A rare peek at the RDC Budd Detroit Diesel engine

[BaltACD]

mvlandsw

I wish that the ones I had to deal with on the Pittsburgh commutter trains were that clean.

Much as I hate to say it - B&O never signed into the theory that clean equipment operates better than dirty equipment.

[mvlandsw]

I wish that the ones I had to deal with on the Pittsburgh commutter trains were that clean.

[M636C]

Apparently confined to largely off-road and marine use...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Diesel_110

They were used on many Australian railcars apart from the few RDCs in Australia.

Peter

[BaltACD]

M636C

 

BaltACD

Were the diesels used in the Budd RDC cars also used in OTR trucks of the era? 

I think they were....

The RDC used an angled 6/110 Detroit engine, I know that upright versions were built (and used in Australian railcar power units).

Only a 6/110 was built, basically an enlargement of the 6/71 built extensively for military use during WWII. Later V-6, V-8, V-12 and V-16 71 series were built and the 6/110 was discontinued. I imagine the 6/110 was used in trucks until the multi-cylinder 71 series range was introduced, and later the 92 series.

The 6/71 was good for 100hp as a generator and a little more for propulsion and the 6/110 was rated at 250 hp for propulsion.

Peter

I featured the Budd RDC market was much to limited for the engine to be produced solely for use in the Budd Cars.  There had to be far larger markets that sustained the production of the engine.

[Overmod]

Miningman

Detroit Diesel one of two on each RDC.

 

It gets better, of course.  See that pan at the bottom?  The whole engine assembly slides out on that and can be changed out in a few minutes -- "works in a drawer" from an earlier era.

Somebody tell me why the video is supposed to be complicated?  All you have there is two rockers to the sides, actuating either 2 or 4 exhaust valves at the cylinder head (when four, using bridges, like a 567) and one rocker in the middle working the unit injector for that cylinder.  Of course you know there are no intake valves.  Pushrods run along the 'bottom' edge of the block, to a camshaft located lower down.  Note that the engine in the video is probably Roots-blower scavenged, not centrifugally blown like the one in Miningman's picture.  That's probably a good thing, as anything producing an engine overspeed would reportedly trash the centrifugal blower and engine in very short order...  Roots is positive-displacement proportional to engine speed and hence swept volume.

Can't figure out why he'd just crank and crank it like that, instead of checking the fuel pump, valves for prime, and ensure fuel up to the injectors.  Does it really take that long to develop adequate scavenge pressure?  I confess I'm also nervous to see him running both engines with the radiator fan visibly not turning (with something suspiciously similar to an overheat warning beep-beep-beeping in the background).  Ah well: they saved it; they rebuilt it; it's theirs to rebuild again and again as they like.

[Overmod]

BaltACD

Were the diesels used in the Budd RDC cars also used in OTR trucks of the era?

To my knowledge the 110s were not used in OTR trucks -- too large and heavy.  GM did try at least one in a truck -- and apparently found it severely top-heavy and underpowered for the weight.  You did find them in heavy equipment, though, and gensets.  Probably lots and lots of marine applications (they could be had 'native' in both rotations).  See here for more opinions on the subject.

Many trucks used the -53 series as well as the -71s, of course.  The 6-92TA was a reasonable alternative for even very large straight-frame trucks, and no one could really complain that 8-92TAs were insufficient propulsion for any version of SPV-2000, although 8V-71s (very common long-distance bus engines) have been reported to be inadequate replacements for the 6-110s in RDCs.

[M636C]

BaltACD

Were the diesels used in the Budd RDC cars also used in OTR trucks of the era?

 

 

I think they were....

The RDC used an angled 6/110 Detroit engine, I know that upright versions were built (and used in Australian railcar power units).

Only a 6/110 was built, basically an enlargement of the 6/71 built extensively for military use during WWII. Later V-6, V-8, V-12 and V-16 71 series were built and the 6/110 was discontinued. I imagine the 6/110 was used in trucks until the multi-cylinder 71 series range was introduced, and later the 92 series.

The 6/71 was good for 100hp as a generator and a little more for propulsion and the 6/110 was rated at 250 hp for propulsion.

Peter

 

[BaltACD]

Were the diesels used in the Budd RDC cars also used in OTR trucks of the era?

[Jones1945]

Just a few weeks ago, I told my railroading mentor that a poppet valve gear is too complicated for me to understand... Look at this thing!

[Miningman]

Detroit Diesel one of two on each RDC.