Streamlined locomotive
Streamlined locomotive is the name given to a locomotive that has applied the teachings of aerodynamics to improve the flow around the vehicle, or where the locomotive looks like this. In the narrower sense, only those locomotives are referred to as streamlined locomotives that come from an era in which aerodynamics were only just beginning to be considered in the design of vehicles.
background
The air resistance is a resistance that you can quickly feel. The steam locomotives designed at the beginning of the 19th century were only completely open, but windshields were installed relatively early on. With increasing train speeds, aerodynamics was first considered at the end of the 19th century. In Europe, several railway companies built locomotives with "windshield cabs" and partial cladding. Serious developments in streamlined locomotives, however, began in the 1930s and 1940s, with the advent of airplanes and automobiles , which began to compete with trains. In Great Britain and the USA in particular , there was also fierce competition between the railway companies that often offered the same connections. Well-known examples are the competition between Hiawatha and Pioneer Zephyr between Chicago and Minneapolis or 20th Century Limited and Broadway Limited between Chicago and New York in America and the Silver Jubilee and Coronation Scot in Great Britain. Therefore, the railway companies first tried to face the new competition with clad steam locomotives . With steam locomotives clad in a streamlined manner, it was possible to reach speeds of just over 200 km / h. Examples of such locomotives are the 05 002 of the 05 series of the Deutsche Reichsbahn, the Mallard in Great Britain or in the USA the Atlantics class A and Baltics class F-7 on Milwaukee Road , the "Super Hudsons" class J-3a of New York Central and "duplex" Region diesels class S1 and T1 of the Pennsylvania Railroad . It should be noted that at least the European machines only reached this speed on test drives.
Developments in France
One of the first streamline locomotives was developed by the French PLM . The 220 PLM C 61 à C 180, called "Coupe Vente" ( French : Windschneider) was built from 1898 and pulled famous trains such as the Calais-Paris-Mediterranee Express . The 230 PLM 3401 à 3735 and other PLM locomotives were also delivered later with fairings. In the 1930s, the "Train aérodynamique" (French: aerodynamic train) was developed, which ran between Paris and Marseille in 9 hours. The French NORD also equipped some of its “Super Pacifics” 3.1280 with power trays.
After the Second World War, the newly founded SNCF began with further developments. In the course of this, the locomotives of the classes 230 Est 230 103 à 230 280, 232 R, 232S and 232 U 1 were equipped with a power tray.
Developments in Germany
Efforts have been made since around 1900 to improve the wind slippage of steam locomotives. A typical example from the time before the First World War is the express locomotive S 2/6 of the Royal Bavarian State Railroad, which had windshields on the driver's cab, smoke chamber door and chimney. The first locomotives of the class P 8 (later class 38.10) of the Prussian State Railways had a wind breaker on the front wall of the driver's cab due to the planned top speed of 110 km / h . The fully or partially disguised test locomotives Prussian S 9 Altona 561 and Altona 562 remained unique .
Systematic experiments on the aerodynamics of steam locomotives were not carried out in Germany until the 1930s . The first thing in 1934 was a class 03 (03 154) locomotive that was partially clad and tested by the Deutsche Reichsbahn . In addition to examining the aerodynamics, it was also necessary to determine to what extent the engine of the locomotive, in particular the bearings, heats up due to a lack of air supply. Sufficient supply of combustion air under the grate was also an important point.
The tests have shown that a disguised 03 at 120 km / h has a performance gain of 290 hp compared to the unclad version, at 140 km / h it is even 385 hp. With an indexed output of 1980 hp , this is a gain of around 15 or 20 percent. Another locomotive of this series - the 03 193 - was equipped with an electrical shell of the same type in 1935.
The results of these investigations were incorporated into the design of the two class 05 high-speed locomotives , both of which were delivered in 1935 with complete streamlining. The two conventionally designed locomotives of the 05 series were followed in 1937 by the 05 003, which had a front cab and was designed for the combustion of hard coal dust.
In the meantime, the class 61 tank locomotive , also with full fairing, was built , which was intended for high-speed traffic between Berlin and Dresden . There was a suitable wagon set for this, the so-called Henschel-Wegmann train , which was aerodynamically adapted to the locomotive. A second example of this type of locomotive was built in 1939 in a slightly modified form.
Another express locomotive with streamlined cladding was the DR class 06 , which Krupp delivered in two copies in 1939. In the same year, the first locomotives of the DR class 01.10 and DR class 03.10 were put into service. A larger series of streamlined locomotives was manufactured here for the first time, namely 55 of the 01 10 series and 60 of the 03 10 series . The shape of the cladding of both series was similar, but visually differed from the previous streamlined locomotives.
As the last Reichsbahn locomotive with streamlined cladding, a steam engine locomotive with a single axle drive was added in 1941 with the 19 10 series . Their cladding was visually similar to that of 01 10 .
- Steam locomotives of the Deutsche Reichsbahn with streamlining
03 002 in the Prora Museum with streamline in the form of 03 193
05 001 in the DB Museum in Nuremberg
61 001 with the Henschel-Wegmann train
Partially drained former 03.10 as Polish Pm 3-3 in Warsaw
Former 61 002 after conversion as partially clad 18 201
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Unless they were retired, the streamlining of all of the locomotives listed was removed after the Second World War .
In addition to steam locomotives, the electric locomotives of the E18 and E19 series should also be mentioned in Germany, which were designed as streamlined locomotives before the Second World War and, in the case of the E19, should reach speeds of up to 180 km / h.
The German Federal Railways received in 1957 with the DB series 10 again two paneled steam locomotives. This was a partial fairing in which only the front section of the engine, the smoke chamber and the tender were covered. The boiler and the driver's cab were left uncovered.
Later the E10 series electric locomotives were developed in the 1960s and the 103 series in the 1970s
At the Deutsche Reichsbahn , two high-speed locomotives that were assigned to the 18 series were built through conversion . Both were given a partial cladding similar to the class 10. Both locomotives are still preserved today. In working condition the 18 201 , which is also the fastest still working steam locomotive in the world. In 1972, a test drive of the 18 201 measured a speed of 182 km / h. The second of these high-speed locomotives, the 18 314, is preserved as a museum exhibit in the Auto and Technology Museum in Sinsheim . It is a converted Baden IV h .
Developments in America
- American streamlined locomotives from General Electric and General Motors
Electric locomotive GG1 (first built in 1935) of the Pennsylvania Railroad
" City of Denver " power head ( M-10003-10006 built in 1936) Union Pacific
"El Capitan" diesel locomotive (EMC E1 year of construction 1937–1938) Santa Fe
Steam turbine-electric locomotives ( GE built in 1939) Union Pacific
In America, the development of streamlined steam locomotives did not begin until the 1930s. The most important representatives were the Atlantics Class A and Baltics Class F-7 on Milwaukee Road , the "Super Hudsons" Class J-3a of the New York Central and "Duplex" class S1 and T1 locomotives of the Pennsylvania Railroad . But the steam locomotives faced competition from railcars from the start and later from steam turbines and diesel locomotives.
It turned out that diesel locomotives offered better energy utilization and so the streamlined steam locomotives were not used in larger numbers. But the diesel traction, which was still young at the time, often had streamlined cladding, such as the multiple units built from 1934 and the further developed locomotives of the E and F series from GM in the USA.
The Pennsylvania Railroad's electric GG1 is also a classic streamlined locomotive.
The industrial designers Henry Dreyfuss , Otto Kuhler and Raymond Loewy were important for the American locomotives .
Examples in other countries
In Belgium, the 12 series should be mentioned in particular , which for some time held the European record for the average speed between two train stations at 120.46 km / h between Brussels and Ostend .
In Hungary, the MÁV 242 series drove at speeds of up to 152 km / h .
The Dutch State Railways equipped a couple of their NS 3700s with a power tray.
Australia had the Spirit of Progress , which was drawn as planned by the clad steam locomotives of the S-Class .
In Poland, too, locomotives of the PKP class Pm36 ran with a streamlined design.
On the South Manchurian Railway , the locomotives built in Japan drove in "ASIA-Gō" traffic
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In general, streamlined locomotives, like other aerodynamically designed vehicles, paved the way for modern high-speed trains . Streamlined steam locomotives in particular, however, generally do not prove themselves in everyday life. Steam locomotives require extensive maintenance on many parts of the mechanics in daily operation. Often these parts were difficult to reach due to the cladding and had to be made accessible through flaps and shutters. Dirt also collected from turbulence under the panel. In addition, significant advantages only became noticeable at speeds of over 120 km / h. In Germany, the panels were therefore gradually removed from the beginning of the Second World War. Only partial cladding was still used. One of the few locomotives in service for a long time that retained the current shell was the LNER class A4.
The term stom line locomotive was only rarely used later, as locomotives are less and less used in high-speed traffic and most locomotives have a more streamlined design anyway. Modern, conspicuously aerodynamic locomotives are the SBB Re 460 and the Siemens ES64U2 .
Stom line steam locomotives preserved in working order
- Steam locomotives with streamlined cladding in working condition
In Great Britain, next to the world record locomotive "Mallard" from 1938 ...
... further machines of the LNER class A4 are operational under steam.
Reconstructed LMS 6229 "Duchess of Hamilton" in the York Railway Museum
Since 1996 01 1102 has been wearing streamlined fairing like 1940.
Norfolk & Western J 4-8-4 from 1944
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See also
literature
- Wilhelm Reuter: Record Locomotives. The fastest on the rails 1848–1950 . Motorbuch, Stuttgart 1978, ISBN 3-87943-582-0 .
- Alfred B. Gottwaldt: Streamlines Album. German steam locomotives of the thirties. Transpress, Berlin 1993, ISBN 3-344-70781-7 .