have one engine/alternator set per car, all suppling power to a common train bus (apparently), with inverters running from it to drive the traction motors on each truck - that way loosing an engine doesn’t loose the powered axles on that car as well.

Tony

[Anonymous]

The cave is a metaphor. Not at all suprised that went right over your head.

Are you refering to Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”?

Yep, that’s Plato, not Socrates, although most of the great Western philosophers of our time (including me [;)]) find the two to be indistinguishable.