Rail TesT

IndIa

No 533

This hybrid diesel

electric locomotive uses
technology we will see
on cars of the future.

WDG4 diesel-electric

Theres no steering or accelerator but for a lethal combination of brute

strength and technical sophistication, nothing comes close.
MODEl TESTED

GM GT 46

l Price Rs 11.5 crore l On sale Now l 0-60kph 30.53sec

l Top speed 120kph l Fuel efficiency (overall) 0.25kpl
FOR massive pulling power l corners on rails AGAINST poor visibility l No air-conditioning

DESIGN & ENGINEERING

HHHHHHHHII

PHOTOGRAPHY ASHLEY BAXTER

The GT 46 is simply massive.

Seventy feet long, 14 feet tall and

10 feet wide, no road-going vehicle

can compare for size. And its weight
is even more extreme. How much?
Try getting your head around
126,000kg; roughly the weight of
100 family cars, but for volume no
more the size of twenty. Imagine
your family car weighing in at a
suspension-squishing five tonnes
and youll get some idea of how
densely this beast is packed.
But without the weight the
locomotive would have no traction,
with its steel wheels running on
the steel rails. And without traction
theres no way you are pulling
anything forward.
But why does a train run steel
wheels in the first place? Its all got
to do with reducing rolling friction.
The rubber tyres your car sits on
may seem like they are inflated
solid, but they still flex and bend as
they roll forward, adding to rolling
friction. Some 25-30 percent of
the fuel you burn in your car is
wasted while pushing against this
resistance. A train wastes almost
nothing in comparison, making it
the most efficient way to transport
people or goods.
This GM locos primary function
is to pull heavy goods and passenger
trains, some as heavy as 5,500
tonnes. So each of its six wheel
sets, or 12 individual wheels,

Four exhaust valves per cylinder on the twostroke diesel, with cam-driven fuel injectors.

168 AUTOCAR INDIA SEpTEmBER 2009

V16 engine has massive cylinders, each displacing

more than 11 litres. Note ports for easy service.

Radar helps prevent wheelspin and maintains

a two percent wheel slip for added traction.
www.autocarindia.com

6000-litre diesel tank is compartmentalised

for added safety. Top-ups only in the loco yard.

www.autocarindia.com

Six-foot-tall alternator turns mechanical energy

to electric energy and replaces gearbox.*

* pART picTuRES of ALco Loco

rains are an integral

part of life in India. As
common as trees, shrubs,
the neighborhood busstop and the dosa joint
around the corner, they
are part and parcel of our countrys
furniture. And the statistics are
mind-boggling. Approximately
63,000 kilometres of track, 6.2
billion passengers and 730 million
tonnes of freight transported every
year. The Indian Railways is the
largest employer of manpower
in the world and it even has its
own Railway Budget! But you
know what happens to things we
get too familiar with. We tend to
ignore them. Well, thats all about
to change, as Autocar India takes
an in-depth look at the General
Motors WDG4 (Wide Diesel Goods
4000bhp) diesel locomotive thats
made by the Diesel Locomotive
Works (DLW), Varanasi. What
makes it tick, how it manages to
pull those massive loads, what its
like to drive (yes, even that) and
whether theres enough space for
your mums luggage.

Massive one-tonne turbo-supercharger works

as a supercharger at low speed, then as a turbo*.
SEpTEmBER 2009 AUTOCAR INDIA 169

Without the right pressure in the system,

theres just no way you can drive the loco.

White-on-black dials make it easy to read the speed. We checked

real speed versus the speedo, but there was hardly any error.

Tractive effort is the key to

the performance of the loco.

Simple layout to the dash makes it

easy to drive for hours at a stretch.

Safe on the move.

Handbrake to be
used in
emergencies only.
Magna
O variant
Innocuous lever
couldfront
be nudged
by mistake.
gets dual
airbags.

170 AUTOCAR INDIA SEpTEmBER 2009

45

Safe on the move.

Front seat headrests are
Auto-down function for the
Knife switch
on left selects direction,
allows
you some
Magna
O variant
non-adjustable. Brake lever on the right
drivers
window.
throttle notch control.
feel, but you have very little direct control.
getslarge
duallever
frontisairbags.

www.autocarindia.com

ENGINE & GEARBOX

(TRANSMISSION)
HHHHHHHHHI
If youre wondering why the word
transmission has been placed in
brackets, its for a very good reason.
This locomotive has no traditional
gearbox with toothed gears. This
may seem strange when there is
quite obviously so much torque
multiplication to be done.
So why is there no gearbox?
The engine is simply too big. A
gearbox made to transmit 4,000
horsepower would be almost as big
as the engine itself. And then there
would be the not-so-small matter of
transferring all that power through
to the six wheel sets, with individual
driveshafts and transfer cases. It
would also be extremely inefficient,
www.autocarindia.com

with a whole lot of the original

power being simply wasted.
To overcome these shortcomings,
the locomotive actually functions
like a hybrid car, with the big 16cylinder diesel engine having no
direct connection to the wheels. The
spinning crank is mated to a giantsized rotor in a huge six-foot-tall
generator and the heavy current
thus produced is then transferred to
individual traction motors, one for
each axle. Because electric motors
produce massive torque even from
start-up, you dont need a gearbox.
Managing all this high voltage
and ampere current is the job of
the locomotives microprocessorbased control system. Known as
the EM2000, it liases with the two
traction computers and helps them
deliver the power in the smoothest,
most effective way. It also matches
the speed of the diesel engine with
the demand for electric current and
can carry out a series of self-tests.
So just how big is the engine?
Think massive and then multiply
that by a factor of ten. 10,000cc is
ridiculously small, 50,000 isnt even
close and even 150,000 is still some
way off! With 16 massive cylinders,
EACH displacing 11 and something
litres, the engine displaces a
humongous 186,160cc; enough to
swim in. The holes for the piston
are large enough to put your head
through (we did), and the sump of
the engine holds 950 litres of engine
oil. The size is essential because it has
to run at almost full power all day,
day after day, for decades. This is also
the reason why the engine runs at
speeds your car engine idles at. Try
running your car at full power all the
time; it wont last a month.
Peeking under the hood,
something we like to do with all
cars, is easier than you would
expect. With an engine of this size
you dont so much open the bonnet
and peer in; you stroll down the
walkway on the side of the engine,
open a couple of cupboard-like
doors and look sideways at the head.
The huge 45deg, two-stroke V16
is finished in light grey metal and
is squeaky clean. It has regular
service ports at almost all levels
and the cam covers can be easily
opened like the top of a grand piano.
Camshafts the size of your leg, four
massive valves per cylinder and a
fuel injection system that functions
like VWs unit injector are instantly
evident. Each direct injection unit
has its own pump and the injectors
are also very easy to access.

IndIa

RAIl TEST

No 533

Inside out

Notching up the throttle gives you a real buzz, especially from this high perch.

Upturned engine block, crankshaft and camshaft; size really matters here.*

EM2000 computer controls the loco; cylinder head bigger than human head*.

Traction motors sit between the wheels*; computers and sand help traction.
SEpTEmBER 2009 AUTOCAR INDIA 171

* pART picTuRES of ALco Loco

drive the locomotive (passenger

locomotives, which dont need as
much start-up traction, drive only
four wheel sets.) Each set of six
wheels is called a bogie (not to be
confused with a wagon) and each
loco has two. But these massive 21tonne bogies arent rigidly fixed to
the frame of the loco. Some degree
of passive steering is allowed to help
negotiate tight corners.
Above the bogies sits the main
frame or chassis of the locomotive.
This holds the heavy diesel engine
and all the electric and electronic
components needed to transfer
power to the rails. Closest to the
drivers cab sits the control cabinet,
where all the various computers,
governors and controls systems
are housed. This is the nerve centre
of the locomotive and modern
electronics play a big role in making
these very complex beasts easy to
live with and drive. Ahead of this
are the traction control cabinets,
with a pair of massive fans and
heat exchangers placed on top. In
front of that is the main generator/
alternator that has a six-foot
diameter, the main diesel engine, air
compressor and a radiator the size
of a small hut.
Between the bogies is placed the
locomotives fuel supply, a 6,000litre diesel tank as well as a radar
that helps the traction computers
gauge the state of grip. All modern
locomotives also use sand, sprinkled
between the wheels and rails,
to improve traction in difficult
conditions or wet weather, and
this loco has eight automated sand
boxes that sprinkle sand as soon as
some slip is detected.

India

IN THE CAB(IN)
HHHHHHIIII
For a vehicle thats as long as this,
cabin space is pathetic. As the
locomotive can be driven either
way, its also extremely cabinforward or not depending on
your direction of travel. Like in
an aircraft, there are two sets of
controls but they face in different
directions. Its easier to drive this
apartment block-sized machine
through the pair of windscreens, so
we make sure we are going in the
right direction. There is no steering
wheel, no pedals or seatbelts but the
seat adjusts for height, and there is a
handbrake (of course no handbrake
turns but can you imagine!). All
control is done via a set of levers,
theres one for the throttle and two
for the brakes (for the locomotive

www.autocarindia.com

and the rest of the train). Ahead of

the driver is an array of dials that
provide all sort of information on
the loco speed, dynamic power
being applied to the wheels and the
pressure in the braking system.
Behind on the wall are a bank of
toggle switches, the control panel
for the central computer and a
programmable screen that allows
you to keep an eye on functions you
pre-select. Wipers for both front and
rear windscreens and, of course, a
set of air horns loud enough to work
as a cattle prod on a ruminating
bovines backside, even at the
distance of almost a kilometre. Its
seriously loud up close, enough
to make your heart sound like an
Enfield Bullet. The other safety
device built into the loco prevents
it from becoming a runaway train.
The locos computer takes over
control in a phased manner unless

Rail Test

No 533

It feels as unstoppable as a
force of nature once you get
upto speed and experience its
Himalayan momentum.
the driver uses one function or
another every 60 seconds. First an
alarm is sounded, then the throttle
is brought to an idle and the loco
will finally apply the brakes as well.

ON THE RAILS
HHHHHHHHII
Theres actually no risk of nodding
off here. Sitting at the controls of
something so massive and powerful
for the first time is like a doubleshot of espresso and then some.
But you dont just turn a key, start

up the locomotive; the process is a

complex set of checks and smaller
individual start-ups where pumps
are primed, electric components
switched on and everything is
readied to churn out huge power.
Eventually, the massive diesel
stumbles into life, the heavy and
slow low-frequency thumps from
the 16 large cylinders very smooth
and effortless. This diesel is a far cry
from the older Alco locomotive we
had been driving the previous day
and there is not even a hint of diesel
clatter, or rattling. Its hushed

september 2009 AUTOCAR INDIA 173

India

silent and simply amazing.

We spend a couple of minutes
understanding the EM 2000s
information screen and toggling
through its menu system in the cabin.
Suddenly the motor slows down even
further to just 200rpm and becomes
almost Rolls-Royce-smooth. You
get an impression of the perfectly
machined huge pistons pumping up

and down in their massive oil baths.

The secret of the GM engines
success is the fact that this is a twostroke motor. It produces twice the
number of thumps for any given
engine speed, which simply means
it can make much more power. But
arent two strokes inefficient? Not
turbo-diesels, as this one is 11 percent
more efficient than the four-stroke

Rail Test

motor of the older Alco loco. Unlike a

petrol two-stroke, where fuel and air
are allowed into the inlet ports, just
as exhaust is escaping the other end,
there is only compressed air from the
turbo blown into the diesel two-stroke
motor. The air pushes the spent
exhaust gases out, and some clean
air is even wasted before the exhaust
valves are closed. Diesel is only

No 533

injected into the head much later,

closer to when the compression is at
a maximum, making the diesel twostroke far more elegant mechanically.
Finally were ready to go and so
with a toot of the horn and strained
breath, the throttle is advanced to
notch one. Nothing much happens
for the first second or so, but then
slowly we notice the scenery

Whatll it do FIGURING THE Rajdhani

Autocar V-Box has timed all sorts; visibility from long hood is very limited; speedometer approaches 90kph during test; V-Box records data earlier in the run.

We knew the answer, but we

just had to ask. Can we do an
acceleration test? seemed like a
dangerously stupid question. But
we blurted it out anyway, and they
said yes. An older-tech Alco loco was
about to be transported from the
shed to the platform, where it would
be hitched to the Rajdhani and,
signals willing, we could do our test
in between. As simple as that.
So we jumped on and prayed that
the 35-odd kilometre stretch was
full of green lights. We hooked up
our V-Box timing gear and waited,
as the loco left the low- speed tracks
for the main line. We must be quick
across this piece of track, so that we
dont delay other trains, so there is
no problem, said the gentleman
driving the engine, and we agreed.
Still it was surreal when it
happened. Okay this is a good
three-and- something kilometre
stretch. Come to a full stop, V-Box
triggered; now GO GO GO!
The locomotive starts slow in
notch one, but soon its bellowing
blue murder, like a T-rex gone mad.
Notch up faster, we yell as the
loco picks up speed, horn rammed
down hard repeatedly. What did
we do? We record 0-90kph time for
the Rajdhanis loco. Still dont
believe it!
www.autocarindia.com

The same loco we tested pulling the Rajdhani Express later in the day. It rocketed past us at an estimated 110kph.

Simulator at Sabarmati shed gives you the feel of driving a real train; all sorts of scenarios possible to train drivers.
september 2009 AUTOCAR INDIA 175

WDG4 Diesel Electric Locomotive

India

Rail Test

No 533

Makarand Potdar

4160mm

WDG4
autocar verdict
HHHHHHHHHI

9/10

Brute force meets technical wizardry.

21240mm

Performance

Specifications

transmission

Type All-wheel drive (12 wheels)

Gearbox Electric motor transmission
Final drive 90:17
Alternator max voltage 2600 Volts DC

Construction

Weight
Wheels
Tyres
Wheel life
Axle load

Body on frame chassis,

supported by twin bogies
1,26,000kg
Solid steel
NA
6,00,000km approx.
21,000kg per axle

suspension

Front and rear Non-independent coil

springs, axle-hung,

tapered roller bearing

176 AUTOCAR INDIA september 2009

A large number of safety

devices work in series.

acceleration *
KPH

TIME (sec)

0-10

6.52

0-20

11.54

ENGINES
186.0 Diesel(WDG 4) 4132bhp Rs 11.5 crore
186.0 Diesel(WDP 4) 4132bhp Rs 11.5 crore

0-30

17.54

equipment check list

NA

range at a glance

CD player/MP3
Steering
steering
Type
Passive steer, yaw
Air-con


compensation system
ABS
Foglamps
Traction control system
brakes
Front & Rear
Air brakes, direct contact Seat height adjust

of brake shoe on wheel Reading lamps
Anti-lock
Radar-based
Trip computer

Handbrake
Liquid capacities
Air horns
Oil sump capacity
950 litres
Seatbelts
Fuel tank
6000 litres
NA=Not Available, D=Driver, O=optional

GM loco is a massive 21 metres long thats almost as long as two Volvo buses.

While the loco is simple to drive, getting

it primed to go is a very complex process.

WHAT IT COSTS
On-rail price
Rs 11.5 crore
Warranty

NA
NA
NA
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
NA

moving towards us as the loco

gathers speed.
Full speed on this locomotive is
notch eight, but you need to advance
smoothly through each notch. The
lever is advanced to notch two and
the loco gathers even more speed
with a slight lurch. The generator
is told to produce high current and
low voltage at low speeds and this
gradually changes to low current
and high voltage as speeds
build. Think of current as torque
and voltage as power and youll
understand it better.
We can now feel the weight of the
loco crushing down on the rails and
the steel wheels screech in protest as
we change tracks. The view from the
cab is a bit like peering out of your
first-floor apartment window, and
even though we dont get anywhere

0-40

23.18

0-50

28.67

0-60

30.53

0-70

45.27

0-80

52.91

0-90

68.61

1/4 mile

45.82

Theres no doubt
that a loco is
slow to accelerate but as one
IR official told
us, Were not in
the racing business. And with
very little startstop, overall
speed is much
more important.

* Acceleration figures for Alco loco

Fuel
Diesel
Installation
Mid, longitudinal
Type
16 cyls in-vee, 1,86,160cc,

Unit-injector, direct

injection, two-stroke,

turbo-super-charged
Bore/stroke
230.19/279.4mm
Compression
ratio
16.1:1
Valve gear
4 exhaust valves per cyl,

inlet ports
Power
4132hp at 904rpm
Power to weight 31.74bhp per tonne
Specific output 22.21bhp per litre
Weight of turbocharger 953kg
Max tractive effort 53,000kg

chassis & body

ENGINE

Braking
80-0kph 4
 00-500 m (estimated with
full train load)

economy
Test

City
NA
Railway 0.25kpl

near the top speed, you can feel the

sheer effortlessness of this 4000bhp
locomotive rolling forward. Does the
loco strain to pull a full train forward,
we ask. Only if it is a fully loaded
freight, and even then the strain
isnt too much. Passenger trains
feel as light as a feather. Amazing.
And even though you dont have
as much control over this massive
machine and you cant steer it, the
overwhelming feeling of power
you get taking it down the track
is a real buzz. Pulling a passenger
train from one city to another at
average speeds of 100kph must
be simply awesome. As with the
throttle, you only deploy the brakes.
There is a semi-detached feel to the
whole experience of stopping the
locomotive but this lever feels more
direct as compressed air rushes in
www.autocarindia.com

Road Test Read all our road tests at www.autocarindia.com

AUTOCAR INDIA tests results are protected by world copyright and may not be reproduced without the editors
written permission. Power and torque-to-weight figures are calculated using manufacturers claimed kerb weight.

to make the brake shoes bite. You

can also use dynamic or engine
braking, where the alternator
works in reverse to help slow down
the train, the power generated
being dispersed from the top of the
locomotive in the form of heat.
While stopping a light loco is
easy, getting approximately 4,000
tonnes to stop in a hurry with steel
wheels on steel rails takes more
than a bit. This can take almost half
a kilometre from say 100kph, and
thats without factoring a wet track
or a slope. The GM loco brakes much
more efficiently compared to the
older Alco locos and this allows the
Indian Railways to use a softer (only
comparatively) horn as well!
The WDG4 has been configured
to pull goods and passenger trains,
so its top speed is around 120kph,
www.autocarindia.com

and it will do that pulling a train

all day. But passenger locos in the
future will go much faster, up to
160kph, especially along the Golden
Quadrilateral (actually a railway
term that has been used for decades)
where the Indian Railways plan to
upgrade the tracks.

FUEL ECONOMY
HHHHHHHHHH
Rail travel is amazingly efficient
and this GM locomotive is slated
to be 11 percent better than the
Alco loco. Over a long haul, with no
traffic, efficient rails and very little
start-stop, this loco uses merely four
litres of diesel for every kilometre,
or 0.25kpl, even when pulling a fully
loaded train! Even a Nano cant
compete with that.

ublic transport is essential for a country of over 1.2 billion

people. Goods, people, cattle and machines all need to be
transported to the farthest ends of our country at the lowest
cost possible. Thats where this prime mover comes in.
Nothing can match the Varanasi-made GM GT 46 as far as cost per
kilo per kilometre and flexibility go. For the weight it pulls, the GM
loco uses very little fuel and because you can get diesel anywhere,
it can pull trains across the length and breadth of India without
depending on an electrified overhead
testers notes
line. It even makes electricity more
The turbo works as a crank-driven
efficiently than some power stations.
supercharger at low speeds.
That it also happens to be a totally hitech piece of heavy engineering comes It corners on rails and pulls like
a locomotive (couldnt resist
as a total shock. Here is a railway loco
saying this).
that uses technology we will see on cars
in the future. Its electronically controlled two-stroke diesel runs at
its most efficient engine speed and the transmission of force through
electric motors and steel wheels makes it super-efficient. In India we
tend to think of the Railways as low-tech load and people-haulers
that sit at the bottom of the technology pyramid. Most of us pay
trains no respect or attention. What a mistake, for clearly this is
no common rail diesel! AI

Test scorecard
COMFORT
HHHHHHIIII
No air-conditioning and a lack of
space make the cabin a squeeze.
PERFORMANCE
HHHHHHHIII
Incredible pulling power, but could
do with a bit more top-end power.
REFINEMENT
HHHHHHHHHI
The two-stroke diesel is incredibly
smooth, very un-diesel-like.
VALUE
HHHHHHHHII
It costs 11.5 crore, but its cheap if you
consider cost per kg or passengers.

SAFETY
HHHHHHHHII
Vigilance Control Device keeps
driver from nodding off, but no
seatbelts on offer.
RIDE
HHHHHHHHII
Low-speed ride is good, but you get
some rocking at higher speeds.
HANDLING
HHHHHHHHHI
Corners like its on rails; no really!
BUILD STRENGTH & QUALITY
HHHHHHHIII
Tough as a rhino, but fit and finish
quite crude.
september 2009 AUTOCAR INDIA 177