How EVERY TYPE Of Diesel Locomotive Works! (Part 1)

In this video, we discuss how a diesel-electric locomotive gets power from the engine to the wheels. We also discuss a very special feature diesel-electric locomotives have, that is only possible because of how the wheels are powered.
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[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Merch, anyone? okieprint.com/SPR/shop/home

[@sonnypruitt6639]

So why wouldn't this diesel-electric configuration work with automobiles?

[@ismaelangula6705]

​@@sonnypruitt6639yyhjjjyhuj

[@clozmo2171]

​@@sonnypruitt6639 what? 😂

[@kens.3729]

There is Plenty to Learn in School growing up but you can Learn a Lot more on this Channel. Your Topics aren’t covered on other Railfan Channels. Thanks! 👍🙏

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

You’re very welcome! I’m glad you find this channel unique.

[@BarredCoast0]

Finally! Plain english explanation on how dynamic brakes work. Now I understand after all these years. Thanks!

[@SD40-2]

We will miss KCS 🫡

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Agreed!

[@Goldenfredbear000]

@@RailsOfIllinoisWTH

[@NipkowDisk]

LOL @ 2:01, Turboencabulator is listed there!!

[@deanmeyer1815]

When I worked for NREC in the Silvis, Illinois shop, 99% of he locos had EMD engines. We also had engines out of barges and ships. The smallest I saw was 6 cylinders, while the largest I saw was 20 cylinders, in displacements from, I believe 575, 645, and 710 cubic inches per cylinder. Most were 645 cubes and 16 cylinders.

[@jamesedwards9857]

I love that you used a picture of a Utah Railway Alco. My grandpa used to be a mechanic for them.

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

That's pretty cool!

[@Hexen525]

As someone who fixes locomotives for a living, this video is very simplistic, stripped down. But it's not wrong either. 👍

[@thomaseischeid6326]

I've been a train person my whole life and I appreciate these videos. Also take a look at video on Animagraffs on how a diesel-electric locomotive works.

[@josephjoestar9225]

Fantastic video, I went in with very basic knowledge and came out with a much better understanding of DEs, very cool

[@buzzbolt4387]

Mate, i LOVED this video. If I ever left school again, I'd be a Freight Train Engineer. Dunno quite how that would work coz I live in leafy Oxfordshire, England.

[@wagrtrains]

0:39 thats the CFLA VL class great to see an australian locomotive here

[@BlackRainbowMonkeys]

Excellent video and content really appreciated learning more about diesel trains. I know I love the way they sound! Cheers buddy

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed!

[@Prof.Silky.]

Great video! Nice to see you put in a VL class engine. Love those weird looking diesels.

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Thank you!

[@BNSF8500yt]

Cool! I love learning from you!

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Thank you so much!

[@rogerletsom2127]

Thanks for a really great presentation on how diesel electric locomotives work!

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

You’re welcome!

[@williamflowersrailfannerpr3808]

I love watching your videos enjoy CP and KCS while you can

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Thank you! Yes, I'm happy to say that I was with CP and KCS until the very end.

[@J3scribe]

SD45s had 20 cylinder engines, not 10. I'm guessing that was an "oops" on your part, only counting one bank of cylinders. Otherwise, good video.

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Yes that was an oops. I meant to say V20. Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed.

[@ryandavis7593]

@@Southern_Plains_Railfan As an EMD composite mechanic I heard this and had to rewind to be sure I didn’t hear that wrong. The EMD 710 V20 is in fact the largest of its kind. The EMD 645E3 V20 is the largest by cylinders in a locomotive. Not counting the twin engine British Deltecs. We are moving ahead on technical videos at the railroad I work for. Soon videos will be up at TNW Corporation and I am looking forward to these. Greetings from the high plains of Texas. P.S. The field in the traction motor must be excited, powered, for the dynamic brakes to work. Control of the amount of dynamic braking is done through the amount of excitation to the motor field windings. The armature windings then generate power to go to the dynamic brake resistors. These are NOT permanent magnet motors. Dynamic braking on EMD dc power is as follows. Reverser in a direction. Throttle at zero notch. Dynamic brake handle to braking. Dynamic brake contactors pick up. After time delay times out braking can occur. The contactors disconnect the fields from traction motors and connect the commentators to the resistor grids. The prime mover goes into notch six. The dynamic brake handle is moved for desired braking. Excitation is sent to main generator to power the field windings. Power is generated and sent to the grids where it is dissipated as heat. I would love to help with your work in giving you more technical information. Please find me on IG. RD.

[@inothome]

Came to say the same thing.... Here's one in a stationary application. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nne5e2yCnc2gZqs

[@beboboymann3823]

Awesome video!

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Thank you!

[@Sans-fl4pe]

I would have thought that most diesel-electrics have two ish generators so that the circuit between the motors and the rest of the train can remain isolated?

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Well, they do, but not in the way you might think. In modern locomotives, the giant alt/gen has two sets of windings; one to power the traction motors, and one to power all the other systems. The alt/gen’s winding are woven in such a way that there’s two alt/gen’s in one, being excited by only a single armature. I would have put this in the video, but I didn’t know about it until recently.

[@StormySkyRailProductions]

Nice video our friend! (Dave).

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Thanks!

[@christopheretzwiler5635]

Love this 🙏👍👍👍👍👍

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Thank you!

[@baylinkdashyt]

It is, of course, not the *fans* themselves which slow the loco in dynamic breaking mode; it is the resistive load banks which they *cool* which dissipate the current generated by those braking traction motors, which have to dissipate as many megawatts as the generators have to put in to accelerate the train. A small point in an otherwise fine lesson.

[@jacobmaurin7549]

This is very useful. I'm going to share this with my girlfriend. I'm trying to help her understand how trains work.

[@yelyab1]

Why doesn’t the dynamic braking get used for charging surplus batteries. Trains sometimes struggle on grades, a booster battery would help with short bursts of extra volts X amps = power. I’m a mechanical engineer so this maybe off by a few decimal places. I like the fact that the locomotives still use piston engine technology. 0:40 The reason is efficiency. Thermal dynamic efficiency is Temperature of in coming air / Temperature of exhaust gases. Most piston engines run 30% to 60%. 60% is rare but it’s possible. Gas turbines are usually less than 10%. Turbines advantage are high up to weight ratios. The exhaust on the experimental Chrysler gas turbine car could burn your pant legs if you walked behind the car and it would start fires when driven through fields of dry grass. If weight and space (package) are not restrictive the system that the locomotives use and one of the newer Honda hybrids is probably the most practical and reasonable way to propel over the road vehicles until it can be shown that a full no fossil fuel system, including generation and distribution, is invented that gives the range and $/mile is invented this mad rush to Tesla’s isn’t warranted. Owners shouldn’t feel comfortable that they are doing any favors to the environment. Not yet. Not for quite a while our infrastructure catches up to demand. All public domain systems are always one day from disaster, i doubt that the electrical grid can meet the new demands in the time frame regulators advertise, but that’s just me. Remember our bridge systems about 7 or 8 years ago when a relatively small bridge in Minnesota collapsed and killed a few people? The whole bridge system of permitting, safety inspections and reporting were reviewed and changed. I don’t remember how many millions were allocated to bridge upgrades. It was a lot. Every little town with a river or creek and a bridge got a new bridge. The old ones were only 90 years old.

[@kens.3729]

Diesel Electric is the Most Efficient Motor used for Transportation purposes. Just think how many Tractor Trailer trucks are taken off Roads with a Stack Train.🤔👍

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

For sure!

[@russcudney1469]

Have yet to see a gas station or grocery store with a rail siding, so trucks will be around for a while. Both modes work together for that very reason. OTR trucks are for short to mid length haul because it takes too long by rail(truck to rail yard at origin, on rail, to hump yard, truck to destination).

[@severinbaumann7086]

Cool video trilogy of the Diesel's. :) But when you starting the train Diesel-electric you are blowing electricity through the standing electricmotors. And if the Wight of the whole train is to much, you are burning the Rotors and Stator of the Electric motor.

[@jdillon8360]

Great video. Very well explained. Is it not possible to capture the electricity generated by the traction motors and store it in a battery? I imagine it is in new models, but not in these older types of trains.

[@iandennis7836]

Exactly what I was thinking......

[@monsterworks2947]

Me too. The batteries then can be used as backup power.

[@mertvaran5733]

@@monsterworks2947or just power the traction motors when needed to discarge them making them ready for regen braking again with the batteries but I imagine cost and weight is a big issue since EV batteries already are very heavy and expensive and scaling that up for a freight train might be difficult.

[@ntekniklaus3710]

or... have a third rail or something and put it on the grid. not the most feasible thing, but apparently i'm not the only one thats ever thought this same thing

[@ntekniklaus3710]

@made-in-the80s i see the uses in storing energy when they have to head back up a grade. but really, why not stick some of it on the grid? if that engineers word was right an AC44 can put out 151KW max output, which should be at least multiple houses... right?

[@Oklahomarailroadproductions]

Farewell KCS 🫡

[@matthewkendrick8280]

This is exactly what I need to see when I need to go to sleep

[@420sakura1]

The channel name should tell you that.

[@matthewkendrick8280]

@@420sakura1 I don’t understand

[@me262omlett]

„Diesel locomotives, they power the world“ is as true of a statement than „The US rail network is the best in the world“💀

[@philipnasadowski1060]

Plus, no mention of AC inverter diesel locomotives. Fun fact - the vast majority of passengers on US railroads are on fully electric trains…

[@royreynolds108]

Each powered truck or bogie is designated A for 1, B for 2, C for 3, and D for 4 powered axles; therefore your A1+1A has 2 trucks with one powered axle and one idler axle + one idler axle and one powered axle. The A1A + A1A is a 3-axle truck with 2 powered axles and the middle axle is an idler. Most diesel electrics are either B+B or C+C as the only D+Ds of the UP are no longer in service. I am including this comment as your description seemed confusing to me. It is more complicated, but there is an additional step that you did not cover, which is transition. Transition is having all of the traction motors in series changing to series-parallel to all parallel when starting. It may be the other way of parallel to series-parallel to all series when starting as I have forgotten. When the traction motors are all connected together they have the most torque but when changed (transition) to the other way, they have the most power. When starting you want the most torque then change to more power which is electrically changing gears. Transition occurs automatically in modern locomotives instead of having to close the throttle, change the circuit then reapply power with the throttle. Air is always being blown in and around traction motors to help cool them and help keep trash out of them.

[@severinbaumann7086]

But when you starting the train Diesel-electric you are blowing electricity through the standing electricmotors. And if the Wight of the whole train is to much. You are burning the Rotors and Stator of the Electric motor. Compared to the other kinds of Drivetrains coming up in the following video (Part 2 and 3) This setup is limited starting traction. What do you guys think? :)

[@tonyvanbergen4346]

The main generator is attached to the rear or flywheel end of the engine, not the front.

[@valdecibessa5362]

How much energy those generators produce?

[@danielfu8091]

Ah yes, the elusive Turboencabulator :)

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

lol

[@graphtonix6607]

What about Amtrak's famous EMD F40PH/F40PHR locomotives????

[@PowerTrain611]

My man didn't dare touch upon the old pre-dash 2 series DC motors and their selector lever and electrical "transitions", that stuff gets complicated!

[@observingrogue7652]

I love Series-Hybrids. They are the best of both worlds. The instant torque & stealth of Electric, but the convenient, faster then charging batteries refueling of an engine, with fuel stations more common than plugil-in spots. The engine can also be kept at it's most powerful or most efficient RPM, and there's no wasteful, jerky transmission, or clutch or CVT to burn up. But I didn't know Diesel-Electric trains used resisters instead if Regenerative-Braking to charge traction batteries/ultra-capacitors. That's so wasteful. Yeah, your not wearing out traditional brakes, but you're still just throwing all that momentum energy away, converting it to heat. Just like how an old steam train had a space behind the engine loaded up with coal. There's no Diesel-Electric train with a huge battery car behind the the drive car? I remember hearing somewhere, that if tires on road, had the same rolling resistance as train wheel on rail, then an engine that could fit in your pocket, would be enough to move a car. So seeing how big a train engine is, really puts into perspective how much weight they move on rail. That, and the fact that it can take miles for them to stop.

[@russellgxy2905]

I thought SD45's had V20 engines, or were you referring to the number of banks, since technically a 20-cylinder V-line engine actually has 10 "V's"

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Yes, I meant to say V20. That's my bad.

[@Nybravest911]

Sounds a lot like regenerative braking without the regeneration.

[@jcoats1203]

SD 45 has massive V10? Are you thinking 10 cylinders on each bank? V20!!!

[@CheeseMiser]

As a farmer I've always wanted to try and make a tractor that uses a locomotive motor

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Lol, good luck! Those engines weigh like 30 thousand lbs. I tell you what though, you could pull as many grain carts or as big a plow as you want with a tractor like that! You’d also dominate pulling competitions!

[@CheeseMiser]

@@Southern_Plains_Railfan yes

[@HaHa-tb8bz]

Baby TeSla kingDom 😍💚 love 😍

[@homebuiltcamperdave5226]

What I love is fuel/electric works so awesome for train industry, and awesome also for submarines. But somehow they only automotive solution that seems to be allowed and accepted by our politicians pure electric and all the limitations of evs? Why are hybrids not being pushed more as an outstanding alternative to pure gasoline?

[@RobertWrightjr-nh9eq]

emd sd 45 ia a 645 v 20

[@keeganplayz1875]

The turbochargers on these things are almost bigger than a freaking person! I still can't believe that..

[@RobertB56]

I think today's Locomotives have alternator's not generator's for powering the traction motors

[@flyingcoconut007]

Alternate title: Man with strong American accent explains diesel locomotives

[@YourLocalRailfan]

Gas go electric go train go Nyoom

[@thebops4180]

I'm assuming locomotive engineers have to fully understand how the locomotive works?

[@Assimilator1]

Pity they can't use that generated energy to, say, charge batteries. Are their no modern ones that do?

[@antonylawrence7266]

It’s a shame the dynamic braking energy can’t be reused, seems a hell of a waste.

[@davidchapman1519]

Every diesel locomotive.. except the Krauss Maffei and Alco hydraulics

[@WeeedyMcMeth]

So all diesel trains are really electric, interesting 🤔

[@infernoking7504]

The world would be possible it would just be powered by oil powered steam trains

[@thomasnutt2488]

Are you a mechanic

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Almost. I’m still going to school to be a diesel mechanic.

[@zapfanzapfan]

Wasting all that sweet, sweet braking energy to heat... should charge batteries with that power like a plug-in-hybrid car.

[@johnr5252]

You lost me with the brakes.