piston broke

[martyn williams]

Was sent this photo of me putting a piston and conrod in a v 16 3300 hp Ruston Paxman engine Canton Cardiff depot 1998
The story behind this is that the engine rebuild gang were trained up to be gantry drivers and passed out to operate the 10 tonne hoist in the shed and the 50 tonne hoist outside the building.We did 15 engine rebuilds of this type in a loco overhaul.The complete overhaul took 4 weeks.
My assistant in the background is operating the hoist via remote control.

[martyn williams]

Here are a few at work
[video]http://youtu.be/7p3b8Mb-b18[/video]

[Mplant]

Wow thanks.along with all those horses, must be some serious torque judging by the length of the conrod.do they run on a crude form of diesel Martyn?How does the fuel system work compared to a standard diesel?

[martyn williams]

They run on Gas oil and that type of loco can haul 2500 tonnes at 60 mph doing 1 mile per gallon at 900 engine rpm 16 fuel pumps fed by a electric fuel pump.Those engines put out enough power to run a small town.Fuel capacity on a class 66 is 6400 ltrs.
Martyn

[Julian]

They run on Gas oil and that type of loco can haul 2500 tonnes at 60 mph doing 1 mile per gallon at 900 engine rpm
Martyn

Is that on the level at a steady 60? It just sounds a little odd that you should need that much power (ie fuel burn) to keep it at a steady 60.

I could understand it if the throttle was wide open and just maintaining 60 up a gradient....

Julian.

[martyn williams]

You need all the power to get up to 60, On power settings the loco is at max power only 20% of the time at max rpm of 900.thats when your consumption is at 1 gallon per mile.That is to get the train on the move,on steep grades the loco could be on max power for 40 minutes or more.Far more fuel efficient than a 44 tonne artic.One train of tankers equates to 60 artics on the road the same time.These locos used to work in pairs hauling 3000 tonne iron ore trains.The diesel engine is coupled to an alternator,the power is rectified to DC for the six traction motors.When you think that rail wheels are smooth and only a fraction of which is in contact with the rail surface you can see how important traction is,leaves are a major problem.Locos are equiped with sanders to aid traction. The more modern locos have traction control.The engine fitted to a 56 has two intercoolers and two turbos,the turbos weigh the same as a mini.The freight locos are around 135 tonne and cost £1.2 million each, the power unit ( engine /alternator ) is around 36 tonne.
It was hard going on the engine rebuilds as there was only two of us per shift on that job.The heads had to be torqued down to 650 ft lb using a multiplier,everything is times 16 there are a hell of a lot of nuts and bolts,the exhaust system was a right pig,9 inch dia pipes that had to be put into the V in order.With a turbo at each end of the engine..The oil heat exchanger was 6 foot long.I think after doing many engine rebuilds over the years all my joints are knackered.
Martyn

[martyn williams]

In this video each wagon weighs 32 tonne gross.
After each engine rebuild we would run them in on a stattic load bank to set up power,we did get 4000hp out of one engine but that was not in spec It would take about a day and a half to run them in then they were put on test runs on revenue earning coal trains such as the one in this video.We would be inside the engine room checking fuel rack positions and looking for any problems on the engine or electrical control side.Engine cooling was done by two serck hydraulic fans with an engine driven hydraulc pump.
[video]http://youtu.be/a9zrQyHVjmQ[/video]

[Julian]

Many years ago I had an outing to the Mirrlees Blackstone factory at the Vulcan foundry at Newton-le-Willows. They had the loco engines running on test beds & I remember big cooling tanks/towers outside the building all steaming away! Also I remember watching the cylinder liners being machined up - they used ceramic cutting tools and the swarf cam off glowing red hot.

Did the exhaust always exit the heads inside the valley? I thought with 'V' engines tradition has it that the exhaust comes out either side.....

Interesting talking about power and weight, a turboprop aircraft I once flew (the British Aerospace ATP) had Pratt and Whitney 126 engines (one series, 2600bhp at max contingency power) and the guts of the engine was only about the size of a suitcase! With two of these engines and a plane no heavier than 20 tons, it still felt like a gutless wonder sometimes at places like Jersey with the end of the runway looming up fast!

Julian.

[martyn williams]

The exhaust pipework is within the V ,so its pretty tight fit with only a 1/4 inch between the pipes.They are a real pig to fit as you are working over them suspended on a gantry until you get the exhaust flanges bolted up.Great for your back.A day on that job any you know it.It get interesting if the intercooler is blocked or the engine over fuels.The exhaust pipework glows cherry red.A bit scary in a confind space with temps around 120 degreen in the engine room.The 8 cylinder Mirrlees can be air started if choosen.But ours use two starter motors.
Martyn

[martyn williams]

This is a V 12 English Electric similar to a Class 56 Ruston Paxman,some bits are interchangable.Plenty of room to work in
[video]http://youtu.be/x40SZkxz8hw[/video]