C&O class M-1
C&O class M-1 | |
---|---|
Numbering: | 500-502 |
Number: | 3 |
Manufacturer: | Westinghouse , Baldwin Locomotive Works |
Year of construction (s): | 1947-1948 |
Retirement: | 1949 |
Axis formula : | (2'Co1) (2'Co1) Bo 'hTurb |
Length over coupling: | 46,965 mm |
Height: | 4940 mm |
Service mass with tender: | 559.7 t |
Friction mass: | 230 t |
Wheel set mass : | 28.8 t |
Top speed: | 160 km / h |
Indexed performance : | 6000 dbhp (4476 kW) |
Starting tractive effort: | 436 kN |
Driving wheel diameter: | 1016 mm |
Boiler overpressure: | 21.4 bar |
Grate area: | 10.44 m² |
Tubular heating surface: | 164.4 m² |
Superheater area : | 409.3 m² |
Evaporation heating surface: | 534.8 m² |
Tender: | 3'3 ' |
Fuel supply: | 17 tons of coal |
The Class M-1 of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a series of three steam turbine electric locomotives . The three locomotives, jointly built by Westinghouse Electric and Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1947 and 1948 , are considered to be the largest and heaviest steam-powered locomotives ever built.
history
In the 1940s, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway planned a high-speed passenger train between Washington DC and Cincinnati , called "The Chessie". Due to the mountainous and incline-rich route, a high proportion of powered axles was required in the locomotives, which could easily be achieved by an electric drive of the axles. Since hard coal was readily available in the planned area of application, the electrical energy was to be generated by a coal-fired boiler with a steam turbine .
The first locomotive, number 500, was completed in 1947, the other two vehicles , numbers 501 and 502, followed in 1948. In the meantime, however , the railway company had stopped planning for the express passenger train, so that the machines were no longer intended for use . In the following two years they were presented at trade fairs and railroad shows, and extensive tests took place. In some cases, considerable deficiencies were found in these, constructive deficiencies and laborious maintenance made their use uneconomical. In addition, the traction motors often failed due to short circuits . Strikes by coal workers at the end of the 1940s also made hard coal more expensive and nullified its advantage over diesel locomotives . After only two or one year of operation, the machines were retired in 1949 and scrapped in 1950.
technology
The steam turbine got its steam from a backwards installed, coal-fired boiler with a stoker and developed an output of 4476 kW. The coal bunker was located in front of the driver's cab in the front end of the locomotive and held 17 tons of fuel; the six-axle tender only took the locomotive's water supply. The exhaust steam came from the turbine directly into the chimney; there was no condensation device.
Because of the required arcuate mobility and the high mass, the locomotives ran on five bogies in three groups. The two four-axle bogies were each guided by a two-axle running bogie, the last of the four axles mounted in the bogie frame was also a running axle.
Web links
- Technical data (Engl.)
- History Class M-1 (Engl.)