Indian locomotive class WCP-3

Specifications
Specifications
Configuration:;
• UIC	2′Co2′
Gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Electric system/s	1500 V DC
Transmission	Hohlwellen drive [de]

Type and origin
Type and origin
Builder	R&W Hawthorn, Leslie & Co.; General Electric Company (GEC);
Build date	1928
Total produced	1

GIPR EB/1
IR WCP-3
GIPR EB/1; IR WCP-3
Builder
Type and origin
Builder	R&W Hawthorn, Leslie & Co.; General Electric Company (GEC);
Build date	1928
Total produced	1
Configuration:;
Specifications
Configuration:;
• UIC	2′Co2′
Gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Electric system/s	1500 V DC
Transmission	Hohlwellen drive [de]
Maximum speed
Performance figures
Maximum speed	75 mph (120 km/h)
Power output:;
• 1 hour	2,250 PS (1,655 kW; 2,219 hp)
• Continuous	2,130 PS (1,567 kW; 2,101 hp)
Tractive effort:;
• Starting	24,055 lbf (107 kN)
Operators
Career
Operators	Great Indian Peninsula Railway; Indian Railways;
Numbers	GIPR: 4001; IR: 20000;

The Indian locomotive class WCP-3 was a single-member class of 1.5 kV DC electric locomotive that was developed in late 1920s by Hawthorn Leslie for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), Direct Current (C), Passenger traffic (P) engine, 3rd generation (3). The locomotive was built at England between 1928 and 1929, and entering service in 1930.

The solitary WCP-3 served passenger trains for around 30 years, before being withdrawn in early 1960s, and was presumably scrapped.

History

The electrification of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIPR) began in 1922. Powerful locomotives were required to transport the express trains on the mountain railway to overcome the Western Ghats. They also had to be able to reach speeds of 85 miles an hour (137 km / h)^[2] - a very high speed at that time, which was not even the case with the E 501 and 502 of the Paris-Orleans Railway had been requested.^[3] Three test locomotives were therefore ordered from different manufacturers in order to be able to select a suitable design for the series. The tender and evaluation was monitored by the UK electrical engineering firm Merz & McLellan in London.

GIPR ordered the following test locomotives in 1923.

Specification

The locomotive has three individually driven axles and two two-axle bogies. The axes were driven by a hollow shaft drive from GEC. Technically, it should have some similarities with No. 13 of the North Eastern Railway (NER), otherwise little is known about this locomotive.

References

^ ^a ^b "Diesel and Electric Locomotive Specifications". IRFCA. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
^ Jakob Buchli (1927), "Universal-Antrieb "Winterthur" für elektrische Lokomotiven", Schweizerische Bauzeitung (in German), vol. Band 90, no. 23, pp. 294–296, doi:10.5169/seals-41817
^ Mitteilung der SLM (1927), "Neuerungen im mechanischen Aufbau elektrischer Schnellzuglokomotiven", Schweizerische Bauzeitung (in German), vol. Band 89, no. 13, pp. 174–175, doi:10.5169/seals-41673

Books

2,600 H.P. 0-6-6-0 Electric Freight Locomotive, Great Indian Peninsula Railway (PDF). Vulcan Foundry.

External links

[IRFCA-1] "Diesel and Electric Locomotive Specifications". IRFCA. Retrieved May 8, 2016.

[2] Jakob Buchli (1927), "Universal-Antrieb "Winterthur" für elektrische Lokomotiven", Schweizerische Bauzeitung (in German), vol. Band 90, no. 23, pp. 294–296, doi:10.5169/seals-41817

[:0-3] Mitteilung der SLM (1927), "Neuerungen im mechanischen Aufbau elektrischer Schnellzuglokomotiven", Schweizerische Bauzeitung (in German), vol. Band 89, no. 13, pp. 174–175, doi:10.5169/seals-41673

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