Steam Turbine Locomotive 2300 nicknamed “Jawn-Henry”.

Locomotive 2300 nicknamed “Jawn-Henry”.

In June 1954, the Norfolk and Western Railway put into service one of the most powerful steam locomotives in the world, at least in the non-articulated category. This locomotive, numbered 2300, is shown below testing between Roanoke and Bluefield on the N&W network.

Cliché Norfolk and Western La Vie du Rail octobre 1954 https://gallica.bnf.fr/

Why was such a steam locomotive designed in the middle of the 20th century?

Norfolk and Western Railway didn't want to take the plunge into diesel power when most of its traffic was coal. It would have been a real betrayal to abandon this mineral in favor of oil, a competitor whose aim was to supplant and even wipe out the raw material that was the raison d'être of this company, which also owned mines.

But to effectively combat the many advantages of diesel, a paradigm shift was needed, with a new, innovative basis.

The choice fell on a locomotive with electric motors powered by a steam turbine.

In France, at the end of the 19th century, the engineer Heilmann had the idea of building a steam locomotive with electric motors. The idea was to generate electricity on the train itself, by equipping it with a steam engine whose motor would turn a dynamo that would generate the electricity needed to power other dynamos on the axles.

https://cheminot-transport.over-blog.com/2021/05/la-locomotive-heilmann-8001.html

Here's the 8001 prototype in front of the Eiffel Tower.

General characteristics of the 2300.

La Vie du Rail octobre 1954 https://gallica.bnf.fr/

Built by Baldwin and Westinghouse, who have very solid railway credentials, this locomotive was impressive in its dimensions.

Type CC-CC or 6-6-6-6 in Whyte notation, this monster measured 36 m in length (not including the 15 m of the tender) and had a mass of 532 with its water tank.

The steam turbine produced 4,500 hp at 8,000 rpm. Tractive effort at start-up reached 80 tons. In continuous operation, at 15 km/h, it was 65 tons.

It is shown below towing a heavy coal train.

Technical description

The boiler consisted of water tubes. Steam was superheated to 482°C at a pressure of 42kg/cm2. The bogies and traction motors, type 370D2 at 600V, were similar to those used on electric or diesel-electric machines. Similarly, the electrical equipment and turbine components corresponded to parts normally used either on railroad equipment or in naval appliances.

A “Stoker” automatically fed the grate with coal stored at the front of the engine.

This locomotive was equipped with a dynamic brake.

Here's a diagram of the steam turbine locomotive's components

Control devices

As can be seen in the photo below, the driver's cab featured a minimum of command and control devices to make operation as simple as possible.

The operator had :

- A 14-notch governor, which pneumatically controlled the turbine governor and main generator excitation.

- A direction lever which could occupy 5 positions: braking, forward, neutral, reverse, braking.

The boiler and its auxiliary equipment were controlled automatically by 4 pneumatic control devices, according to indications provided by the control devices on :

- Steam pressure,

- flow rate,

- air flow,

- water level in the collector.

Pneumatic interlocks stopped coal distribution when anomalies were detected in boiler operation.

Career

Despite its obvious intrinsic qualities, this locomotive, which arrived far too late, had a very brief career. Remaining a one-off, it ended up on a siding in 1958 without having convinced the management.