Locomotive engines

[raphaelsusan]

Looking for information on types of locomotive engines ,speed and details of where its made.also about the current rail networks

 

[TheEdge]

You going to need to narrow that question down a lot

 

[GusB]

This would be a good place to start, assuming you are referring to railways in Britain:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Great_Britain

Or try your favourite search engine for "list of locomotive types in Britain". The web is your oyster.

 

[Deepgreen]

You going to need to narrow that question down a lot

With the possibility of the odd 'please' and other niceties.

 

[berneyarms]

With the possibility of the odd 'please' and other niceties.

I think it's pretty likely looking at the user name that it's probable that English isn't their first language - sometimes these kind of things get lost in translation.

 

[squizzler]

Don't know if you mean engines as in the actual prime mover diesel or locomotives as a whole, suspect the latter.

First stop probably Trainspo which has a database of most locos and usually links to the relevant wikipedia for further reading.

Railfan Europe has a database on loco's of most European countries. Other than that check the manufacturer's websites. Beyond that Wikipedia's your friend.

 

[Mordac]

If you can spend some money, Platform 5 guides to rolling stock are your friend. This is the current loco book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Locomotives-2017-Including-Awaiting-Disposal/dp/1909431303

 

[raphaelsusan]

Thank you all for the information provided.we were looking at some basic information on the types of locomotive engines used in UK,in comparison to some used in my country.we are thankful to UK, for establishing the rail network system in 1853,by the east India company.
Indian rail network uses
WDG-3A broad gauge diesel locomotive.
WDM-3D broad gauge diesel locomotive for passenger trains
A WAP 7 class broad gauge AC electric locomotive
This project would hopefully enable our students to appreciate the work done by UK,and give us momentum in our growth.by teaching the students about the progress in UK locomotives will give us some knowledge.thank you for sharing the information

 

[70014IronDuke]

Thank you all for the information provided.we were looking at some basic information on the types of locomotive engines used in UK,in comparison to some used in my country.we are thankful to UK, for establishing the rail network system in 1853,by the east India company.
Indian rail network uses
WDG-3A broad gauge diesel locomotive.
WDM-3D broad gauge diesel locomotive for passenger trains
A WAP 7 class broad gauge AC electric locomotive
This project would hopefully enable our students to appreciate the work done by UK,and give us momentum in our growth.by teaching the students about the progress in UK locomotives will give us some knowledge.thank you for sharing the information

Raphaelsusan - I certainly don't want to put you off, but the thing is, the current UK scene and your Indian traction scene probably have very little in common technically.

Certainly in steam days, I believe many locomotives were built in the UK by, eg Vulcan Foundry and North British Locomotive Co. I remember your 0-6-0s looked very much like a big LMS 4F.

It's also quite likely - though I am guessing here - that some of the equipment for your early electric units was produced in the UK (eg by English Electric)

I should also imagine that operating procedures were likely to be similar to British practice. But, eg you were already designing locomotives in India by the 1940s I think - i believe, for eg, the WP pacific (and standard 2-8-2, was it the WG?) was designed and built in India - and after 1948, what with Nehru's penchant for the USSR and the Socialist states (and ditto Indira), politically India moved away from Britain. At the same time, your loading gauge is so much larger than the UKs, it must have hampered any chance of exporting diesel and electric locomotives, even if they were up to technical standards.

I'm not pretending to be an expert - maybe someone will come along with far more knowledge and help fill in many gaps - but links between current rolling stock and locomotives in the UK and India will, I suspect, be rather tenuous.

 

[randyrippley]

I'm not pretending to be an expert - maybe someone will come along with far more knowledge and help fill in many gaps - but links between current rolling stock and locomotives in the UK and India will, I suspect, be rather tenuous.

Especially so now that there is NO locomotive building capability in the UK, and arguably there hasn't been a commercially viable manufacturer for 20 years.

 

[squizzler]

Raphaelsusan - I certainly don't want to put you off, but the thing is, the current UK scene and your Indian traction scene probably have very little in common technically.

Both are full of EMD locos with 710 series prime mover built since the late 1990's: Class 66 vs GT46MAC

Both our countries are also subsequent recipients of General electric diesel-electrics - British class 70 already and India choosing Genesis derived machines not yet in service.

Not forgetting the 25kv electrification and historic 1.5kv DC in both countries.

Certainly in steam days, I believe many locomotives were built in the UK by, eg Vulcan Foundry and North British Locomotive Co. I remember your 0-6-0s looked very much like a big LMS 4F.

It's also quite likely - though I am guessing here - that some of the equipment for your early electric units was produced in the UK (eg by English Electric)

I should also imagine that operating procedures were likely to be similar to British practice. But, eg you were already designing locomotives in India by the 1940s I think - i believe, for eg, the WP pacific (and standard 2-8-2, was it the WG?) was designed and built in India - and after 1948, what with Nehru's penchant for the USSR and the Socialist states (and ditto Indira), politically India moved away from Britain. At the same time, your loading gauge is so much larger than the UKs, it must have hampered any chance of exporting diesel and electric locomotives, even if they were up to technical standards.

The legacy diesel fleet in India is Alco technology. I don't think they ever used Soviet designs. I understand the signalling has always been British Semaphore and now coloured light on the mainlines. I don't know about the safety systems - I don't think they are going for full-blown ETCS due to the scale of the network.

I'm not pretending to be an expert - maybe someone will come along with far more knowledge and help fill in many gaps - but links between current rolling stock and locomotives in the UK and India will, I suspect, be rather tenuous.

Me neither, but there's no doubt it must be a fascinating railway scene to witness one day.

 

[GW43125]

I could be wrong, but I'm sure I've read that India use the British AWS system and the Westinghouse Air brake.

 

[Cowley]

I've travelled on a few trains in India and it is an amazing system. The sheer scale of it is incredible and I'd love to go back and sample a bit more someday.
I'd agree with the above comments from Squizzler and Iron Duke and also when traveling on the system you can still see elements of British influence in many places.
I hope this has been useful for your students and I'm sure people on this forum would be more than happy to answer any other questions you have.

 

[70014IronDuke]

Both are full of EMD locos with 710 series prime mover built since the late 1990's: Class 66 vs GT46MAC

Both our countries are also subsequent recipients of General electric diesel-electrics - British class 70 already and India choosing Genesis derived machines not yet in service.

Ah! Thanks to Mr Squizzler! So there are some very close similarities - except the common denominator is modern US, and has nothing to do with British-Indian heritage

Not forgetting the 25kv electrification and historic 1.5kv DC in both countries.

Since the 25 kV system was only adopted in the 1950s by BR, I certainly doubt that that influenced the engineers in India - at least not directly. Was the 1.5 kV DC a result of British influence?

The legacy diesel fleet in India is Alco technology. I don't think they ever used Soviet designs. I understand the signalling has always been British Semaphore and now coloured light on the mainlines.

Misunderstanding. I didn't mean that Indian railways turned to Soviet (or even E European) designs, merely that Nehru and his daughter very much leaned towards (or were seduced by) Soviet thinking, and seemed very much anti-British in many ways - far more so than the average Indian I met when over there in the 70s. Most of those who remembered the Raj were actually very appreciative of those days -although I'm sure there was some rose-tinted spec involved. And perhaps some were just buttering me up. But definitely not all.

 

[squizzler]

Ah! Thanks to Mr Squizzler! So there are some very close similarities - except the common denominator is modern US, and has nothing to do with British-Indian heritage

Indian railways post independence seem to be very savvy at shopping round the world for the technology that works for them. In terms of distances, speeds and train weights I think that US diesel technology was a shoe-in for replacing steam - but of course that was then.

Now India is becoming a hi-tech economy and I understand that Indian railways has made several MOU with Japanese railways to adopt technology and best practice. They are flirting with Shinkansen for their busiest intercity routes. Of course they are not alone in seeking some Japanese efficiency - British railways are recipients of Hitachi products now.

Since the 25 kV system was only adopted in the 1950s by BR, I certainly doubt that that influenced the engineers in India - at least not directly. Was the 1.5 kV DC a result of British influence?

25kv spread from post war France. I read that India were persuaded of the advantages of the technology by a SNCF delegation. 1.5kv pre-dated independence so, yes, would be British.