Western Railroad Discussion > Qinghai-Tibet Railway Getting 78 GE C38AChe Units

GE has Qinghai-Tibet Railway model C38AChe locomotive at East Portal, CO, as of January 25, 2006 on UP's East Portal Wye. Locomotive has engineer controls on left hand side of the cab. Since trains will operate at over 13,000 foot elevation, the locomotive is equipped with oxygen for the crew members.

About Qinghai-Tibet Railway
The 1,118-kilometer (650-mile) railway, the first linking Tibet with the western China, will extend from Lhasa to Golmud and will be the longest and highest highland railway in the world. Construction started in June 2001.

More than 960 kilometers, or four fifths of the railway, will be built at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters (13,120 feet).

Setting off on June 29, 2001 the railroad started from Golmud in the north, stretching over a distance of 1,142 kilometers to end at Lhasa in the south. All along the way, a section of over 960 kilometers are over and above 4,000 meters above sea level, the highest altitude being 5,072 meters, of which about 550 kilometers are in the frozen earth region. It will take six years to bring the project to the finish.

Route of Qinghai-Tibet Railway
The route of the Qinghai-Tibet railway has been confirmed following the completion of a survey by the China State Railway Ministry. The railway, which is seen as marking the further integration of Tibet into China, will extend from Golmud in Qinghai to Lhasa, passing through Nagchu, Damshung county and Yangbajing county.

It will be 1,110 km in length, including 30.6 km of tunnels, according to the survey, the findings of which were announced on the Tibet People's Broadcasting station on December 3, 2000. The Qinghai authorities are pushing for construction work on the railway to begin as soon as possible, arguing that it is essential for economic development and "stability and security" in the region.

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Oxgyen connection in ceiling on Qinghai-Tibet Railway locomoitve NJ 20004. Yes, the crew will have breathing masks.

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Close-up view of front Co-Co truck/traction motor on NJ 20004, East Portal, CO.

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They even get a hot plate.

cozephyr Wrote:
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> Close-up view of front Co-Co truck/traction motor
> on NJ 20004, East Portal, CO.

I saw this description of the trucks elsewhere. What is the difference between this truck (Co) and a standard 3 axle truck (C)?

Craig

Wish I could have seen a picture of the unit...

Not that I approve of the Chinese' treatment of Tibet and Tibetans, for I don't. But it sounds like an amazing railroad project--most of the railroad will be higher than the highest peaks in Colorado. Really dwarfs Rollins Pass.

I suppose there must be mineral development driving this project? Doesn't seem like much economic justification otherwise.

In the last chapter of Paul Therroux's "Riding the Iron Rooster", a book about riding trains in China, he rides to Golmud then rides a bus to Lhasa. Evocative writing, but a harsh landscape.

They're a fabricated steel design, rather than the cast steel trucks used under domestic GE locomotives.

Fabricated trucks seem to be used on a lot of light weight "international" designs. The C38AChe locos only weigh (I think) about 300,000 pounds, but they're powered by the same 7FDL16 that was used in the AC4400CW, so you've got to cut corners somewhere, and I'd say some of that weight-saving was done in the frame design, and some in the trucks.

That type of truck was first used in 1982 on the UM22C design (powered by the 7FDL12) built by Krupp (in Essen, Germany) for the Botswana Railways, and the trucks under the new C38AChe locos have been built in Australia by United Goninan (at their Taree plant on the north coast of New South Wales) and shipped to Erie.

cpn:

Strictly speaking, a "Co" truck has three independendently-powered axles (that is, no geared, driveshaft or any other form of mechanical connection between them), while a "C" truck has three axles that are geared together, or connected by side rods or some other form of mechanical coupling. However, since here in North America the vast majority of locomotives have independently-motored axles, there is not much need to make any distinction between the two types, so we simply refer to all three-axled trucks as "C" types, all two-axled as "B", etc. The only large North American-service diesel locomotives I can remember with geared-together axles are the SP and DRGW Krauss-Maffei and ALCO diesel-hydraulics, while jackshaft-drive electrics such as the PRR DD-1, and the Virginian and (IIRC) N&W units would also qualify.

In Europe and Asia, on the other hand, mechanically-connected axles are much more common (e.g., Swiss "Crocodiles", French "monomotor" trucks, German diesel-hydraulics, etc.), so they are always very careful to make the distinction between "C-C" and "Co-Co" and so on.

Thanks for sharing the information. If you can find out the actual weight of the locomotive, please post it. I asked the question on loconotes with no responce. Someone posted on a photo they weighed in at 110T. I knew that was not possible. Some of the Australian GE`s use the same, or very similar truck design.
gtw1516

9T90 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They're a fabricated steel design, rather than the
> cast steel trucks used under domestic GE
> locomotives.
>
> Fabricated trucks seem to be used on a lot of
> light weight "international" designs. The C38AChe
> locos only weigh (I think) about 300,000 pounds,
> but they're powered by the same 7FDL16 that was
> used in the AC4400CW, so you've got to cut corners
> somewhere, and I'd say some of that weight-saving
> was done in the frame design, and some in the
> trucks.
>
> That type of truck was first used in 1982 on the
> UM22C design (powered by the 7FDL12) built by
> Krupp (in Essen, Germany) for the Botswana
> Railways, and the trucks under the new C38AChe
> locos have been built in Australia by United
> Goninan (at their Taree plant on the north coast
> of New South Wales) and shipped to Erie.
>
>

9T90,

If by "that type of truck" you mean the fabricated frame, GE was using it on export locomotives long before the 1982 Botswana units; for example, on U-12-B's for South Africa (around 1957); U-12-C's and U-18-C's for Argentina in 1957-58; and so on.

airbrakegeezer Wrote:
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> 9T90,
>
> If by "that type of truck" you mean the fabricated
> frame, GE was using it on export locomotives long
> before the 1982 Botswana units; for example, on
> U-12-B's for South Africa (around 1957); U-12-C's
> and U-18-C's for Argentina in 1957-58; and so on.

No, by "that type of truck" I don't mean just "the fabricated frame".

I mean the three axle fabricated floating bolster bogie with coil springs on the outside of each axlebox.

So in Tibet, as in Canada, they get a tea/coffee pot and burner with the old classic rim to hold it in place. So why don't we get Starbuck's Coffee here in the USA? Or a micro-wave oven?

Then oxygen for the higher alltitudes? How about oxygen for those long all night runs when your partner you thought was considerate lights up a seegar or passes gas from eating that Chicago Greek Gyro?

So would these locos have to pull an oxygen tender to supply enough oxygen for the engines to run?

Interesting! Thanks for posting.
Inspector Gadget

gtw1516 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > Thanks for sharing the information. If you can
> find out the actual weight of the locomotive,
> please post it. I asked the question on loconotes
> with no responce. Someone posted on a photo they
> weighed in at 110T. I knew that was not possible.
> Some of the Australian GE`s use the same, or very
> similar truck design.
> gtw1516

The World-Diesel-Loco group had a very detailed message with a lot of specifications for the C38AChe locos, including a maximum weight of 138 metric tonnes, which should be 303,600 pounds.

The engine weighs 292,150 pounds. Locomotive will do stationary high altitude tests at East Portal, CO, for a couple days.

I'm amazed at the altitude this baby will eventually operate. New rail line with new equipment working in the Tibet Mountains (what mountain range is it?).

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cozephyr Wrote:
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> The engine weighs 292,150 pounds. Locomotive will
> do stationary high altitude tests at East Portal,
> CO, for a couple days.
>
> I'm amazed at the altitude this baby will
> eventually operate. New rail line with new
> equipment working in the Tibet Mountains (what
> mountain range is it?).


Himalayas?

Facilities quicker movement of stormtroopers.

So will the conductor have to wear an oxygen tank on his back while working the ground or walking the train? Wonder what their hotbox policy will be...


motorman_13 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wish I could have seen a picture of the unit...
>
> Not that I approve of the Chinese' treatment of
> Tibet and Tibetans, for I don't. But it sounds
> like an amazing railroad project--most of the
> railroad will be higher than the highest peaks in
> Colorado. Really dwarfs Rollins Pass.
>
> I suppose there must be mineral development
> driving this project? Doesn't seem like much
> economic justification otherwise.
>
> In the last chapter of Paul Therroux's "Riding the
> Iron Rooster", a book about riding trains in
> China, he rides to Golmud then rides a bus to
> Lhasa. Evocative writing, but a harsh landscape.

In previous posts, these units are mentioned as tier 2 compliant, which would mean these units have the 12 cylinder GEVO engine.

motorman_13 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wish I could have seen a picture of the unit...
>
> Not that I approve of the Chinese' treatment of
> Tibet and Tibetans, for I don't. But it sounds
> like an amazing railroad project--most of the
> railroad will be higher than the highest peaks in
> Colorado. Really dwarfs Rollins Pass.
>
> I suppose there must be mineral development
> driving this project? Doesn't seem like much
> economic justification otherwise.
>
> In the last chapter of Paul Therroux's "Riding the
> Iron Rooster", a book about riding trains in
> China, he rides to Golmud then rides a bus to
> Lhasa. Evocative writing, but a harsh landscape.


The Economist magazine talked about this project also. They state that it will assure a larger ethnic Chinese population in Tibet thus binding that area more closely to the mother country.

Bob Knoll
Tucson

cozephyr Wrote:
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> equipment working in the Tibet Mountains (what
> mountain range is it?).

Himalayas....you know where Mt Everest is. Tibet is also home to some of the highest commercial airports in world. The airport in Bangda Tibet is at 14,219ft and is served by China Southwest Airlines with Boeing 757's. The airport in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, is the third highest in the world at 11,621ft.

railscenes Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So in Tibet, as in Canada, they get a tea/coffee
> pot and burner with the old classic rim to hold it
> in place. So why don't we get Starbuck's Coffee
> here in the USA? Or a micro-wave oven?
because the carriers are too cheap and unions to weak to make it happen.