SP 1912 Locomotive Firing Technology - Down Where the Oil Burners Run

The locomotive diagrams come from one of Rolly's books:

Firing Locomotives; JW Harding; 1912-1928; International Textbook Company, Scranton, Pennsylvania.

... ICS/ITC was a huge correspondence course operation. They provided educational materials for many fields. Today, their extensive coverage of railway subjects provides a valuable insight into many old technologies. 

Sheet music title page. from: archive.org scanned by Newberry Library.

... The section on oil burning steam locomotives dates from 1912, and the particular technology used by the Southern Pacific Railroad is often cited. The SP and the ATSF were the pioneers in oil burning. This came about because most of the developed deposits of coal were found in the east or midwestern US. For fueling locomotives, the cost of transporting coal halfway across the continent could not compete with California's  abundance of cheap, heavy crude. 

The discovery of oil in the US southwest began circa 1890-1900 and heavy oil could be had for under a dollar per barrel. In the Firing Locomotives text, it explains that the lighter oils are richer in hydrogen content, while the really viscous oils are heavier in carbon content. Their respective heat outputs are fairly close, with the heavy stuff yielding slightly more heat. If you're a railroad buying in bulk, the heavy oil was the fuel of choice. 

from: Geology of Petroleum; William Harvey Emmons; 1921; McGraw-Hill.

Unused, undated postcard.

from: Google circa 2026
Summerland, California.

Unused, undated postcard.
It has nothing to do with California, but I thought you might enjoy it. 
I suspect this long-lens shot was actually taken from the Oklahoma Capitol Building - not an aircraft.
Today, all of the oil producing structures are gone and a large tree obscures this view of the governor's mansion.

In addition to avoiding the transportation cost of coal, there was another advantage to oil. Fuel oil can be convinced to flow in pipes. Everywhere coal went, something had to physically take hold of it and lift it or move it where it was wanted ... from mine, to breaker, to hopper car ... [half way across the continent] ... to coal dock, to tender, to fireman's shovel or mechanical stoker. And then the ashes had to be handled.

... But, as we'll see, lighting heavy bunker oil on fire would not be as easy as lighting a propane barbeque. 

*  *  *

But, be careful what you buy and store on railway property!

You'll remember that the untested Bakken crude oil involved in the Lac-Megantic Disaster (6 July 2013) was more volatile than its Safety Data Sheet classification had suggested. Its initial boiling point (an indicator of the presence of dissolved gases like methane, propane etc) was probably closer to 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees C). Its correct classification was probably UN 1267, PG1, 'High Danger'. 

A century earlier, this book is raising a similar caution about petroleum sold to the company as 'fuel oil'.

*  *  *

Looking at Southern Pacific Railroad equipment circa 1910 ...

The Tender

With the warning above about volatile components in the oil, they definitely did not want to be running a propane barbeque. The design of the tender supported the type of fuel being used. 

A important feature of this tender plays a critical role in a future post. That is, the oil feed valve. The oil can be shut off at the tender by using that bell-crank arrangement. The seat of the intake valve is built up slightly so the oil is not drawn from the lowest level in the tank. See 'drain valve', below.

Another key feature of the valve assembly's design it that it is spring-loaded to ensure it closes.

Some tender designs have the oil reservoir above the tank holding water. Given the viscous nature of this fuel oil, having a greater hydraulic 'head' helped the oil to flow more freely. 

... Failing that, steam is piped directly to the location near the oil feed valve. No effort is made to heat the whole volume of oil held in the tender. The 'tank heater pipes' end in simple T-connections which send the steam into a total of four different directions. 

The drain valve removes fluid at the lowest level of the tender oil tank. One important function of the drain valve is to prevent water contamination in the oil from entering the burner at the firebox. As some steam from the tank heater pipes may condense and lie under the oil above, this is another source of contamination the drain valve is designed to remove. 

*  *  *

from: The Central Pacific & the Southern Pacific Railroads: Lucius Beebe; 1963; Howell-North.

Built by Alco in 1909, the 3066 will take the Pacific Limited from San Francisco to Roseville, California.

Photographed at Oakland in 1915.

*  *  *

Under the Firebox

Here is what we find under a Southern Pacific firebox. The front of the engine is off the diagram to the left, the tender is just beyond the right margin. We're just going to follow the oil from the tender to the single burner at the front of the firebox. The dotted lines represent the locomotive frame.

To oil feed pipe on tank (bottom right)... is where we get our fuel oil from the tender. 

The oil enters the superheater.

It comes out at the oil burner.

Usually, 'superheater' refers to a device designed to give the steam for propulsion more energy. To make things confusing for us, they use the same term for a completely different device. At this superheater the oil enters a pipe which is jacketed with steam because the oil needs to be very hot when it enters the firebox. 

Near where it says 'oil burner' is where the fireman's controls terminate for the fuel to the burner ... and to control the 'damper' which admits more air at this location.

For extra credit on the test: The blowback valve allows the fireman to use steam to blast out blockages in the oil line in either direction. They don't show it here, but there is a drain on the front of the superheater to get rid of the water condensing from the steam inside the steam jacket.

Do you see where it says Atomizer Pipe to Oil Burner? 'Atomizer' and 'burner' are synonymous. The Atomizer Pipe carries steam. It is the high pressure of this steam which turns our hot oil into very small droplets, increasing the surface area to the point where it is thoroughly combustible in a very hot flame.

*  *  *

The Firebox

If you've looked at many coal-burning fireboxes, this arrangement looks strange. Firebrick is used sparingly, there is no brick arch, there are no grates. 

On Figure (b) you see the front of the firebox in cross-section, where you find the burner 'a' and the draft tubes 'c'.

On Figure (a) you can see both dampers: 'g' allowing air into the draft tubes, and the firedoor damper 'j'. 

The flashwall 'd' and the deflector 'k' are seen at the firedoor 'h'.

The burner 'a' on Figure (a) is located about 6 feet in front of the flashwall. 

About 5 feet in front of the burner is where the horizontal draft from the burner ... meets the downward draft from the firedoor.

*  *  *

The Von Boden-Ingalls Burner (aka, the 'atomizer')

(Southern Pacific's standard burner circa 1912 and into the late 1940s)

The burner is installed using either one of the oil connections at 'a' and the other is plugged.

The steam is connected at 'b'. 

The hot oil 'drools' down onto the corrugated lip at 'd'.

Driven by the steam, and the characteristics of the lip, the fine mist of oil roars into a broad, flat flame which spreads across the whole firebox.

The SP used only a single burner of this type on even its largest engines, and only experimented with other types of burners in the late 1940s near the end of steam.

I double-checked and the text gives no function for the plugs 'c' ... so we can make up our own reasons for having them, I guess.

*  *  *

The Oil Regulator

The Figure (a) shows the side view and Figure (b) shows the top view.

The fireman would move the handle along the quadrant between the stop pin 'f' - regulator closed ... and stop pin 'g' - regulator wide open. 

Using the latching arrangement standard to things like throttles and reversers (ignore Figure (c) if you want) very fine adjustments can be made to the oil feed. The book says 10 notches to the inch - but I haven't counted them all. 

The regulating stop bolt 'c' is set and tightened in the desired point in the quadrant ...

The regulating stop pin 'd' is designed so its spring-loaded lower edge will push into the slotted head of the regulating stop bolt and stay there.

... this is why ... text from the book ...

"When in use, the regulating stop is locked on the quadrant in such a position that it will hold the regulating lever open just far enough to give a 'drifting fire'; that is, a fire that is as strong as can be carried while drifting or standing without the pops blowing."

... In an internal combustion engine, you would consider this to be the 'idle' setting. 

*  *  *

Firing an Oil Burner

As you can imagine, there are many things to consider when starting a fire, when operating, always avoiding smoke, etc. The text goes on for many pages on all the things to consider. The paragraph below gives a brief sample of the complexity of operating an oil burner.

As you remember, the regulator controls the oil, the atomizer implies controlling the force of the steam to the burner, and there are also the dampers which have a similarly important role in managing the fire. 

from: The Train; Jonathan Glancey; 2004; Carlton.

You will recognize one of the first cab-ahead ('cab-in-front', etc) locomotives of the Southern Pacific. The SP needed this kind of power over the mountains between Roseville, California and Sparks, Nevada. However, the regularly-configured engines of this size (or doubleheaders) asphyxiated crews in the many tunnels and showsheds. Forward visibility was often blocked by smoke. So they put the cab on the leading end, and the smokestack at the back.

Built by Baldwin and delivered in 1910, the 4004 started out as a compound. You can see the high pressure cylinders are fed from the steam dome. Then the steam goes to the low pressure cylinders near the smokestack.  

However, this engine/class was overhauled as a simple-expansion locomotive in the late 1920s. This reduced maintenance costs, increased tractive effort, and enabled higher speeds beyond the usual 25 mph. 

end

CPR Glen Yard in Archived Journals 1906-1967

Inspired by Jim Christie's researching skills over the years, and his generosity in sharing what he found, I decided to see what I could find in the archive.org journals on CPR's Glen Yard. 

*  *  *

Between 1935 and the early 1950s, LC Gagnon's family home was half a mile from the CPR's Westmount station and Glen Yard. Although many extended-family photos survive from that era, there are relatively few showing Glen Yard. 

... In the 1930s there probably wasn't a lot of spare money for train 'hobby' photography. 

... Between 1939 and 1945 - World War 2 - there were prohibitions on photographing trains, essential services or anything of military value. This also included railway facilities such as bridges, stations and yards. 

*  *  *

While the yard would have been less exciting after the end of steam in 1960, we can imagine how much activity went on there during the time my father lived nearby as steam locomotives were reaching their highest level of development.

Most CPR long distance passenger trains used the Windsor (Street) Station. In the first 1.5 miles of their journeys, they climbed the length of a boxcar of that era (about 40 feet) and then made a station stop at Westmount. 

... While this is certainly not a continental divide 'Big Hill' gradient, this trip segment began from a dead stop at Windsor. 

With some pride, engineers would accelerate smartly from the World's Greatest Transportation System's headquarters. The passenger equipment of those days was 'overbuilt by 200%' - as an acquaintance once described it. This sturdiness was mainly the result of government regulations which were reactive to decades of horrific passenger train tragedies in North America.

So the weight of the train and the need to maintain momentum up the hill (just imagine traction problems on wet rail or in snow!) created quite a show as these prestigious trains began their trips.

There were also well-patronized commuter services which ran all the way out to, and beyond ... the west end of Montreal Island. Originally these reached as far west as Pointe Fortune, Quebec. 

Finally, international trains from Windsor Station ran through Westmount. 

The 'Central Station' trains shown below were Pool Trains - government-mandated 'code sharing' and equipment sharing between the CN and CP to help the railways avoid pointless competition and financial losses in their operation of regulated passenger services. CN steam power found its way into Glen Yard because of this arrangement.

*  *  *

Visible from Westmount station was all the activity of Glen Yard. Here the rolling stock was switched and serviced, the motive power was maintained, and intercity trains were often looped around the perimeter of the yard to keep their consists in the desired order. 

... First came the baggage, express and mail cars at the headend ... then the day coaches ... then dining or food service cars, separating the basic-fare passengers from the extra-fare passengers ... and finally came the premium-priced accommodation on the tailend - away from the smoke, cinders and noise of the locomotives.

Adding to the entertainment value of all this traffic, and doubling the number of moves watched by a young spectator ... 

Each train passing Westmount station either started or ended its trip at Glen Yard. 

First, the empty passenger equipment was backed into Windsor. Then the train made its passenger run to its destination ... and subsequently returned to Montreal as a passenger train via the same route. After its return, the empty equipment was backed up the hill to end its trip at Glen Yard.

Here, in the 1940s and early 1950s, most of the motive power work was performed by steam locomotives. Each of the many types of engine had its own unique extroverted personality. The elaborate displays of steam and smoke, and their fascinating exposed running gear graphically showed exactly how they were accomplishing their work. 

Whether they were confidently taking their important work in stride ... or whether they were unfairly being forced to struggle against tons of inert steel ... their circumstances were obvious to a young observer. 

*  *  *

All of the activity described can be pictured as you look at the Windsor Station 'arrivals and departures board' printed on one page of a pocket-sized timetable folder. 

from: Montreal Folder 'D'; 28 September 1947; Canadian Pacific Railway.

from: The Romantic History of the Canadian Pacific Railway; John Murray Gibbon; 1937; Tudor Publishing.

A passenger train departs Windsor Station. The number of tracks and signaling are discussed in some of the journal articles and news paragraphs.

*  *  *

All of the images of print, below, come from journals which had been bound and held in various libraries. They were digitized and I accessed the publications at archive.org .

In all cases, the images are captioned with the link you can use to see the whole publication. To save labour and to avoid dead links in the future, I have not actually linked through the URLs - they are text only which can be copied and pasted to see the original. 

The articles are presented here in chronological order.

When interesting off-topic paragraphs were nearby, I sometimes succumbed to temptation and you'll see some unrelated bits of text which some may find interesting.

*  *  *

1906 May

from: Canadian Transportation, 1906 May
https://archive.org/details/canadiantransport1906/page/263/mode/1up?q=%22Glen+Yard%22

The St Phillippe paragraph, above, is an example of unrelated text.

Many extended family photos come from a dairy farm near here. 

*  *  *

1906 June

from: Canadian Transportation; 1906 June
https://archive.org/details/canadiantransport1906/page/327/mode/1up?q=%22Glen+Yard%22

*  *  *

1909 July

from: Railway Age Gazette; 1909 July
https://archive.org/details/sim_railway-age_1909-07-30_47_5/page/208/mode/1up?q=%22Glen+Yard%22

It is nice to have this comprehensive data presented in a compact form. Some may be interested in the status of the lines in New Brunswick on which engines 29, 136 and 144 operated throughout the 1950s. Light, vintage bridges dictated the necessity of using these light, vintage locomotives.

This chart appeared from my search because of the solitary Glen Yard reference pertaining to a Rutland engine's speed limit between Windsor and the Glen - which you can see in the footnotes under the chart. 

The date of the right-of-way fencing directive is interesting to find. Very early steam locomotives were relatively light and they were sometimes derailed by livestock standing on the track. DB Hanna noted that farmers' requests for railway compensation always identified the loss as their most prized animal. 

The first elaborate wooden cattle guards (wooden fencing sloping down to a grid of parallel boards which interfered with hooved feet) are often seen in old photos which show road crossings. 

... Before truck transport, herds of livestock were often driven down country roads. Some animals would be tempted to stray along the tracks when they spotted the luxuriant grasses growing from the standing water in the railway right-of-way ditches. The typical drover would not have access to enough labour to retrieve all of the insistently-straying animals before the passage of a train.

... In the modern era, these universal page-wire fences were the sturdy barriers which young steam excursion travellers of the 1960s learned to climb over at an early age in preparation for steam photo runpasts. Getting clear of the right-of-way was important for safety ... and for getting a good photo. 

*  *  *

1909 December

from: Electrical World; 1909 December
https://archive.org/details/electricalworld54newy/page/1386/mode/1up?q=Westmount

The amount of respiratory disease from tobacco smoking and coal smoke in cities must have been considerable. The CPR never electrified this section of track. 

Montreal Junction was later renamed Montreal West. 

'Junction': Using a highway system analogy, Montreal Junction is the interchange you use to reach Montreal. (map below!)

Originally purchased for use through the Canadian Northern's Mount Royal Tunnel, the CNR actually used electric locomotives with overhead catenary for passenger equipment and passenger train transfers to and from Central Station. 

These electrics were still in use for this purpose when coal-fired locomotives pulled railfan excursions which used Central Station in the 1960s. On the trip itinerary, these delays were often presented as photo opportunities and passengers were allowed to detrain and photograph the changing of power from electric to steam - although this was not permitted when safety could not be assured on the return trip because of evening darkness. 

And, in spite of some thrilling high-speed steam running on our return trips (with our coach windows open), some of these railfan trips ended up returning much later than the printed itinerary predicted.

*  *  *

1915

from: Canadian Engineer 1915 (reprint) 
https://archive.org/details/someimportanteng00cana/page/3/mode/1up?q=%22Glen+Yard%22

Blocked from entering the city of Montreal from the west by the pre-existing CPR and Grand Trunk lines, you can see the upstart Canadian Northern Railway is busy tunnelling its way into Montreal via its Mount Royal Tunnel. 

*  *  *

1915 December

(article: Electric Car Lighting)

from: Railway Electrical Engineer; 1915 December.
https://archive.org/details/railwayelectrica07unse/page/211/mode/1up?q=%22Glen+Yard%22

*  *  *

1922 March

from: Canadian Transportation  archive.org
https://archive.org/details/canadiantransport1922/page/n272/mode/1up?q=%22Glen+Yard%22

from: Canadian Transportation; 1923 March
https://archive.org/details/canadiantransport1923/page/262/mode/1up?q=%22Glen+Yard%22

*  *  *

1923 March

from: Canadian Transportation; 1923 03.
https://archive.org/details/canadiantransport1923/page/262/mode/1up?q=%22Glen+Yard%22

*  *  *

1929 April

from: The Chronicle; Carbon, Alberta
https://archive.org/details/TCR_1929041801/page/n2/mode/1up?q=%22Glen+Yard%22

Glen Yard: Famous in Carbon! 

Carbon, Alberta is about 30 kilometres west of Drumheller.

*  *  *

1931

from: Transactions of the Engineering Institute of Canada  archive.org
https://archive.org/details/transactionsofen14engi/page/22/mode/1up?q=%22Glen+Yard%22

ABS used electrically-operated signals 'actuated by track occupancy' ... to protect the train on a defined section of track against collision. 

..... Point A ..... My Train ..... Point B .....

Signals at A and B automatically guard My Train.

An important function of ABS was preventing a following train from striking the rear of a train which had stopped unexpectedly. 

They also maintained a safe interval between moving trains. They provided automatic 'separation'. 

*  *  *

1932 January

from: Railway Engineering & Maintenance; 1932 January
https://archive.org/details/sim_railway-track-structures_1932-01_28_1/page/34/mode/1up?q=%22Glen+Yard%22

Always working on behalf of the shareholders, resourceful techniques were used do more with less - even if it meant laying off workers during the Depression.

*  *  *

1944 April

from: Railway Age; 1944 April.
https://archive.org/details/sim_railway-age_1944-04-15_116_16/page/754/mode/1up?q=%22Glen+Yard%22

*  *  *

1967 May

 Board of Transport Commissioners for Canada

Montreal to Rigaud Commutation Services

This last excerpt is rich in detail. Anyone who has been interested in the recent history of CPR Montreal commuter services might enjoy reading the whole investigation by the BTC. The text link appears just before the first page, below. 

This investigation also gives us interesting historical insights into how Glen Yard functioned, the equipment used and the staffing required.

This type of study was done in the era when transportation safety, freight rates, line abandonment, passenger ticket prices, the termination of passenger service, etc were all under government regulation. 

As suggested above, the previous safety hazards and abuses of unbridled 'free enterprise' resulted in these huge, critical, national transportation systems being supervised by a quasi-judicial body.

https://archive.org/details/judgmentsorders57cana/page/185/mode/1up?q=%22Glen+Yard%22

end

EMD 1948 Kettering; Oil for V; Winton 201a; EMD 567B; 5 Diesels; B&O's EAs; Canada's 24 Subs

An engineer by the name of McCorkill was the previous owner of Rolly Martin's house. He left behind a rich assortment of books from the steam and early diesel-electric era. 

It would be very interesting to see Schreiber during this era as Mr McCorkill did. The books he left in Rolly's basement illustrate some of the history of the switch from steam to diesel.

Almost every week, I plan to take it easy for a change and a rest, and post something simple. This little booklet was going to be one such effort. My ride down the long, slippery slope of research happened when I looked up the author of the following booklet.

Who would stand like that in a three-piece suit and affix a facsimile signature to a little booklet on diesel oil?

Why would anyone feel they had to make the case that there would be adequate supplies of petroleum products in a booklet like this?

I should have remembered the name because Charles Kettering (1876-1958) had figured prominently in On Time, The History of the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors Corporation; Franklin M Reck; 1948; GM. I read that a year or so ago. 

At a previous job, Kettering invented something which many of us use every single day of our lives.

And I already knew why petroleum product availability was a big deal in American society when that booklet was written (1948) because I'm currently reading Oil for Victory (1946).

from: Oil for Victory; Editors of Look Magazine; 1946; McGraw-Hill. 

The whole theme of this book is the extraordinary efforts made by the petroleum industry, and American industry in general, to produce, move and refine oil during World War Two.

German U-boats were lighting up coastal crude and product tankers on the US east coast, so Mississippi barges and the railroads became an interim solution. Eventually there was the 'Big Inch' Pipeline (24 inches in diameter) which went through ... without today's environmental assessment or consultation with property owners. 

As an example of the resourceful use of alternate systems during this emergency ... the re-tasking of tank cars resulted in Upper New England residents freezing because their usual tank cars of heating and cooking kerosene had been reassigned. To solve this problem, oil drums of kero were loaded into boxcars for delivery to them instead.

No sooner had the delivery of petroleum been maximized across the Atlantic to support the D-Day Landings ... than the majority of it was redirected to flow west in August 1944 at the rate of 110,000 barrels per day to the Pacific Ocean - mainly through Texas and the southern tier of US states, by rail. 

... So, after the war, American public opinion was sensitive to any 'lobby' which might want to exploit 'the shortage of petroleum products brought about by an unprecedented post-war demand'. The country had just made great sacrifices and experienced great shortages of civilian petroleum during wartime.

From the book: If you are ever in an exam asking which two innovative petroleum products won the war, your answers are: butadiene and 100-octane gasoline. New processes had to be developed in the labs to increase their production exponentially. 

Back to the booklet ...

Charles Kettering was one of those great inventors who had that early-1900s genius for mechanical invention, the ability to increase the efficiency of existing systems, and the insight to innovate and create new systems.

He invented the automotive battery-powered 'self-starter' so car motors no longer needed to be manually cranked to start. He founded the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co. You can work out the familiar acronym for the company name. It was bought by General Motors in 1920 as its research institute and Kettering served as the director of GM research for 27 years.

He was also involved with the idea of adding tetraethyl lead to gasoline for its anti-knock properties, and the hazards of lead were well-known back then. Um ... but did I mention that '100-octane' gasoline helped win the war? 

... Uh ... maybe he was the co-inventor of Freon ... a little? ... [looking at my shoes, avoiding eye contact].

*  *  *

Why did Engineer McCorkill have this booklet?

The Electro-Motive Company had developed gas-electric, then oil-electric self-propelled railcars. But gasoline was kind of a fire hazard and the distillate oil required a high-voltage spark plug system for ignition. The plugs were always getting fouled by the oil. These motors were manufactured by the Winton Engine Company, which had previously been an automobile manufacturer. 

However, when EMC's cars were working, railroads loved them and these passenger railcars became popular as cost-effective yard switchers. With more money, EMC's founders might be able to develop a broader market with these vehicles.

Charles Kettering, formerly of Delco, now at General Motors (research) was looking for power for his new yacht. He was interested in the Winton engines and his yacht became a testbed for experimental Winton diesel engines so he could play with them.

In 1930, with The Great Depression beginning, General Motors purchased the Electro-Motive Company and the Winton Engine Company. Eugene Kettering (1908-1969) was the son of Charles Kettering and he went to work at Winton in 1930 at the head of a project to develop lighter, more powerful diesel engines. 

Diesel engines were heavy 4-cycle motors whose weight was better suited to marine applications than any vehicle moving on land. 

Circa 1930, in addition to Eugene's quest for a railroad diesel engine, the US Navy was looking for diesels suitable for use in their new submarines. 

As Charles later described it, Eugene's work (perhaps with Charles watching over his shoulder) started with one cylinder. Components ... like valves, fuel pumps, injectors ... were added one by one with the view to having the lightest and most efficient engine possible. 

A 2-cycle diesel engine had been conceived in 1899 by a German engineer but it wasn't particularly efficient and never went into production. The advantage of the 2-cycle diesel was that almost twice as much work was being done by the pistons, so you needed fewer of them.

This diagram from another of Engineer McCorkill's books illustrates the difference. 

 

from: A Power Primer; 1944; General Motors Corporation.

The hardest challenge to be overcome is how to exhaust the combustion gases ... AND ... introduce fresh air and fuel at the same time. This could eliminate a whole piston trip up and down the cylinder - 2 cycles eliminated. Here is the general solution ...

... Near the end of the power stroke, the piston uncovers vents surrounding the cylinder. High pressure air enters through these vents and quickly purges the exhaust gases and recharges the cylinder with air ... completing this entire function before the piston starts its trip up the cylinder with its compression cycle. So a total of 2 cycles.

... Precisely designed fuel injectors operate under high pressure and create a mist of fuel at the optimal time during compression so that the heat of compression ignites this fuel mist at the top of the piston's travel. 

All of the high pressures and high temperatures created in a working diesel presented considerable engineering challenges for the designers to overcome.

The result of the first design which Eugene Kettering accomplished with his team was the Winton 201A engine. It was a 12-cylinder, 2-cycle diesel which entered production in 1934.

In General Motors' 1948 EMD history, this engine is downplayed as being designed mainly for submarines, but too light for railroad service.

We'll revisit the main application of the short-lived Winton 201A in a moment.

First, here is the revolutionary EMD 567B engine illustrated in a variety of cutaway views. This design flowed from the lessons learned from the 201A. It provided dependable high power, while weighing as little as possible. It ensured the success of GM EMD as it captured most of the diesel locomotive market during and after World War Two.

(Except for the Fairbanks-Morse opposed-piston designs, I believe that the other First Generation diesel locomotives of other companies used 4-cycle engines. The F-M engines were apparently an unlicensed design, adapted from a German submarine engine.)

from: Locomotive Cyclopedia; 1950; Simmons Boardman. 

*  *  *

Here is a handy summary of key dates in EMD's evolution,

which provides additional details of events and dates ...

from: Electro-Motive: Young Giant, article; David P Morgan; November 1948; Trains, Kalmbach. 

*  *  *

Here is an image which demanded some extra research ...

from: Kettering Digest; Various Authors; 1982; Reflections Press.  at archive.org

There is absolutely no detail in Kettering Digest or in On Time (the EMD self-history from 1948) or in Kettering biographies at archive.org to suggest who might be in the photo with Kettering. I read Douglas Brunt's 2023 biography of Rudolf Diesel a few months ago. 

Diesel Data

Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913) married Martha Flasche (1860-1944) in 1883 in Munich.

They had three children:

• Rudolf Jr. (1884-1944) Married New Yorker Daisy Weiss in Manhattan in 1911.
• Hedwig (1885-1968)
• Eugen (1889-1970) Writer on subjects like the effects of technology on society.

There are photos of Eugen as he travelled in the US and that doesn't look like Eugen. I could not find a single photo of Rudolf Jr.

A letter from an acquaintance in Missouri was sent to Rudolf Jr early in World War One expressing both concern and best wishes as Rudolf Jr spent time at the Front. I could find no indication what he was doing there or how long he was in the war zone. 

He seems to have inherited aspects of his father's psychological challenges and through his life he often seemed depressed and withdrawn. After the War, he is described as being a recluse.

Knowing Kettering's passion for engineering innovation and his intense involvement in diesel-electric development, what could be better than having the person closest to the original inventor in your newest diesel as you change history with it. Even if it meant cajoling him out of contented isolation for a few moments.

In the photo above, Kettering is 61 years old and - if it was Rudolf Jr - he would be 53.

*  *  *

from: Our GM Scrapbook; 1971; Kalmbach Publishing.

The image above is from May, 1937 and it shows B&O 51, the first EA to be delivered to that railroad.

That would be the locomotive in the previous photo with the two men.

*  *  *

from: The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide; Jerry A Pinkepank; Kalmbach Books. 

The EA (x6) and EB (x6) units which the B&O received (12 units total) were each powered by two 201-A engines, putting out a total of 1800 horsepower. They rode on A-1-A trucks. They were built between May 1937 and June 1938. Above, Engine 56 is shown at Parkersburg, West Virginia in 1941.

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Diesel Update

Until reading Brunt's 2023 biography, I hadn't read about Rudolf Diesel at all since I was 7 or 8 years old, perhaps. Here is what I would have blogged at that age:

"Rudolf Deisel invented the deisel. This is kind of boring because he didn't do the steam engines at Turcot Yard or fantrips or any of the Canadian deisels at 40th Avenue. He lived in Germany all the time. One day he escaped from Germany on a boat so he could give the deisel secret to England. But a German spy threw him off the boat. Getting thrown off a boat at night is scary so be careful and don't let this happen."

from: Iron Horse to Diesel; Paul Snow; 1961; Whitman.

Clearly, all of the historical explanations about Diesel's disappearance (except the most 'obvious' at the time: suicide) are presented in the book, above. However, some facts are more salient to the young mind than others, and they are therefore retained. 

In fact, Diesel was very well travelled throughout Europe, including the UK ... and through North America. He spoke French, German and English. During his lifetime, the diesel engine was successful in its efficiency in a variety of uses (particularly submarines). There was significant interest in its potential - even before the widespread use of gasoline in 'Otto Cycle' engines, particularly in automobiles. Diesel had lots of potential work with technical consulting, lecturing/teaching, or continuing to develop his invention and make money from its sale.

One of Diesel's initial hopes was that the diesel could provide cheap power across the globe by using waste petroleum or vegetable oils as fuel. (Our modern thinking is constrained about engines and fuels. For example, some of the warplanes of World War One burned castor oil.)

In The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel (2023), Douglas Brunt lays out all the known facts preceding, and at the time of Diesel's disappearance. His speculation on the inventor's possible destinations are quite plausible, given the facts. 

... Once a person has experienced life in other countries, some of them may offer certain attractions and freedoms that your native country does not. And, for some, there can be a certain happiness in newfound anonymity, or at least in being able to leave your past life behind.

Brunt thinks that Winston Churchill - in 1913, Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty - had a hand in facilitating Rudolf Diesel's disappearance. And it links to the following photo which I had often wondered about in one of my second-hand books ...

from: Canada's Five Centuries; W Kaye Lamb; 1971; McGraw-Hill.

Above:

"Building submarines in Montreal. Twenty-four submarines - the only ones ever built in Canada - were constructed by Canadian Vickers for Britain, Russia, and Spain. When the first of them were delivered, they became the first submarines ever to cross the Atlantic under their own power."

This is an interesting account of the activities which Brunt elaborates on at the end his book.

Additional photos can also be seen at this site.

The Canadian-built British H-boats © J. D. Perkins, 1999