Molly Ayala
The replacement of steam locomotives with diesel-electric ones, a process known as dieselisation, began in the 1930s and is now almost complete worldwide. The first diesel locomotives appeared in the US in the 1920s, but their use was limited to switch engines. In 1940, the Electro Motive Division of General Motors demonstrated that diesel could replace steam locomotives in heavy-duty service. The change came first and most quickly in North America, where between 1935 and 1960, especially after 1951, railroads in the US completely replaced their steam locomotives. In the UK, the last steam locomotive for British Railways was built in 1960 and named Evening Star. Steam traction was withdrawn on British Railways in 1968 and replaced with diesel traction. In Germany, the process of phasing out steam-hauled trains began around 1960 and took about ten years. In Japan, steam locomotives were gradually withdrawn from mainline service in the early 1960s and replaced with diesel and electric locomotives.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Timeline of replacement | The replacement of steam locomotives with diesel-electric ones began in the 1930s and was substantially complete by the 1980s. |
| Countries/regions | The replacement timeline varied by country/region. For example, in the US, the transition occurred between 1935 and 1960, especially from 1951 to 1960. In the UK, steam traction was withdrawn on British Railways in 1968, and in Northern Ireland in 1970. In West Germany, the transition began around 1960 and took about ten years. In the USSR, the last steam locomotive was built in 1956, and in Japan, steam locomotives were gradually withdrawn from the mainline service in the early 1960s. |
| Reasons for replacement | Diesel-electric locomotives offered improved flexibility, efficiency, acceleration, cleanliness, and standardised repair parts compared to steam locomotives. They also had lower operating and support costs and higher availability between maintenance stops. Additionally, diesel fueling requirements were simpler to manage than the complex fueling and watering needs of steam engines. |
| Drawbacks | Diesel-electric locomotives have limited output due to their reliance on diesel engines, resulting in lower horsepower per locomotive unit compared to electric locomotives. |
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What You'll Learn
The first diesel locomotives
The first diesel-powered locomotive was operated in the summer of 1912 by the Prussian State Railways. The locomotive weighed 95 tonnes, had a power output of 883 kW (1,184 hp), and a maximum speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). However, it was not a commercial success and the outbreak of World War I in 1914 prevented further trials.
In 1914, the world's first functional diesel-electric railcars were produced for the Königlich-Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen (Royal Saxon State Railways) by Waggonfabrik Rastatt, with electric equipment from Brown, Boveri & Cie, and diesel engines from Swiss Sulzer AG.
Fiat claims to have built the first Italian diesel-electric locomotive in 1922, but little detail is available. In the Soviet Union, two diesel-electric locomotives were taken into service in 1924: the engine Ээл2 (Eel2 original number Юэ 001/Yu-e 001), and the engine Щэл1 (Shch-el 1, original number Юэ2/Yu-e 2).
In the United States, a small number of diesel locomotives of 600 hp (450 kW) were in service by 1925. The first diesel-electric powered vehicle to run on American railroad tracks was the GM-50, developed by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in partnership with Ingersoll-Rand and General Electric.
In the 1930s, the Electro-Motive Corporation (later known as General Motor's Electro-Motive Division) refined the diesel-electric locomotive design, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) began running these engines on North American railroads. By 1935, B&O was powering its smaller passenger trains with diesel-electric locomotives.
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The benefits of diesel
The process of dieselisation, or the replacement of steam locomotives with diesel ones, began in the 1930s and is now almost complete worldwide. This shift occurred for several reasons, with many benefits offered by diesel engines over steam.
Firstly, diesel engines offered greater flexibility and efficiency. Although diesel locomotives had a higher initial price per unit-horsepower, their operating and support costs were much lower. Diesel engines also had much higher availability between inspection, repair, and maintenance stops. The fuel requirements of diesel engines were also simpler to manage, as they could be fulfilled by tank cars on sidings, unlike the more complex fuelling and watering infrastructure required for steam engines.
Diesel engines were also more powerful than steam engines. A diesel engine can continue to develop its full power at any speed, whereas a steam engine's power is limited by its fixed drawbar pull, which is a function of boiler pressure, piston diameter, and the ratio of stroke to driver diameter. This means that a diesel engine can maintain its speed even when facing resistance, such as on a steep grade, whereas a steam engine would slow down significantly.
Additionally, diesel engines are made of mass-produced, standardised components, making repairs and maintenance much simpler and quicker. In contrast, steam engines are handcrafted, making it difficult to replace parts without creating a mould and recasting a replacement.
Finally, diesel engines are more environmentally friendly than steam engines. Steam engines have a thermal efficiency of only 6-7%, with over 90% of the heat energy produced being wasted. They also require a lot of coal to be transported, and their drainage and emissions are difficult to manage. As a result, steam engines are not a sustainable option in the long term.
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$34.98
The drawbacks of steam
The replacement of steam locomotives with diesel-electric ones began in the 1930s and is now almost complete worldwide. This process, known as dieselisation, was driven by the desire to increase flexibility and efficiency, as well as the availability of cheap oil.
Steam locomotives had several drawbacks, which made them less favourable compared to diesel-electric trains. Here are some of the limitations of steam-powered trains:
High Maintenance Requirements
Steam engines required complex and frequent maintenance due to their intricate design and reliance on water and coal. The boilers needed to be regularly serviced, and the water used had to be carefully treated to avoid corrosion and scale buildup, which was a costly and time-consuming process. In the arid regions of South Australia, for example, the high mineral content of the bore water used in locomotive boilers caused serious maintenance issues, reducing their lifespan significantly.
Limited Range
About half of a steam train's load was water for the engine, limiting the range of these locomotives. This issue was particularly problematic in arid regions, as mentioned above, and required frequent stops for refuelling and water replenishment.
Low Power-to-Weight Ratio
Steam locomotives, especially towards the end of their era, had reached their limit in terms of power within the restrictive British loading gauge. There was no scope to increase the size of boilers or cylinders, which constrained the power output and hauling capacity of these trains.
Low Efficiency
Steam engines were also less efficient than their diesel counterparts. They required a significant amount of coal to generate the necessary steam, and much of the energy produced was lost as heat. This inefficiency led to higher operational costs and a larger environmental footprint.
Long Warm-Up Period
Steam locomotives took a considerable amount of time to build up enough steam pressure to start operating, which made them less suitable for certain applications where quick starts were required.
Infrastructure Requirements
Steam locomotives needed specialised infrastructure, such as coaling and watering stations, which added to the overall complexity and cost of their operation. Diesel-electric locomotives, on the other hand, could be fuelled by tank cars on sidings, simplifying the fuelling process.
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The transition process
The transition from steam locomotives to diesel-electric trains was a gradual process that occurred over several decades, with the first diesel locomotives appearing in the 1920s and the replacement of steam locomotives largely completed by the 1980s.
In the 1920s and 1930s, experiments with diesel-engine locomotives and railcars were conducted, and the first successful diesel switch engine was introduced in 1925. The first mainline diesel-electric locomotive was built in the USSR in 1924. In 1933, Germany saw the introduction of the Fliegende Hamburger, a two-car, streamlined, diesel-electric train that travelled between Berlin and Hamburg at high speeds. By 1939, most of Germany's principal cities were interconnected by similar trains. The Great Western Railway in Britain introduced diesel railcars in the 1930s, and the first British mainline diesel locomotive was built in 1947. In the US, diesel locomotives first appeared in the 1920s, but their use was limited to switch engines and passenger train locomotives until the 1940s, when the Electro Motive Division of General Motors demonstrated that diesels could replace steam locomotives in heavy-duty service.
During the 1950s, the transition to diesel-electric trains accelerated, and by the end of the decade, the steam era was coming to an end. In the US, railroads completely replaced their steam locomotives between 1935 and 1960, with the change occurring most rapidly between 1951 and 1960. In the European part of the USSR, almost all steam locomotives were replaced by diesel and electric locomotives in the 1960s, while in West Germany, the Bundesbahn began phasing out steam-hauled trains in the early 1960s, with the process taking about ten years. In Japan, steam locomotives were gradually withdrawn from mainline service in the early 1960s and replaced with diesel and electric locomotives. The last steam locomotive for British Railways was built in 1960, and steam traction was withdrawn in 1968, with diesel traction replacing it on most lines.
In the 1970s, the transition continued, with the last steam locomotive in the Netherlands used at the Julia coal mine in 1975, and the last steam operation on the London Underground in 1971. In the 1980s, steam locomotives were largely replaced, and the last scheduled steam operation was in 1995. However, some countries, like China, continued to produce and use steam locomotives until the late 1990s and early 2000s. Even today, steam locomotives are still in limited use and production, primarily in service with coal mines.
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Diesel-electric vs diesel-hydraulic
The replacement of steam locomotives with diesel-electric ones began in the 1930s and is now almost complete worldwide. Diesel-electric trains are now the most common type of diesel locomotive.
However, some countries, including Germany, Finland, Japan, and Britain (for a time), opted for diesel-hydraulic locomotives. This was because, for the same power output, diesel-hydraulic trains could be built to be noticeably lighter than their diesel-electric counterparts. This is because the hydraulic transmissions in diesel-hydraulic trains are much lighter than the combination of generators and multiple electric traction motors required for diesel-electric trains.
Another advantage of diesel-hydraulic locomotives is increased adhesion/traction per unit of weight. Before the introduction of modern traction control systems, diesel-hydraulic trains had a 15-33% increase in the factor of adhesion compared to diesel-electric trains. This is because, in a diesel-electric locomotive, if one wheel loses grip and slips, the axle can spin faster independently of the others, resulting in a significant loss of overall traction. However, in a diesel-hydraulic locomotive, all the axles on each bogie are linked together, so no single axle can spin faster on its own, improving traction.
Diesel-electric trains have their own advantages, however. In terms of maintenance, electric machines do not require fuel, oil, or filter changes, and maintenance is only required every 2000 operating hours, compared to every 250-500 operating hours for a diesel machine. Electric trains also do not suffer from overheating or freezing motors, as they are not water-cooled, unlike diesel machines. Diesel machines also vibrate quite a bit and generate more heat than electric trains, which can damage the hydraulics and cause them to wear out quickly.
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Frequently asked questions
The replacement of steam trains with diesel-electric trains began in the 1930s.
The first successful diesel switch engine went into service in 1925, and the first "road" locomotives were delivered to the Canadian National and New York Central railroads in 1928. However, the replacement of steam trains started in North America, specifically in the United States, during the period between 1935 and 1960.
Diesel-electric trains offered greater flexibility, efficiency, and speed. They had smoother acceleration, were cleaner, had standardized repair parts, and were more cost-effective to operate and maintain.
Steam trains were largely replaced in the 1980s. The last scheduled steam operation was on December 6, 1995, and the last steam operation on narrow/meter gauge ended in 1999. However, steam locomotives remain in limited use and production as of 2022, primarily in coal mine service.
