Napier Deltic's

[mapitts]

I have looked and found a lot of info about them and even found videos on Youtube of them. I know that it is a 2 stroke design. If any of you from across the pond want to know, they sound almost identicle to GM 2 stroke Detroits. The question I have is how are the cylinders scavenged? Is it through 1 or more Roots type blower or is it Turbocharged?

[johnmckenzie]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/theblackwatch/index.htm

The Deltic Preservation Society are very helpful with this sort of information! Best to ask them

[johnmckenzie]

"Opposed Piston, Liquid Cooled, Scavenge Blown compression ignition engine" - Deltic Preservation Society.

The animation shows how these wonderful, ridiculous, 36 cylinder 72 piston locomotives worked

[micaelcorleone]

"Opposed Piston, Liquid Cooled, Scavenge Blown compression ignition engine" - Deltic Preservation Society.

The animation shows how these wonderful, ridiculous, 36 cylinder 72 piston locomotives worked

Why do they construct something like this?

[johnmckenzie]

It was in response to General Motors' diesel loco progress, Micael - We wanted to sell an ultra-high horsepower lightweight diesel locomotive (3300bhp, 105mph, 99 tons) in 1955, principally to the Americans. Externally, they (and the prototype in particular) were styled in a similar way to GM models. However, when US railroads discovered how complex they had to be to develop this power, they weren't interested!!

Only 1 prototype (currently my avatar) and 22 production machines were ever built. Many still exist in preservation.

[arizonachris]

John, that is fantastic information! I am gathering from your posts you have been "in the field" for a while. Fantastic!

[johnmckenzie]

All my life, Chris! I don't consider myself an expert by any any stretch of the imagination but I do know a thing or two!

However, Deltics were the supreme locos of the East Coast Main Line when I was a kid.



That's me in the photo. 02/01/1982 - the day they were all taken out of service. Haymarket depot, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Taken from the Deltic Preservation Society website
http://www.thedps.co.uk/gallery/15brservice/15br6

[Kali]

The engines were also used in marine installations, like practically all British diesels that was the primary application. A flotilla of fast attack craft powered by a couple each must have been just a bit on the noisy side ...

[johnmckenzie]

I found this wonderful rare video clip of the prototype Deltic towards the end of her career and immediately thought of this thread.

Hope you enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9JLTFVg ... re=related

[styckx]

And one put back in service in May.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMjqJABuN78&sns=em

[arizonachris]

And one put back in service in May.

Now that's cool! Handsome girl she is! Looks huge, too.

[johnmckenzie]

Looks can be deceptive, Chris - by British terms she's a big loco - the prototype is slightly shorter and slightly wider than the production machines which measure at 69'6" length, 8'9.5" width and 12'10" height. Compared to North American locos she's quite small.

When our engineers over here started building the first railways in the 1830s they never foresaw a time when trains would need to be bigger, consequently most tunnels and bridges were built with restrictive clearances. What a difference a couple of years makes - European railways were by and large built to more generous clearances and US railroads to much more generous clearances. However, the cost of widening all of our infrastructure would be so prohibitive that we're stuck with the little trains!

[mapitts]

I guess the Deltic was the British answer to the Fairbanks - Morse H 24 66. They were built from 1953 - 56. They never really caught on and were huge compared to American locomotives of the time. 12 cylinder opposed piston. They used them in marine service particularly in submarines. I always thought they were a locomotive way ahead of their time. They were 2400 BHP, but their tractive effort was very impressive. Around 123,000 lbs @ 5 MPH. You could get them with either Westinghouse or General Electric electrical gear. The only other model you could MU it with was a Baldwin if you chose Westinghouse. With GE gear you could MU it to Alco or EMD locomotives. A lot of the railroads were scared of a locomotive that big.

[arizonachris]

I guess, "every thing's bigger in Texas" is true. We have the DDA40X with 6,600 HP. It's a beast, and one of my favorite diesels. Still, for some reason, I like this Deltic. Now if someone will only model it.

[Kali]

The production version has been in RW/RS since the Newcastle-York route arrived. You can't really modify it to make the prototype, unfortunately. I'm not sure I agree with whoever said they sound like GM 2-strokes ( we have plenty of those here too ), they sound more like a phenomenally loud box of hammers than anything :P pretty high-revving things.

The engines did make it to the US eventually; the CIA bought some norwegian fast patrol boats for use in Vietnam, powered by a pair of Deltic engines. The HSTs which replaced them were originally powered by engines that were also installed in all sorts of British warships, so it's not really unusual.