Chester station evacuated 14/03/20

[Bovverboy]

Just to make a small correction to the above, in a traditional diesel engine it is solely air which is compressed then fuel is injected and immediately self-ignited.
To add, the demarcation between the workings of petrol and diesel engines has become a bit blurred in recent times, since there are now petrol engines with fuel injection and diesel engines with spark assistance.

 

[PowerLee]

FWIW: A CO2 fire extinguisher emptied in to the engine air intake can stop a runaway diesel engine as it starves the engine of oxygen.

 

[Grumpy Git]

Just to make a small correction to the above, in a traditional diesel engine it is solely air which is compressed then fuel is injected and immediately self-ignited.
To add, the demarcation between the workings of petrol and diesel engines has become a bit blurred in recent times, since there are now petrol engines with fuel injection and diesel engines with spark assistance.

Thanks for the correction BB.

 

[Mitchell Hurd]

Pretty sure 158822 will have a Perkins 2006-TWH engine, can anyone confirm? One main difference between the Perkins and Cummins engines on the 158s is the Cummins uses solenoids to control the fuel rack, the Perkins uses an air driven piston IIRC.

I've often wondered whether one of these type of engines can 'runaway', now we seem to know.

Does 'runaway engine' mean an engine stuck in full rev? Assuming yes, I remember at Oxford on the 21/03/18 waiting for the 12:39 to Manchester Piccadilly and the 12:31 London service (3-car 165 it was) was terminating at Reading due to a fault with the service I could just hear the non-automated station announcer say.

When the 165 came in, let's say it could be heard loud and clear. It made it to Reading I was told - thank goodness for that!

 

[Mitchell Hurd]

Pretty sure 158822 will have a Perkins 2006-TWH engine, can anyone confirm? One main difference between the Perkins and Cummins engines on the 158s is the Cummins uses solenoids to control the fuel rack, the Perkins uses an air driven piston IIRC.

I've often wondered whether one of these type of engines can 'runaway', now we seem to know.

158815-158862 have Perkins Engines.

 

[talltim]

Here’s a US loco running away https://youtu.be/WvMl8LUzQnk

 

[craigybagel]

Although from what I've heard, in this particular case it wasn't a runaway diesel but a fault with a solenoid. The engine was eventually killed through opening the fuel isolation cock.

 

[Llama]

Does 'runaway engine' mean an engine stuck in full rev? Assuming yes, I remember at Oxford on the 21/03/18 waiting for the 12:39 to Manchester Piccadilly and the 12:31 London service (3-car 165 it was) was terminating at Reading due to a fault with the service I could just hear the non-automated station announcer say.

When the 165 came in, let's say it could be heard loud and clear. It made it to Reading I was told - thank goodness for that!

A runaway is significantly more than full revs and there is no way to shut the engine down normally, only by starving it of combustion air in a crude way.

There are other faults that can result in a Sprinter/Turbo type unit revving 'on the governor' (ie within engine design spec, unlike a runaway which vastly exceeds it) while not taking power, such as air system faults with the transmission control system, low transmission oil or some other transmission defect.