how much horsepower does a locomotive engine have?

Answer 1

If you are talking about the "prime mover", which is the diesel engine that produces the electricity for the traction motors, and encompassing any diesel-electric locomotives still operating today in the US, the answer is anywhere between 1500 and 6000
horsepower.

Many of todays locomotives are in fact AC, or alternating current, but the majority are still direct current, or DC. There are advantages to both, but, that is another question that needs to be asked.

The actual pulling power is in the "tractive effort" of the locomotive, where wheel meets rail. A good rule of thumb to determine a locomotive's tractive effort is 25% of the locomotives weight. An engine weighing 400,000 lbs., will produce "starting" tractive effort around 100,000 ft/lbs of "torque".

If one needs to know how much horsepower will be required to get a specified amount of tonnage up a grade, one would employ the "Rolling Train Resistance" formula, which is as follows: take the hoursepower per ton, multiply by 12, then divide by the percentage of the grade, and that will tell you the speed which that particular train will make going up the grade. Put another way: HPT x 12 / %G = Speed.

Of course todays diesel electric locomotives can be "MUed", meaning that they can be coupled together and operated from a single control. Need more ponies, add another unit. There are still the limitations of the freight car's draft gear to contend with, limiting the amount of power than cen be entrained on the head end. The safe limit for coupler and gear is 240,000 lbs per square inch, but higher for "special duty" cars, like some coal cars running in unit trains.

If the trailing tonnage is more than the locomotives on the head end can pull without ripping the train apart, helper engines, manned by a separate crew, or DPUs (Distributed Power Units), which are controlled via radio by the engineer on the head end, are placed in the train to reduce the forces to a level which the draft gear near the head end can handle.

To calculate the placement of the helper, determine the amount of tonnage the helper engine needs to handle, then place the power where it will push on 1/3 of its tonnage and pull 2/3 of its tonnage.

The super powerful prime movers mentioned above are a truly marvelous machine, but they are used in ships, not locomotives.

Simple, yes?

Answer 2

HOGHEAD has given the best answer on this subject and deserves to be chosen for best answer.

Though horsepower is of little meaning, because the real work is done through tractive effort and traction motors, diesel locomotive's engines have had vast ranges in horsepower.

Early ALCO/GE engines, such as the 6-cylinder 539 were 660 horse-power and used in switchers. A 539T (turbocharged 539) produced 1000hp and were used in road units. The V12 and later the V16 models of the ALCO 244 came along and cranked out 2000hp, and upgraded versions up to 2250hp (provided the shaft wasn't busted in the V16 model)... Later model 251's and up produced even more power.

EMD had many models, like the 567 or 645 for example, based around their design and had models for switchers that produced between 900 and 1500 hp. Early 567's produced up to 1750 horsepower in road units, with subsequent models up to today producing up to 6000 horsepower!

Among the more unique designs were the Fairbanks Morse opposed piston engines...from the old heads I gather they were a bear to work on whether you were in the shops or an engineer or fireman, being that the design and parts were different that the ALCO's or EMD's typically in the parts stock. Rather simple, but not efficient, FM's OP engines were quite powerful -- their road unit offering in a CPA24-5 had 400 more hp than ALCO's PA-1.

Addition: Despite what the answer below says, a GG1 was only 4620 horsepower...10,000 seemed a bit much, so I looked it up:
http://www.northeast.railfan.net/gg1rstr.html

Answer 3

The most powerfull engines in the world are the Channel Tunnel Shuttle locomotives, built from 1992 by Brush Traction in the UK with about 9300hp each.

The reason they are so powerful is because they haul 1/2 mile long car and truck trains up the steep inclines in the tunnel while maintaining speeds of 80-90mph so as not to slow down other services. Also while they always operate in pairs, they have to be able to haul a train out of the tunnel on a single engine in case of emergency/breakdown.

Answer 4

my father worked for General Motors Electoromotive Division (EMD), and built the engines.

The engines range from V6 up to V16 and range in hp from about 5 or 6,000 up to about 25,000. He told me about a prototype V12 they built with two massive turbos that put out over 45,000 hp.

But, these are diesel engines, and the torque numbers are much higher than the hp numbers.

Another fact many people don't know is that the diesel engine in a locomotive today does not turn the wheels. It turns large (5-6 ft tall) alternators that in turn power large electric motors that turn the wheels. This is why some people call them diesel electric locomotives. Each alternator is big enough to walk inside and weighs more than 5-10 cars.

I had a chance to see some of the engines once in a family day at his work, and if you are impressed with engines, you would be in awe if you saw one in person.

Answer 5

depends the size of the locomotive back in the day some engines were small so it only to be used on the property it was sitting on so it did not not have to have a lot of power then again some railroads had locomotives that had massive amounts of power like the pennsvania railroad it had a gg-1 electric source that could pull 10;ooo hp

Answer 6

Locomotives now days have anywhere from 3000 to 6000 horsepower and the traction motors are AC instead of DC if you want find out more just go here for GE Locomotives https://www.getransportation.com/general/rail_products.asp or here for GM locomotives go here www.gmemd.com

Answer 7

Depends on the locomotive, for instance a BR Class 08 Shunter + some of the DMU's (like carriages with engines & driver cabs at each end) have around 300bhp......... while some of the bigger mainline diesels range from about 1250hp - 7000+

Usually produced @ 2,000RPM or less.

Answer 8

It all depends on the locomotive model (make & type).

Back when diesels first came about, they ranged from about 1000hp to 1500hp. That is why you saw so many engines coupled together trying to pull trains on hills and other areas.

Nowadays, most mainline locomotives have 4000hp to 6000hp.
Yard Engines depending on make and model have 1500hp-6000hp. For some reason some railroads use their mainline engines for yard switching.

Answer 9

Which one? A mainline engine will easily have a few thousand.

Answer 10

depends on the manufacture.as well as the size of the engine... a good average would be....EMD 1500 to 6000.... GE 3000 to 6000...