Eastern Railroad Discussion > NS 14N Closeup GECX 3100 Fuel Tender For GECX 2012 Sandusky Oh

Hi Guys
here are 3 views of the CECX 3100 fuel tender on NS 14N yesterday at Sandusky Ohio
Stay tuned as I will post the engine later
Tom Boylan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/20 20:09 by train544.

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IIRC...

BN tried “fuel tenders” decades ago. At that time, they used tank cars in between the center two locos, of a 4-unit Mu’d set —- feeding fuel in two directions..
(? In the 70s fluctuating fuel prices
era? Middle-east unrest and Arab
Oil producers quadrupling of oil prices charged..)

The battering that the draft gear on the tank cars had bashed the ends to pieces... the car draftgears were
Never designed for such brutal and constant & crushing forces

One solution they used was to mount fuel tanks onto ‘bare’
( 6-axle?) former (retired) ALCO locomotive frames... equipped with loco-grade draft gears..

The loco consists made ( nation-wide) circular trips from Midwest to Northwest, to California to central U.S., back to upper Midwest... filled fuel tenders were exchanged in the Southwest , closer to refineries...
and less costly there.

I’d bet similar battering ( being constantly next to the locos) will have similar, predictable outcomes on the draft structures of the carrying flat cars...

Maybe they’ll just move the tank onto a replacement flat... and scrap the ‘battered one’?

It is big advantage to use two, high horsepower locomotives....
The greater the trailing load, the
Hotter the turbo performs...
Two locos at full poet will get better fuel-mileage than a comparable set
of DC Dismals, all running at throttle 6, or lower..

Hot turbos only occur at the upper
two throttle notches—- that’s where
air-boost really kicks-in and gets very high combustion temps...

Like with steamers, the idea is to burn the air, not the fuel... at very high cylinder temps, and strong
manifold pressures, the amount of heat with each cylinder explosion is
immense, if there’s enough free oxygen available.

Turbos compress air only when spun at very high speeds...
(High exhaust temperatures... you only get high exhaust temps, with
steady, high-loading of the main generators..

In the old days, with a four-unit, or greater loco consist, it was common that those multiple units could propel the train at allowable speeds, in throttle notches 6, and lower.

At such low flows, the exhaust manifold temps were
low to poor... virtually no ‘turbo boost” could occur.....coupled with tremendous fuel consumption..and low exhaust heat..

In today’s world of A/C transmissions, high crankshaft HorsePowers, and two-unit power consists ( maybe mid-train DPUs?)
It’s easier to achieve 30-psi manifold pressures, at full crank rpms...

Amount of fuel consumed
is greater than the old ‘4 + unit’ days. However, today, more “work” ( cars hauled) is accomplished with fewer ‘Crankshafts’ .... & on long trips, that makes all the difference...

The perfection of A/C transmission
has truly made today’s locomotives
now truly capable of delivering high
horsepower to the wheels.

The limiting factor today is the small traction motors and the capacity to burnt them-up in very quick order..

The future increases will be in motor improvements and design increases... bigger wheels and maybe two motors per axle ...
oh, yes— that’s the secret of the GG-1s of 90 years ago...

Wes Camp

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/20 09:49 by wcamp1472.