GMD GF6C
| GMD GF6C | |
|---|---|
BC Rail No. 6001 on display at the Prince George Railway and Forestry Museum
|
|
| Numbering: | 6001-6007 |
| Number: | 7th |
| Manufacturer: |
GMD ASEA |
| Year of construction (s): | 1983-1984 |
| Retirement: | 2000 |
| Axis formula : | Co'Co ' |
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) |
| Length over coupling: | 20,950 m |
| Height: | 5130 mm (with lowered pantographs) 7190 mm (with raised pantographs) |
| Service mass: | 180.9 t |
| Wheel set mass : | 30.4 t |
| Top speed: | 90 km / h (105 km / h towed) |
| Hourly output : | 4470 kW (6000 hp ) |
| Continuous output : | 3800 kW |
| Starting tractive effort: | 605 kN |
| Continuous tensile force: | 400 kN at 34.5 km / h (90,000 lb at 21.5 mph) |
| Driving wheel diameter: | 1067 mm (42 in ) |
| Power system : | AC 50 kV 60 Hz |
| Power transmission: | Overhead line |
| Number of traction motors: | 6 × EMD E88X |
| Drive: | Pawbearing drive |
| Train brake: | Wabco 26LUM with 30-CDW driver's brake valve |
| Inertia brake: | Resistance brake |
| Coupling type: | AAR |
The GF6C were electric locomotives that were used by BC Rail in heavy coal traffic on the Tumbler Ridge Line in Canada , which was electrified with 50 kV 60 Hz alternating current .
history
The Tumbler Ridge Line was laid out in the early 1980s to develop two coal mines. Electric operation was chosen for the route, as steep gradients had to be overcome and long tunnels had to be driven through. The electricity from the power station of the W. A. C. Bennett dam could be used for the energy supply . The unusually high contact line voltage of 50 kV was chosen so that only one substation was required for the 130 km long route.
In 1983 and 1984, seven locomotives were built by General Motor Diesel (GMD) to transport trains. At that time, GMD was the Canadian subsidiary of the Electro Motive Division (EMD) of General Motors (GM). The electrical equipment came from ASEA in Sweden . The first locomotive was completed just 18 months after the order was placed.
The locomotives were built so that four of them could move coal trains weighing up to 14,000 t with their 6000 hp. Whereby only two locomotives went through to Tacheeda, the other two were only needed to push over the 15.0 ‰ ramp. During operation, however, it became apparent that the traction motors were not able to provide an output of 1000 hp per traction motor over the long term, which led to frequent defects and failures. For this reason, the permissible loads were continuously reduced and in the end six locomotives were required for each train.
At the start of operations, trains were formed from 98 coal wagons, later the number was increased to 106 coal wagons.
The locomotives were in use until shortly after the quintette mine was shut down, with the volume of traffic reduced to one daily train over the years. The last operation in front of a coal train took place on October 1, 2000. After that, the locomotives were towed to Prince George until October 13, 2000, where they were shut down without much ado. In 2004, Paul D. Roy's family bought the number 6001 locomotive and donated it to the Prince George Railway and Forestry Museum in Prince George . The locomotive is said to be in a fully functional condition. The remaining six locomotives were canceled in Tacoma .
technology
The locomotives were similar to the GM6C test vehicle built in 1975 . The frame and running gear were taken from the tried and tested series SD40-2 diesel locomotive , but had, similar to the SD40-2F delivered for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) , a non-load-bearing structure that spanned the entire width of the vehicle and that of Canada usual wide cab, which is referred to as Wide Cab .
Two single-arm pantographs from Brecknell Willis were mounted on the roof . Instead of the diesel engine, a transformer and a thyristor converter were arranged in the engine room, which supplied the separately excited traction motors with shaft current using phase control . The transformer and converter were cooled with mineral oil . When driving downhill, the braking energy was burned via an externally ventilated braking resistor located opposite on the driver's cab . A radial fan was assigned to each bogie to cool all three traction motors. A power of 270 kW was required to operate the fans and pumps, as well as the compressor .
An automatic control ensured the highest possible tractive effort without the wheels starting to skid. This control was able to operate the sand spreader automatically in poor track conditions, the manual operation of which was blocked by the engine driver at speeds above 8 km / h. There was also a creep speed control that was used when loading the trains.
The locomotives were equipped with a halon extinguishing system. When the system was triggered, the drivers had 15 seconds to leave the locomotive before it was flooded with the oxygen-displacing extinguishing gas.
literature
- James W. Kerr: General Motors Advanced Generation Diesel-Electric and Electric Locomotive - the Second and Third Generation Locomotives - . Ed .: Delta Publications Associates Division. 1987, ISBN 0-919295-18-5 , pp. 193-240 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Essay by Dale Sanders: CTC Board - Railroad Illustrated - December 2000 . Ed .: Robert Hundman. Hundman Publishing, Ferndale, Washington December 2000, pp. 29-39 .
- ↑ Deconstructing a GF6C Electric Locomotive. In: www.oil-electric.com. Retrieved October 28, 2016 .
- ↑ Louis A. Marre, Jerry A. Pinkepank, George H. Drury: The Contemporary Diesel Spotter's Guide . 2nd Edition. Kalmbach, 1995, ISBN 0-89024-257-7 .
- ↑ a b c Tacheeda, Bullmoose, Quintette Part 2. In: www.oil-electric.com. Retrieved October 28, 2016 .