I am considering forgoing my engine house for an open air engine storage. I was just wondering when railroads started using them.
The following is based on being assigned to diesel ships, and living in Alaska. It may or may not be the same as railroad practice. I would also assume, that as with other diesels, practices are going to be very climate-dependent.
Where cold diesel plant oil and fuel is above freezing (say 40F), nothing is needed. Plant needs to be up to operating temperature to put under heavy load, which may require an hour or more of “warming up”.
Where temps get below freezing, moisture/condensation in the fuel lines can freeze, causing problems with fuel flow. Additives are normally used in the diesel fuel to prevent this.
The crankcase oil can “gel” up, preventing starting or proper lubrication during start if cold enough. The block heater is for both the coolant and the crankcase oil. I can remember hanging 100 watt light bulbs with a blanket over inside an engine compartment of cars in the bad old days in the northern lower 48. A common alternative in Alaska when a block heater is not readily available is to leave the thing running continuously. Cold starting issues were much more common before the 1970s when good, thinner lubricating oil became widely available. So my guess is that electric block heaters were the norm after WW2. Before WW2, with steam heat more the norm, steam coils would be the more common source of heat. Steam plants running on bunker C (starting about 1900) had to have steam pre-heat of the fuel to make it flow, so the technology was not new.
Not as well understood by those not used to sub-zero temps is that transmissions are the major source of cold weather issues in today’s road vehicles. Doesn’t apply to diesel electric, but the most common reason for leaving trucks running for long periods of time in Alaska today is the inability to use the transmission once it has gotten cold.
I have seen ads for them in trade magazines going back at least 30 years. They seem to be more common with shortlines. Most railroads don’t use block heaters, they just don’t shut the engines down if the temp will be going below 40 degrees and let them idle until they are used again.
The ideal diesel locomotive would be started and run continuously 24 hours a day for 92 days until the next quarterly inspection.
Interesting.
Mike,The railroads started using block heaters on branchline starting in the 50s…This eliminated the cost of maintaining a engine house, lowered the fuel costs and cut labor costs…
Of course railroads was slow to give up their steam thoughts and actually thought a diesel needed to be kept inside during the colder months or kept idling 24/7-until they finally learn a block heater could do the job and was cheaper.
The more recent locomotive offerings will cycle on and off, unattended, as required. I thought that I had a photo of the warning labels plastered on and/or in the loco’s cab, but can’t seem to locate it.
Wayne
Thanks for the info guys. I’m modelling a New England short line in 1979 and am trying to decide if I can fit an engine house on the layout… I might forgo the engine house so that I can fit an aggregate company in there.