Steam turbine locomotive
Encyclopedia
A steam turbine locomotive is a steam locomotive
which transmits steam power to the wheels via a steam turbine
. Numerous attempts at this type of locomotive were made, mostly without success. In the 1930s this type of locomotive was seen as a way both to revitalize steam power and challenge the diesel locomotives then being introduced.
s.
in Argentina
goes through mountainous terrain with few opportunities to take on water. In 1925 the Swedish firm NOHAB
built a turbine locomotive similar to Ljungström's first design. The condenser worked quite well - only 3 or 4% of the water was lost en route and due only to leakage from the tank. The locomotive had reliability problems and was later replaced by a condenser-equipped piston steam locomotive.
. One effort, the Nord Turbine, resembled the LMS Turbomotive
in both appearance and mechanical layout. The project was canceled and the locomotive was built as a compound piston steam locomotive instead. The second attempt, SNCF 232Q1, was built in 1939. It was unusual in that its driving wheel
s were not connected by side rods. Each of its three driving axles had its own turbine. It was heavily damaged by German troops in World War II
and was scrapped in 1946
locomotive builders. In 1928 Krupp
-Zoelly
built a geared steam turbine locomotive. The output of the turbine was fed to a condenser
which both conserved water and increased the thermal efficiency of the turbine. Draft for the fire was provided by a steam-driven fan in the smokebox
. In 1940 this locomotive was hit by a bomb. It was withdrawn from service and not repaired.
A similar machine was built by Maffei in 1929. Despite having a higher-pressure boiler, it was less efficient than the Krupp-Zoelly locomotive. It was hit by a bomb in 1943 and removed from service.
Henschel converted a normal DRG Class 38 steam locomotive to use a steam turbine in 1927. The locomotive itself was little modified, the major changes being to the tender
which was fitted with coupled driving wheels in a 2-4-4 layout, driven by separate forward and reverse turbines. Both turbines were driven by intermediate pressure exhaust steam from the original cylinders. A condenser in the tender provided a vacuum for the turbine exhaust, increasing thermal efficiency. As the final exhaust was at negligible pressure, the original smokebox blastpipe had to be replaced by an electric draught fan in the smokebox.
Performance was disappointing, and the turbine tender was removed in 1937.
designed a number of experimental turbine locomotives. None were ever tested on main lines. His first was a small locomotive with four wheels, each fitted with its own small turbine. Reverse movement was accomplished by feeding steam into the turbines via a backwards-facing inlet. Steam turbines are designed to rotate in only one direction, making this method very inefficient. No one else appears to have attempted it.
Belluzzo contributed to the design of a 2-8-2
locomotive built by Ernesto Breda in 1931. It used four turbines in a multiple expansion arrangement.
In 1933, an FS
2-6-2
locomotive was rebuilt with turbines. It made a test run from Florence
to Pistoia
and then was never seen again.
engineer Fredrik Ljungström
designed a number of steam turbine locomotives, some of which were highly successful. His first attempt in 1921 was a rather odd-looking machine. Its three driving axles were located under the tender, and the cab and boiler sat on unpowered wheels. As a result, only a small portion of the locomotive's weight contributed to traction
.
The second design was a 2-8-0
similar to a successful freight design. Built in 1930 and 1936 by Nydqvist & Holm AB
, these locomotives replaced conventional ones on the Grängesberg-Oxelösund Railway. No condenser was fitted, as its complexity outweighed its thermodynamic advantages. The wheels were driven by a jackshaft
. These engines were not retired until the 1950s when the line was electrified. Three engines of this type were built, two of which have been preserved; these can be seen in Grängesberg
, Sweden.
firm Zoelly
built a turbine locomotive in 1919. It was a 4-6-0
locomotive fitted with a condenser. It was fitted with a cold-air blower feeding into the firebox grate rather than a suction fan in the smokebox. This avoided the complexity of building a fan that could withstand hot, corrosive gases, but introduced a new problem. The firebox was at positive pressure
, and hot gases and cinders could be blown out the firebox doors if they were opened while the blower was operating. This potentially dangerous arrangement was eventually replaced with a smokebox fan.
One of the more successful turbines operated in the United Kingdom
. The LMS Turbomotive
built in 1935 was a variation of the Princess Royal
4-6-2
large passenger express locomotive. There was no condenser. Although a disadvantage for thermal efficiency of the turbine, it allowed the turbine exhaust to still be used through a blastpipe to draw the fire, as for a conventional steam locomotive and avoiding the separate draught fans that caused so much trouble for other turbine locomotives.
Despite this limitation, it had greater thermal efficiency than conventional locomotives. The high efficiency mainly resulted from the fact that there were six steam nozzles directed into the turbine which could be turned on and off individually. Each nozzle could thus be allowed to operate, or not, at full power, rather than being inefficiently throttled to a lower pressure. A certain amount of inspiration appears to have come from Fredrik Ljungström
's turbines in Sweden.
The main turbine failed after eleven years in heavy service. The Turbomotive was converted to piston drive in 1949 and withdrawn after the deadly Harrow and Wealdstone railway accident in 1952.
Other designs
Another locomotive was built by Beyer-Peacock
and used a turbine from Ljungström
. Like one of Ljungström's early designs, the driving wheels were under the tender. Performance was disappointing, partly because of poor heating of the boiler.
Another unit was rebuilt by the North British Locomotive Company
. In its first incarnation (described below) it had an electrical transmission. Only a few tests were done before it was abandoned due to mechanical failures.
The Pennsylvania Railroad
used the largest direct-drive steam turbine locomotive in the world. Built by Baldwin Locomotive Works, the S2 Turbine, c/n 70900, was delivered to Pennsylvania Railroad in September 1944. It was originally designed as a 4-8-4, but due to shortages of lightweight materials during World War II, the S2 became the only locomotive ever built with a 6-8-6
wheel arrangement
. PRR #6200, the S2
turbine, had a maximum power output of 6,900 HP (5.1 MW) and was capable of speeds over 100 mi/h. With the tender, the unit was approximately 123 feet (37.5 m) long. The steam turbine was a modified marine unit. While the gearing system was simpler than a generator, it had a fatal flaw: the turbine was inefficient at slow speeds. Below about 40 mph (64 km/h) the turbine used enormous amounts of steam and fuel. At high speeds, however, the S2 could propel heavy trains almost effortlessly and efficiently. The smooth turbine drive put far less stress on the track than a normal piston-driven locomotive. However, poor efficiency at slow speeds doomed this turbine, and with diesel-electrics being introduced, no more S2s were built. The locomotive was retired in 1949 and scrapped in May, 1952.
in 1910, had a 2-B+B-2 (4-4-0
+0-4-4
) wheel arrangement. Steam was generated in a standard locomotive boiler, with superheater, and passed to a turbine generator. Exhaust steam was condensed and recirculated by small auxiliary turbine pumps. The armatures
of the motors were mounted directly on the four driving axles. It was later rebuilt as a direct-drive turbine locomotive as seen above.
The Armstrong-Whitworth turbine, built in 1922, had a 1-C+C-1 (2-6-6-2
) wheel arrangement. It was fitted with a rotary evaporative condenser, in which the steam was condensed by passing it through a rotating set of tubes. The tubes were dampened and cooled by the evaporation of water. The loss of water from evaporation was far less than what it would have been with no condenser at all. The airflow in the condenser had to take a convoluted path, reducing the condenser's efficiency. The locomotive was overweight and a poor performer. It was returned in 1923 and scrapped.
General Electric
built two steam turbine-electric locomotives with a 2+C-C+2 (4-6-6-4
) wheel arrangement for the Union Pacific Railroad
in 1938. These locomotives were essentially mobile power plants and were correspondingly complex. They were the only condensing steam locomotives ever used in the United States. A Babcock and Wilcox
boiler provided steam, and an electric generator was fitted in the front of the locomotive to provide head-end power
, a concept that would not catch on until the creation of Amtrak
. Boiler control was largely automatic, and the two locomotives could be MUed
together, both controlled by one engineer. The fuel was Bunker C oil, the same fuel that was later used in Union Pacific's gas turbine-electric locomotive
s. Union Pacific accepted the locomotives in 1939, but returned them later that year, citing unsatisfactory results. The GE turbines were used during a motive power shortage on the Great Northern Railway in 1943, and appear to have performed quite well. However, by the end of 1943, the wheels of both locomotives were worn to the point of needing replacement, and one of the locomotives boilers developed a defect. The locomotives were returned to GE and dismantled.
Pennsylvania Railroad
In the waning years of steam, the Baldwin Locomotive Works
undertook several attempts at alternative technologies to diesel power. In 1944, Baldwin outshopped an S2
class 6-8-6
direct-drive steam turbine locomotive for the Pennsylvania Railroad
(see above).
C&O Railway
Between 1947–1948, Baldwin built three unique coal
-fired steam turbine-electric locomotives, designed for passenger service on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
(C&O). Their official designation was M1, but because of their expense and poor performance they acquired the nickname "Sacred Cow". The 6000 hp units, which were equipped with Westinghouse
electrical systems, had a 2-C1+2-C1-B wheel arrangement. They were 106 feet (32 m) long, making them the longest locomotives ever built for passenger service. The cab was mounted in the center, with a coal bunker ahead of it and a backwards-mounted conventional boiler behind it (the tender only carried water). These locomotives were intended for a route from Washington, D.C.
to Cincinnati, Ohio
but could never travel the whole route without some sort of failure. Coal dust
and water frequently got into the traction motors. While these problems could have been fixed given enough time, it was obvious that these locomotives would always be expensive to maintain, and all three were scrapped in 1950.
Norfolk & Western Railway
In May, 1954 Baldwin built a 4500 hp steam turbine-electric locomotive for freight service on the Norfolk and Western Railway
(N&W), nicknamed the Jawn Henry after the legend of John Henry
, a rock driller who famously raced against a steam drill and won, only to die immediately after. The unit was similar in appearance to the C&O turbines but very different mechanically; it had a C+C-C+C wheel arrangement, and a Babcock and Wilcox
water-tube boiler
which was fitted with automatic controls. Unfortunately, the boiler controls were sometimes problematic, and (as with the C&O turbines) coal dust and water got into the motors. The Jawn Henry was retired from the N&W roster on January 4, 1958.
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
which transmits steam power to the wheels via a steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
. Numerous attempts at this type of locomotive were made, mostly without success. In the 1930s this type of locomotive was seen as a way both to revitalize steam power and challenge the diesel locomotives then being introduced.
Advantages
- High efficiency at high speed.
- Far fewer moving parts, hence potentially greater reliability.
- Conventional piston steam locomotives give a varying, sinusoidal torque, making wheelslip much more likely when starting.
- The side rods and valve gear of conventional steam locomotives create horizontal forces that cannot be fully balanced without substantially increasing the vertical forces on the track, known as hammer blowHammer blowHammer blow, in rail terminology, refers to the vertical forces transferred to the track by the driving wheels of a steam locomotive and some diesel locomotives. The largest proportion of this is due to the unbalanced reciprocating motion, although the piston thrusts also contribute a portion to it...
.
Disadvantages
- High efficiency is ordinarily obtained only at high speed (though some Swedish and UK locomotives were designed and built to operate with an efficiency equal to or better than that of piston engines under customary operating conditions). Gas turbine locomotiveGas turbine locomotiveA Gas turbine locomotive is a locomotive powered by a gas turbine. The majority of gas turbine locomotives have had electric transmission but mechanical transmission has also been used, particularly in the early days. The advantage of using gas turbines is that they have very high power-to-bulk...
s had similar problems, together with a range of other difficulties.
- Peak efficiency can be reached only if the turbine exhausts into a near vacuum, generated by a surface condenser. These devices are heavy and cumbersome.
- Turbines can rotate in only one direction. A reverse turbine must also be fitted for a direct-drive steam turbine locomotive to be able to move backwards.
Drive methods
There are two ways to drive the wheels: either directly via gears, or using generator-driven traction motorTraction motor
Traction motor refers to an electric motor providing the primary rotational torque of a machine, usually for conversion into linear motion ....
s.
Argentina
The route from Tucumán to Santa FeSanta Fe, Argentina
Santa Fe is the capital city of province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It sits in northeastern Argentina, near the junction of the Paraná and Salado rivers. It lies opposite the city of Paraná, to which it is linked by the Hernandarias Subfluvial Tunnel. The city is also connected by canal with the...
in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
goes through mountainous terrain with few opportunities to take on water. In 1925 the Swedish firm NOHAB
NOHAB
NOHAB was a manufacturing company in the city of Trollhättan, Sweden.The company was founded by Antenor Nydqvist, Johan Magnus Lidström and Carl Olof Holm in 1847 as Trollhättans Mekaniska Verkstad as a manufacturer of turbines for hydraulic power plants...
built a turbine locomotive similar to Ljungström's first design. The condenser worked quite well - only 3 or 4% of the water was lost en route and due only to leakage from the tank. The locomotive had reliability problems and was later replaced by a condenser-equipped piston steam locomotive.
France
Two attempts were made in FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. One effort, the Nord Turbine, resembled the LMS Turbomotive
LMS Turbomotive
The Turbomotive was a modified Princess Royal Class steam locomotive designed by William Stanier and built by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1935. It used turbines instead of cylinders...
in both appearance and mechanical layout. The project was canceled and the locomotive was built as a compound piston steam locomotive instead. The second attempt, SNCF 232Q1, was built in 1939. It was unusual in that its driving wheel
Driving wheel
On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons...
s were not connected by side rods. Each of its three driving axles had its own turbine. It was heavily damaged by German troops in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and was scrapped in 1946
Germany
Multiple attempts at this type were made by GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
locomotive builders. In 1928 Krupp
Krupp
The Krupp family , a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...
-Zoelly
Zoelly
Zoelly may refer to:*Heinrich Zoelly , Mexican-Swiss engineer, developer of steam turbines and turbine-driven locomotives...
built a geared steam turbine locomotive. The output of the turbine was fed to a condenser
Condenser (steam turbine)
A surface condenser is a commonly used term for a water-cooled shell and tube heat exchanger installed on the exhaust steam from a steam turbine in thermal power stations. These condensers are heat exchangers which convert steam from its gaseous to its liquid state at a pressure below atmospheric...
which both conserved water and increased the thermal efficiency of the turbine. Draft for the fire was provided by a steam-driven fan in the smokebox
Smokebox
A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a Steam locomotive exhaust system. Smoke and hot gases pass from the firebox through tubes where they pass heat to the surrounding water in the boiler. The smoke then enters the smokebox, and is exhausted to the atmosphere through the chimney .To assist...
. In 1940 this locomotive was hit by a bomb. It was withdrawn from service and not repaired.
A similar machine was built by Maffei in 1929. Despite having a higher-pressure boiler, it was less efficient than the Krupp-Zoelly locomotive. It was hit by a bomb in 1943 and removed from service.
Henschel converted a normal DRG Class 38 steam locomotive to use a steam turbine in 1927. The locomotive itself was little modified, the major changes being to the tender
Tender locomotive
A tender or coal-car is a special rail vehicle hauled by a steam locomotive containing the locomotive's fuel and water. Steam locomotives consume large quantities of water compared to the quantity of fuel, so tenders are necessary to keep the locomotive running over long distances. A locomotive...
which was fitted with coupled driving wheels in a 2-4-4 layout, driven by separate forward and reverse turbines. Both turbines were driven by intermediate pressure exhaust steam from the original cylinders. A condenser in the tender provided a vacuum for the turbine exhaust, increasing thermal efficiency. As the final exhaust was at negligible pressure, the original smokebox blastpipe had to be replaced by an electric draught fan in the smokebox.
Performance was disappointing, and the turbine tender was removed in 1937.
Italy
Giuseppe Belluzzo of ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
designed a number of experimental turbine locomotives. None were ever tested on main lines. His first was a small locomotive with four wheels, each fitted with its own small turbine. Reverse movement was accomplished by feeding steam into the turbines via a backwards-facing inlet. Steam turbines are designed to rotate in only one direction, making this method very inefficient. No one else appears to have attempted it.
Belluzzo contributed to the design of a 2-8-2
2-8-2
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle...
locomotive built by Ernesto Breda in 1931. It used four turbines in a multiple expansion arrangement.
In 1933, an FS
Ferrovie dello Stato
Ferrovie dello Stato is a government-owned holding which manage infrastructure and service on the Italian rail network. The subsidiary Trenitalia is the main rail operator in Italy.-Organization:Ferrovie dello Stato subsidiaries are:...
2-6-2
2-6-2
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels.Other equivalent classifications are:...
locomotive was rebuilt with turbines. It made a test run from Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
to Pistoia
Pistoia
Pistoia is a city and comune in the Tuscany region of Italy, the capital of a province of the same name, located about 30 km west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno.-History:...
and then was never seen again.
Sweden
SwedishSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
engineer Fredrik Ljungström
Fredrik Ljungström
Fredrik Ljungström was a Swedish engineer, technical designer and an industrialist...
designed a number of steam turbine locomotives, some of which were highly successful. His first attempt in 1921 was a rather odd-looking machine. Its three driving axles were located under the tender, and the cab and boiler sat on unpowered wheels. As a result, only a small portion of the locomotive's weight contributed to traction
Traction
- Engineering :*Forces:** Traction , adhesive friction or force in the context of vehicle** Traction vector, in mechanics, the force per unit area on a surface, including normal and shear components...
.
The second design was a 2-8-0
2-8-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels...
similar to a successful freight design. Built in 1930 and 1936 by Nydqvist & Holm AB
NOHAB
NOHAB was a manufacturing company in the city of Trollhättan, Sweden.The company was founded by Antenor Nydqvist, Johan Magnus Lidström and Carl Olof Holm in 1847 as Trollhättans Mekaniska Verkstad as a manufacturer of turbines for hydraulic power plants...
, these locomotives replaced conventional ones on the Grängesberg-Oxelösund Railway. No condenser was fitted, as its complexity outweighed its thermodynamic advantages. The wheels were driven by a jackshaft
Jackshaft
A jackshaft is a device for turning the wheels of a locomotive. It is essentially an axle with no wheels. Each end of the jackshaft has a crank pin and a counterweight. The driving wheels are then connected by side rods. The name may come from a combination of "jack," a slang term for a locomotive,...
. These engines were not retired until the 1950s when the line was electrified. Three engines of this type were built, two of which have been preserved; these can be seen in Grängesberg
Grängesberg
Grängesberg is a locality situated in Ludvika Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden with 3,532 inhabitants in 2005.The town was earlier dominated by iron-ore extraction at Grängesberg ore field from the 16th century to 1989...
, Sweden.
Switzerland
The SwissSwitzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
firm Zoelly
Zoelly
Zoelly may refer to:*Heinrich Zoelly , Mexican-Swiss engineer, developer of steam turbines and turbine-driven locomotives...
built a turbine locomotive in 1919. It was a 4-6-0
4-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This wheel arrangement became the second-most popular...
locomotive fitted with a condenser. It was fitted with a cold-air blower feeding into the firebox grate rather than a suction fan in the smokebox. This avoided the complexity of building a fan that could withstand hot, corrosive gases, but introduced a new problem. The firebox was at positive pressure
Positive pressure
Positive pressure is a pressure within a system that is greater than the environment that surrounds that system. Consequently if there is any leak from the positively pressured system it will egress into the surrounding environment....
, and hot gases and cinders could be blown out the firebox doors if they were opened while the blower was operating. This potentially dangerous arrangement was eventually replaced with a smokebox fan.
United Kingdom
TurbomotiveOne of the more successful turbines operated in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The LMS Turbomotive
LMS Turbomotive
The Turbomotive was a modified Princess Royal Class steam locomotive designed by William Stanier and built by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1935. It used turbines instead of cylinders...
built in 1935 was a variation of the Princess Royal
LMS Princess Royal Class
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway Princess Royal Class is a class of an express passenger steam locomotive designed by William Stanier. They were Pacifics...
4-6-2
4-6-2
4-6-2, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle .These locomotives are also known as Pacifics...
large passenger express locomotive. There was no condenser. Although a disadvantage for thermal efficiency of the turbine, it allowed the turbine exhaust to still be used through a blastpipe to draw the fire, as for a conventional steam locomotive and avoiding the separate draught fans that caused so much trouble for other turbine locomotives.
Despite this limitation, it had greater thermal efficiency than conventional locomotives. The high efficiency mainly resulted from the fact that there were six steam nozzles directed into the turbine which could be turned on and off individually. Each nozzle could thus be allowed to operate, or not, at full power, rather than being inefficiently throttled to a lower pressure. A certain amount of inspiration appears to have come from Fredrik Ljungström
Fredrik Ljungström
Fredrik Ljungström was a Swedish engineer, technical designer and an industrialist...
's turbines in Sweden.
The main turbine failed after eleven years in heavy service. The Turbomotive was converted to piston drive in 1949 and withdrawn after the deadly Harrow and Wealdstone railway accident in 1952.
Other designs
Another locomotive was built by Beyer-Peacock
Beyer-Peacock
Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway Locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Gorton, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer and Richard Peacock, it traded from 1854 until 1966...
and used a turbine from Ljungström
Fredrik Ljungström
Fredrik Ljungström was a Swedish engineer, technical designer and an industrialist...
. Like one of Ljungström's early designs, the driving wheels were under the tender. Performance was disappointing, partly because of poor heating of the boiler.
Another unit was rebuilt by the North British Locomotive Company
North British Locomotive Company
The North British Locomotive Company was created in 1903 through the merger of three Glasgow locomotive manufacturing companies; Sharp Stewart and Company , Neilson, Reid and Company and Dübs and Company , creating the largest locomotive manufacturing company in Europe.Its main factories were...
. In its first incarnation (described below) it had an electrical transmission. Only a few tests were done before it was abandoned due to mechanical failures.
United States
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
used the largest direct-drive steam turbine locomotive in the world. Built by Baldwin Locomotive Works, the S2 Turbine, c/n 70900, was delivered to Pennsylvania Railroad in September 1944. It was originally designed as a 4-8-4, but due to shortages of lightweight materials during World War II, the S2 became the only locomotive ever built with a 6-8-6
6-8-6
In Whyte notation, a 6-8-6 is a steam locomotive with:* six unpowered leading wheels arranged into a three-axle leading truck,* eight powered driving wheels, and* six unpowered trailing wheels arranged into a three-axle trailing truck....
wheel arrangement
Whyte notation
The Whyte notation for classifying steam locomotives by wheel arrangement was devised by Frederick Methvan Whyte and came into use in the early twentieth century encouraged by an editorial in American Engineer and Railroad Journal...
. PRR #6200, the S2
PRR S2
The Pennsylvania Railroad's class S2 was a steam turbine locomotive. Only one prototype was built, #6200, delivered in 1944. The S2 was the sole example of the 6-8-6 wheel arrangement in the Whyte notation, featuring a six-wheel leading truck, eight driving wheels, and a six-wheel trailing truck...
turbine, had a maximum power output of 6,900 HP (5.1 MW) and was capable of speeds over 100 mi/h. With the tender, the unit was approximately 123 feet (37.5 m) long. The steam turbine was a modified marine unit. While the gearing system was simpler than a generator, it had a fatal flaw: the turbine was inefficient at slow speeds. Below about 40 mph (64 km/h) the turbine used enormous amounts of steam and fuel. At high speeds, however, the S2 could propel heavy trains almost effortlessly and efficiently. The smooth turbine drive put far less stress on the track than a normal piston-driven locomotive. However, poor efficiency at slow speeds doomed this turbine, and with diesel-electrics being introduced, no more S2s were built. The locomotive was retired in 1949 and scrapped in May, 1952.
United Kingdom
The Reid-Ramsey turbine, built by the North British Locomotive CompanyNorth British Locomotive Company
The North British Locomotive Company was created in 1903 through the merger of three Glasgow locomotive manufacturing companies; Sharp Stewart and Company , Neilson, Reid and Company and Dübs and Company , creating the largest locomotive manufacturing company in Europe.Its main factories were...
in 1910, had a 2-B+B-2 (4-4-0
4-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels...
+0-4-4
4-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels...
) wheel arrangement. Steam was generated in a standard locomotive boiler, with superheater, and passed to a turbine generator. Exhaust steam was condensed and recirculated by small auxiliary turbine pumps. The armatures
Armature (electrical engineering)
In electrical engineering, an armature generally refers to one of the two principal electrical components of an electromechanical machine–generally in a motor or generator, but it may also mean the pole piece of a permanent magnet or electromagnet, or the moving iron part of a solenoid or relay....
of the motors were mounted directly on the four driving axles. It was later rebuilt as a direct-drive turbine locomotive as seen above.
The Armstrong-Whitworth turbine, built in 1922, had a 1-C+C-1 (2-6-6-2
2-6-6-2
In Whyte notation, 2-6-6-2 refers to a railroad steam locomotive that has two leading wheels followed by six coupled driving wheels, a second set of six coupled driving wheels, and two trailing wheels...
) wheel arrangement. It was fitted with a rotary evaporative condenser, in which the steam was condensed by passing it through a rotating set of tubes. The tubes were dampened and cooled by the evaporation of water. The loss of water from evaporation was far less than what it would have been with no condenser at all. The airflow in the condenser had to take a convoluted path, reducing the condenser's efficiency. The locomotive was overweight and a poor performer. It was returned in 1923 and scrapped.
United States
General ElectricGeneral Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
built two steam turbine-electric locomotives with a 2+C-C+2 (4-6-6-4
4-6-6-4
In Whyte notation, a 4-6-6-4 is a railroad steam locomotive that has four leading wheels followed by six coupled driving wheels, a second set of six driving wheels and four trailing wheels.Other equivalent classifications are:...
) wheel arrangement for the Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
in 1938. These locomotives were essentially mobile power plants and were correspondingly complex. They were the only condensing steam locomotives ever used in the United States. A Babcock and Wilcox
Babcock and Wilcox
The Babcock & Wilcox Company is a U.S.-based company that provides design, engineering, manufacturing, construction and facilities management services to nuclear, renewable, fossil power, industrial and government customers worldwide. B&W's boilers supply more than 300,000 megawatts of installed...
boiler provided steam, and an electric generator was fitted in the front of the locomotive to provide head-end power
Head end power
Head end power or electric train supply is a rail transport term for the electrical power distribution system on a passenger train. The power source, usually a locomotive at the front or “head” of a train or a generator car, generates all the electricity used for lighting, electrical and other...
, a concept that would not catch on until the creation of Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
. Boiler control was largely automatic, and the two locomotives could be MUed
Multiple-unit train control
Multiple-unit train control, sometimes abbreviated to multiple-unit or MU, is a method of simultaneously controlling all the traction equipment in a train from a single location, whether it is a Multiple unit comprising a number of self-powered passenger cars or a set of locomotives.A set of...
together, both controlled by one engineer. The fuel was Bunker C oil, the same fuel that was later used in Union Pacific's gas turbine-electric locomotive
Gas turbine-electric locomotive
A gas turbine - electric locomotive, or GTEL, is a locomotive that uses a gas turbine to drive an electric generator or alternator. The electric current thus produced is used to power traction motors. This type of locomotive was first experimented with during the Second World War, but reached its...
s. Union Pacific accepted the locomotives in 1939, but returned them later that year, citing unsatisfactory results. The GE turbines were used during a motive power shortage on the Great Northern Railway in 1943, and appear to have performed quite well. However, by the end of 1943, the wheels of both locomotives were worn to the point of needing replacement, and one of the locomotives boilers developed a defect. The locomotives were returned to GE and dismantled.
Pennsylvania Railroad
In the waning years of steam, the Baldwin Locomotive Works
Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
undertook several attempts at alternative technologies to diesel power. In 1944, Baldwin outshopped an S2
PRR S2
The Pennsylvania Railroad's class S2 was a steam turbine locomotive. Only one prototype was built, #6200, delivered in 1944. The S2 was the sole example of the 6-8-6 wheel arrangement in the Whyte notation, featuring a six-wheel leading truck, eight driving wheels, and a six-wheel trailing truck...
class 6-8-6
6-8-6
In Whyte notation, a 6-8-6 is a steam locomotive with:* six unpowered leading wheels arranged into a three-axle leading truck,* eight powered driving wheels, and* six unpowered trailing wheels arranged into a three-axle trailing truck....
direct-drive steam turbine locomotive for the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
(see above).
C&O Railway
Between 1947–1948, Baldwin built three unique coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
-fired steam turbine-electric locomotives, designed for passenger service on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P...
(C&O). Their official designation was M1, but because of their expense and poor performance they acquired the nickname "Sacred Cow". The 6000 hp units, which were equipped with Westinghouse
Westinghouse Electric (1886)
Westinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
electrical systems, had a 2-C1+2-C1-B wheel arrangement. They were 106 feet (32 m) long, making them the longest locomotives ever built for passenger service. The cab was mounted in the center, with a coal bunker ahead of it and a backwards-mounted conventional boiler behind it (the tender only carried water). These locomotives were intended for a route from Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
but could never travel the whole route without some sort of failure. Coal dust
Coal dust
Coal dust is a fine powdered form of coal, which is created by the crushing, grinding, or pulverizing of coal. Because of the brittle nature of coal, coal dust can be created during mining, transportation, or by mechanically handling coal.-Explosions:...
and water frequently got into the traction motors. While these problems could have been fixed given enough time, it was obvious that these locomotives would always be expensive to maintain, and all three were scrapped in 1950.
Norfolk & Western Railway
In May, 1954 Baldwin built a 4500 hp steam turbine-electric locomotive for freight service on the Norfolk and Western Railway
Norfolk and Western Railway
The Norfolk and Western Railway , a US class I railroad, was formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It had headquarters in Roanoke, Virginia for most of its 150 year existence....
(N&W), nicknamed the Jawn Henry after the legend of John Henry
John Henry (folklore)
John Henry is an American folk hero and tall tale. Henry worked as a "steel-driver"—a man tasked with hammering and chiseling rock in the construction of tunnels for railroad tracks. In the legend, John Henry's prowess as a steel-driver was measured in a race against a steam powered hammer,...
, a rock driller who famously raced against a steam drill and won, only to die immediately after. The unit was similar in appearance to the C&O turbines but very different mechanically; it had a C+C-C+C wheel arrangement, and a Babcock and Wilcox
Babcock and Wilcox
The Babcock & Wilcox Company is a U.S.-based company that provides design, engineering, manufacturing, construction and facilities management services to nuclear, renewable, fossil power, industrial and government customers worldwide. B&W's boilers supply more than 300,000 megawatts of installed...
water-tube boiler
Water-tube boiler
A water tube boiler is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which heats water in the steam-generating tubes...
which was fitted with automatic controls. Unfortunately, the boiler controls were sometimes problematic, and (as with the C&O turbines) coal dust and water got into the motors. The Jawn Henry was retired from the N&W roster on January 4, 1958.