Yesterday, in the Swiss town of Weinfelden, I saw a small shunter pushing some freight cars. It was the hottest day of this summer, an the engine ran with open hood. It looked awkwar. Unfortunately, I missed the foto.
Now my question. How do engineers protect themselves against the heat of this summer. Do they have to slow down the trains in order not to overheat the engines?
On most American Locomotives built after 1989, the cabs have air conditioner units, and remanufactured units get the same, otherwise, the units run with their cab doors open to allow a breeze in while the train is moving
And a bag of ice to put your feet on helps.
We open the windows or turn on the AC. They don’t have to slow down the trains because they are built to cool themselves properly. Although, sometimes heat restrictions are put on lines that might suffer from sunkinks to keep trains alert and on the rails.
Martin,
If you meant to ask, “Do they slow down in order to not overheat the locomotive’s engine” then the answer is no, there is no need.
Most of the “road” locomotives have big enough radiators and cooling fans to work quite well in almost any weather.
On smaller, and older switching locomotives, it is possible to overeat them, and they do often run with the hood doors open to provide some extra release for the engine heat, but for the most part, its cooling system is sufficent to handle any temp.
Road power, from GE’s Dash 8 and EMDs SD50s onward, have much bigger radiators and huge cooling fans, big enough that, if properly maintained, they can run regular service through the American deserts daily, with no problems at all.
I have never heard of over heating a locomotive. On the other hand, I have known MRL to have to drop units because of engine failure because it was subzero weather.
Actually, on many locomotives, if you open the hood doors you alter the air flow to such a degree that the air is drawn in through open doors rather than through the radiators. Thus, if you open the hood doors you actually decrease the motor’s ability to cool itself. This was especially true with the E & F units.