A gas turbine locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a gas turbine. Several types of gas turbine locomotive have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels (drivers). A gas turbine train typically consists of two power cars (one at each end of the train), and one or more intermediate passenger cars.
A gas turbine offers some advantages over a piston engine. There are few moving parts, decreasing the need for lubrication and potentially reducing maintenance costs, and the power-to-weight ratio is much higher. A turbine of a given power output is also physically smaller than an equally powerful piston engine, so that a locomotive can be extremely powerful without needing to be inordinately large.
However, a gas turbine's power output and efficiency both drop dramatically with rotational speed, unlike a piston engine, which has a comparatively flat power curve. This makes gas turbine–electric systems useful primarily for long-distance high-speed runs. Additional problems with gas turbine–electric locomotives include the fact that they are very noisy[1][2] and produce such extremely hot exhaust gasses that, if the locomotive were parked under an overpass paved with asphalt, it could melt the asphalt.[3]
- ^ Clint Chamberlin. "Gas Turbine Engines". North East Rails. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
- ^ "Gas Turbine Locomotives, GTELs". American-Rails.com. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
- ^ Schneider, David (16 August 2012). "Rails and Gas Turbines". We Are The Practitioners. Archived from the original on 19 November 2013.