Gas turbine locomotive
Several types of gas turbine locomotive have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels (drivers).
There are few moving parts, decreasing the need for lubrication and potentially reducing maintenance costs, and the power-to-weight ratio is much higher.
[4] The drawings in Mennons' patent show a locomotive of 0-4-2 wheel arrangement with a cylindrical casing resembling a boiler.
[5] The Pescara gas generator in 040-GA-1 consisted of a horizontal, single cylinder, two-stroke diesel engine with opposed pistons.
The exhaust from the diesel engine powered the gas-turbine which drove the wheels through a two-speed gearbox and propeller shafts.
The exhaust from the diesel engine powered the gas turbine which drove the wheels through reduction gearing, jack shaft and side rods.
It left the factory in March 1960 and was the only turbine locomotive to pass the tests for regular service on tracks of the former Czechoslovak State Railways.
Its almost crude simplicity enabled it to avoid much of the unreliability which had plagued the complex experimental gas turbine–electric locomotives 18000 and 18100 in earlier years, but it failed to be competitive against conventional traction and was scrapped.
With a rise in fuel costs (eventually leading to the 1973 oil crisis), gas turbine locomotives became uneconomical to operate, and many were taken out of service.
Union Pacific's locomotives also required more maintenance than originally anticipated, due to fouling of the turbine blades by the Bunker C oil used as fuel.
In 1939, the Swiss Federal Railways ordered a GTEL with a 1,620 kW (2,170 hp) of maximum engine power from Brown Boveri.
It was intended primarily to work light, fast, passenger trains on routes that normally handle insufficient traffic to justify electrification.
As other uses were found for these heavier petroleum byproducts, notably for plastics, the cost of the Bunker C fuel increased until the units became too expensive to operate and they were retired from service by 1969.
In April 1950, Baldwin and Westinghouse completed an experimental 4,000 hp (3,000 kW) turbine locomotive, #4000, known as the Blue Goose, also using the B-B-B-B wheel arrangement.
The sets of the first type were similar in appearance to SNCF's T 2000 Turbotrain, though compliance with FRA safety regulations made them heavier and slower than the French trains.
The units owned by New York State were sold for scrap and the three remaining RTL trainsets are stored at North Brunswick, New Jersey and New Haven, Connecticut.
The cars suffered from poor fuel economy and mechanical problems, and were withdrawn from service after a short period of time.
[16] In 1997 the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) solicited proposals to develop high speed locomotives for routes outside the Northeast Corridor where electrification was not economical.
The diesel provided head end power and low speed traction, with the turbine not being started until after leaving stations.
The turbine runs on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and has a maximum power output of 1,000 kW (1,300 hp).
The slave unit of this locomotive is used as a fuel tender with compressed natural gas (CNG) and does not have a prime mover, so its traction motors are powered by the main section.
[19] The GT1-001 freight GTEL, rebuilt from a VL15 electric locomotive in 2006 and introduced in 2007, runs on LNG and has a maximum power output of 8,300 kW (11,100 hp).
[23] In 2012, the helper diesel engine used for shunting operations was replaced with an accumulator, and the locomotive was renamed to GT1h (where 'h' stands for hybrid).
In 2002, Bombardier Transportation announced the launch of the JetTrain, a high-speed trainset consisting of tilting carriages and a locomotive powered by a Pratt & Whitney turboshaft engine.
In the 1940s and 1950s research was conducted, in both the US and UK, aimed at building gas turbine locomotives that could run on pulverized coal.
[6] In 1946, a Northrop-Hendy partnership launched an attempt to adapt the Northrop Turbodyne aircraft engine for locomotive use, with coal dust rather than kerosene as a fuel.
However, the project was abandoned by the end of 1947 and there is no clear evidence that the locomotive provided for the experiment ever actually moved under gas turbine power or even had it installed.
On 23 December 1952, the UK Ministry of Fuel and Power placed an order for a coal-fired gas turbine locomotive to be used on British Railways.
Robertson shows a diagram that confirms Sampson's information but also refers to problems with erosion of turbine blades by ash.
This is strange because, with a conventional shell and tube heat exchanger, there would be no risk of ash entering the turbine circuit.
