Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 11:50:37 -0400
From: "Alan Richer/CAM/Lotus" <Alan_Richer@Lotus.com>
Subject: Re: LRO: re: EMD locos **no rover content ***
>><put-a-submarine-engine-in-a-landy>-ly y'rs,
Ivan;-)
>Care to explain this? I assume waht you're getting at here is that some
Fairbanks-Morse Deisel locos used old WWII sub engines?
Fairbanks-Morse produced a horizontally-opposed marine diesel prior
to WWII that was subsequently used in a number of US submarines
during the war. The engine was unique in that it had two pistons per
cylinder: the pistons came together in the center of the cylinder and
produced the compression and heat necessary to ignite the fuel. I have
no idea what the con-rod/crankshaft arrangement was, but presumably the
idea behind this design was that it produced more power per pound of weight.
When Fairbanks-Morse entered the locomotive field after the war, they adapted
their horizontally-opposed marine engine design to the primer mover/generator
requirements of a diesel electric locomotive. The results were mildly successful,
but the engines needed sufficient maintenance and had enough problems that they
were eventually rendered uneconomical to operate. But all the F-M locomotives,
to my knowledge, used this design of engine. They were derived from the
marine design used in subs, but they were not actual surplus sub engines. They
were all built brand new for the railroad locomotives. The first locomotive F-M
produced was the H-10-44, a 1,000 hp yard switcher.
___________________________
C. Marin Faure
(original owner)
1973 Land Rover Series III-88
1991 Range Rover Vogue SE
Seattle
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