I think I can I think I can (AKA Locomotive thread)

[Julien]

I live next to train tracks and hear them at all times of the night.. I guess some of you guys can tell what brand/generation of locomotive it is by the horn?

[LateFan]

My son and his GF lived right next to the switchyard / refueling station here until recently. Other than cars bumping together, there was constant idle hum, dust and diesel soot everywhere, and these constant loud PSSSST! noises. From the air system / brakes I assume.

In Seattle we lived on a hill just above the Interbay switch yard. All night it would be "chug chug chug chug chug BANG bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang......." down the whole train. Then they'd pull it and it would start again. Those little switch engines chugged around like R2D2 down there.

[LateFan]

You don't want to hear about the guy who put his hand over the intake to stop it...

Semi-serious question - could you throw big towels or blankets in the intake and smother it? Or do they get sucked into the turbo and make an even bigger mess? Or is it too dangerous to even get that close?

[Matt-B]

^^ that stuff is so cool. Does it have built-in hoist and bridge crane inside?

This happened in western Montana yesterday, out in the sticks. BNSF locomotives on Montana Rail Link tracks. Paper says they were lucky it didn't catch the forest on fire.

[ATTACH]110082[/ATTACH]

"Heavy smoke and then flames were showing and were easily visible from Interstate 90 when firefighters arrived. Two crew members separated the locomotives from the rest of the train, Holtz said, "but with the diesel electric it was a little tricky making sure everything was shut down.”

It was roughly 40 minutes before the diesel pumps could be turned off and the fire dissipated enough to get water on it. After that it was extinguished within 10 minutes."

I see its a Sante Fe loci, when the company was bought by bnsf, i heard none of their stuff was properly maintained. Bnsf is stil in progress of re painting and rebuilding, but trains move 24 7 so...

[djjerme]

Semi-serious question - could you throw big towels or blankets in the intake and smother it? Or do they get sucked into the turbo and make an even bigger mess? Or is it too dangerous to even get that close?

It would suck it in. Even diesel trucks will suck a hole in a wood clipboard when they run away. (don't ask how I know..)

[LateFan]

Sucks!





Like when your bahler assplodes!

[LateFan]

Is this what you guys are talking about? Just keeps going.

[jeffnhiscars]

Semi-serious question - could you throw big towels or blankets in the intake and smother it? Or do they get sucked into the turbo and make an even bigger mess? Or is it too dangerous to even get that close?

Never thought of it but next time I'm near a runaway diesel I'll grab the bong and comforter and let you know how it goes :p

I don't think it's hard to calculate the intake air velocity. I'm thinking Stargate for a bigger engine

Anyone ?

[Exodus_2pt0]

Yup, bulletproof engine with a blown turbo providing fresh oil to the intake, and a 300 gallon oil capacity equals a fun time.

[jeffnhiscars]

I recall that, at least on small marine diesels, there's a steel plate that will close off the intake. Not sure if that works on 10,000hp

[Exodus_2pt0]

You'd think they would build something into the air room, but nope. There's some photos in here of the air filter setup and the turbo inlet.

Ours are 3600, I think your typical freight engine is around 4-4500iirc. Still though, even on our little guys there's 16 cylinders, each with the displacement of your typical small block V8.

If I'm ever working on an engine that runs away, I'm bailing. Simple as that, I'll call the fire department and wait a few hundred yards away.

When guys tell you stories of pistons launching out of the block, through the wall of the locomotive, and landing some distance away.... well, Yea fuck that. It's bad enough having to walk directly next to the things during a load test at 900RPM and 26psi of boost. Talk about listening for any abnormal sounds. Luckily ear plugs cancel out the white noise and allow you to hear the things that matter.

[LateFan]

If you're assuming the engine is toast anyway, could you throw a switch that cuts off oil pressure? (then run)

[Exodus_2pt0]

There is an electric pump that feeds oil to the turbo, auto runs for 20 minutes after shutdown.

I'm not positive if it is fed also by the mechanical oil pump or not. Although the turbo also had a gear driven setup with a centrifugal clutch for low rpm operation. I imagine if the seals go it will have no problem siphoning from the lines or sucking in oil splashing around in the crankcase.

Also, the turbo lube breaker has a cover to keep it from accidentally being shut off.

I'm going with running. One of my bosses jumped from a locomotive once because he said it sounded like the turbo was going to come through the bulkhead.

[Nesset]

I recall that, at least on small marine diesels, there's a steel plate that will close off the intake. Not sure if that works on 10,000hp

I've seen something like that on some of the older Caterpillar 6 cylinder motors on a few crab boats, they use em for hydraulic pumps and electricity..

However all the mains I've seen on crab boats don't have them for some reason. The boat I'm on has a massive V12 with two turbochargers. The air filters are literally mounted to the compressor housing on the turbo. When they are spooled up you can feel the suction even a few feet away from the filters. My god it sounds great though.

[Exodus_2pt0]

^ c27?