N&W's Gas Turbine Electric Locomotive

[NW Mailing List]

Gordon,

Your railroad roots grow deep with having C. P. "Charlie" Blair as an uncle.

When interviewing Pond, I ask about the gas turbine being mentioned in his
remarks at a Better Service Conference or something in 1956. He indicated
that that was just to keep some interest up or something to that effect. He
also said the diesel took away any need for the coal-fired gas turbine at
that point.

Bud

-----Original Message-----
From: NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org> On Behalf Of NW
Mailing List
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 12:11 PM
To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Subject: Re: N&W's Gas Turbine Electric Locomotive

Bud,

I recall that a fellow named Yellott was the lead engineer working with the
Bituminous Coal Research outfit to test the concept of a direct-coal-fired
gas turbine for locomotive applications, and I also recall my uncle, C. P.
Blair (who was probably N&W VP Coal Traffic at that time) telling me that he
thought Yellott was a better public relations promoter than engineer.

Gordon Hamilton

On 6/17/2020 10:14 AM, NW Mailing List wrote:
> Norfolk and Western did not operate a coal-fired gas turbine, electric 
> drive locomotive but it proposed one. I cover this in my Giant book. 
> N&W did this in cooperation with five other railroads, three coal 
> companies and the Bituminous Coal Research. The idea was to use 
> pulverized coal and then blow it through a nozzle under high air 
> pressure to create talcum powder sized particles. This powdered coal 
> is then blown into a combustion chamber to create the gases to run the
turbine.
>
> The potential was a very compact engine, high thermal efficiency 
> (about 3X a Y-6), eliminated water as medium and a need for a boiler, 
> with few moving parts. All started at about the end of World War II 
> and in 1946, N&W announced it was proceeding to build two locomotive 
> plants with generators from two manufacturers, Allis Chalmers and 
> General Electric. The big problem was the fly ash eroding the turbine 
> blades. Even though it was announced in
> 1956 that a locomotive would be built in about two years, it never
happened.
>
> Dieselization was the answer that won out and the fly ash problem was 
> never solved.
>
> Bud Jeffries
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org> On Behalf Of 
> NW Mailing List
> Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2020 4:42 PM
> To: 05NWHS Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> Subject: N&W's Gas Turbine Electric Locomotive
>
> Trains Magazine lists the N&W as one of the operators of gas turbine 
> electric locomotives:
>
> https://trn.trains.com/railroads/locomotives/2020/03/locomotive-profil
> e-gas-
> electric-turbine-locomotives
>
> I must have blinked my eyes at that time in history because I never 
> knew this.
>
> Gordon Hamilton
>
>
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