Rolls-Royce C range engines

The Rolls-Royce C range was a series of in-line 4, 6 and 8 cylinder diesel engines used in small locomotives, railcars, construction vehicles, and marine and similar applications.

They were manufactured by the Rolls-Royce Oil Engine Division headed by William Arthur Robotham to 1963, initially at Derby and later at Shrewsbury, from the 1950s through to 1970s.

Their construction was a conventional water-cooled vertical inline 6 four-stroke diesel engine of 12.17 litres (743 cu in).

[1] High rotational speed made the engine an attractive choice in the developing market for small diesel-hydraulic locomotives.

Although Rolls-Royce had only intended to build prime movers, i.e. engines here, by the end of 1957 they had decided to continue with Sentinel's previously successful market for small shunting locomotives.

The horizontal versions of the C range engine were principally used in railcars / diesel multiple units (DMUs), mounted beneath the floor.

[8] The three South Maitland Railway railcars of 1961 used supercharged C6SFLH units of 233 bhp with a licence-built Twin Disc transmission.

This extra power was also used for the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company built "Calder Valley" sets.

The C8NFLH, governed to 180 bhp at 1,500 rpm, was also used as the pair of auxiliary generators powering the air-conditioning, lighting and galley of the Blue Pullman sets.

They were also used in a range of small shunting locomotives, sometimes in pairs for power outputs up to 600 bhp: The marine variants of these engines were available in each of the 4, 6 and 8 cylinder models.