Sawtooth500 I know that typically diesels do not use antifreeze - just pure water. So you come to a loco, and it's 10 degrees outside and all the water is frozen. What do you do to get that puppy going?
I know that typically diesels do not use antifreeze - just pure water. So you come to a loco, and it's 10 degrees outside and all the water is frozen. What do you do to get that puppy going?
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
You don't. This is what happens when units die en-route and the crew doesnt drain them in time:
Mechanical Department "No no that's fine shove that 20 pound set all around the yard... those shoes aren't hell and a half to change..."
The Missabe Road: Safety First
All the other posts tell how a RR keeps the unit from freezing, but to answer your question? When you come to a unit that has all the water frozen, you need to drag it to a shop where they can replace the air compressor (the first thing to freeze), the fuel preheater ( the second thing to freeze), and inspect the engine for additional damage. Even all the freeze protection in the world doesn't keep away the damage from freezing. Remember, this a tired old piece of machinery and I don't care if it is only 6 months old, it will freeze if the anti-freeze devices don't work or weren't maintained properly. The only way to keep the engine from freezing is to keep it warm by running the engine or use an auxiliary heat source. Most units now have an ESS, engine start stop function, that will start the engine when it is cold, air pressure for the brakes is low, or the batteries need charged, that will keep the engine from freezing.
32 years at EMD
On CSX, if engines are not equipped with the 'Hot Start' feature using a small diesel that can be started and stopped by automatic temperature controls and thereby keep the cooling system heated in cold weather, the engines are to be kept running if the expected low temperature until the next use of the engine is below 40 degrees. If the engine cannot be kept running, then it must have the cooling system drained. It will then be handled DIT (Dead in Tow) to the nearest locomotive service facility for recharging of the cooling system, repairs for the reasons it could not be left running and getting the prime mover restarted.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
New engines can be equipped with a self start mechanism. It monitors coolant temperatures, battery charge, and air pressure. Should any of those measurements indicate a move toward a dangerous condition, the engine will start and run until the safe state is reattained. This is UP 1995 (the C&NW heritage engine):
You only have a few options with locomotives in cold weather.You can leave them running all the time when you expect freezing temperatures(which the majority of railroads will do),you can install a small motor in the rear of the locomotive that will keep the water and oil hot when the main engine is shut down,or you can drain all the water out of the block and refill it when you are going to start the locomotive again.
Most locomotives will automatically dump the water from the block once it gets to freezing.If it was to freeze in the engine you would be in serious trouble.Frozen water in a motor will expand and crack the block and ruin it.If you were going to park a locomotive in freezing weather you better leave it running or drain the water.Many of the locomotives now days are putting anti freeze in the water system.They used to only use water as a coolant not because it was cheap but because if it leaked it would not destroy the engine.Water leaking inside the block into the oil has a good chance it will evaporate due to the hot oil.With anti freeze it can take the heat or the oil much longer and can get into the main bearings and throw a bearing and ruin a engine.
Most locomotives are shut off now days when they are not in use.The railroads figured anti freeze in the system is probably more cost efficient then draining hundreds of locomotives and filling the blocks back up on a daily basis when they are in freezing weather.Due to the high fuel costs many railroads are shunning away from leaving the motor running all the time and looking for cheaper ways to keep the blocks from freezing.
As far as starting a frozen engine I would have to say lots of luck!Diesel fuel turns into almost a gel when you start getting into extremely cold temps.We used to spray 4 cans of starting fluid into the air box when trying to start locomotives on cold days.Even then you probably had a 1 in 10 chance it would start.
Most railroads will probably not have this issue as either the water would be drained from the engine, or the engine would be kept running in weather like that. Most railroads have rules that dictate when you would do one or both of those things. Now I also admit that I am not a RR employee, but in my research into the rules that CSX (the railroad that runs through my town, also the RR that I model) has rules that determine what is to be done in situations like that.
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