Railroad Engine Antifreeze - from the far side:

I believe it's a restarting issue as much as anything. I recall staying in some backwoods truckstop for the Canadian GP eh and the truckers left the rigs running all the time, they told me that they might not start in the am, and barely use any fuel at idle. You could hear the automatic shutter blankets going as well, good job the locals were friendly and we slept little, lol.

 

The problem with the Diesel Electric train engine cooling is cold weather. Water freezes at 0°C or 32°F and frozen cooling water will quickly split a pipe or engine block due to the expansion of the water as it freezes (which is obvious to all on this forum). Some Train engine systems are "self draining" when the engine is stopped and most in Europe are designed to use a mixture of anti-freeze, with Gycol and some form of rust inhibitor. In the US, engines do not normally contain anti-freeze, although the new GM EMD "H" engines are designed to use it. Problems with leaks and seals and the expense of putting a 100 gallons (378.5 litres) of coolant into a 3,000 hp engine, means that engines in the US have traditionally operated without it. In cold weather, the engine is left running or the locomotive is kept warm by putting it into a heated building or by plugging in a shore supply. Another reason for keeping diesel engines running is that the constant heating and cooling caused by shutdowns and restarts, causes stresses in the block and pipes and tends to produce leaks.

 

By the simple act of "wasting" fuel; Perishable goods are/were delivered on time throughout the entire shipping chain, at nominal cost, rather than major loss, thereby stabilizing prices, be they Commodities, Micro- and Macro- scales of Economy, etc..

Mechanically, being Proactive reduces risk of minor and/or major part failing & Reactive;

Downtime associated with;
Diagnosis
Removal
Transport of Part from Point A to Point B
Repair.
*Whoops* - Need another part not available at Ace Hardware.

Counterpoint to the first sentence - Overtime & every manifestation of Box-busting Shipping Schedule & Product destroying yada-yada-yada.

 

I know people who work in loco maintenance in Pittsburgh and they run anti freeze. Also running older cars years ago, the water would freeze in the radiator but not in the block with the motor running. Shutting down big engines and restarts supposedly is harder on the engine then leaving it running.




Ago

 

Bingo.

It has little or nothing to do with the "cost" of coolant (anti-freeze). It has more to do with the maintenance / procedural costs and reliability issues associated with starting / re-starting these large (and very expensive) D-E engines.

Furthermore, they are designed to run mostly "air-cooled" anyway ---- so, the coolant is only important as an antifreeze agent.

Also, they use electrical resistance heaters throughout the engines to prevent most cold-weather effects / damage anyway.

 

Maybe there is a little truth in all responses so far.

Like an automobile engine, the diesel engine needs to work at an optimum temperature for best efficiency.* When it starts, it is too cold and, when working, it must not be allowed to get too hot.* To keep the temperature stable, a cooling system is provided.** This consists of a water-based coolant circulating around the engine block, the coolant being kept cool by passing it through a radiator.*

The coolant is pumped round the cylinder block and the radiator by an electrically or belt driven pump.* The temperature is monitored by a thermostat and this regulates the speed of the (electric or hydraulic) radiator fan motor to adjust the cooling rate.* When starting the coolant isn't circulated at all.* After all, you want the temperature to rise as fast as possible when starting on a cold morning and this will not happen if you a blowing cold air into your radiator.* Some radiators are provided with shutters to help regulate the temperature in cold conditions.

If the fan is driven by a belt or mechanical link, it is driven through a fluid coupling to ensure that no damage is caused by sudden changes in engine speed.* The fan works the same way as in an automobile, the air blown by the fan being used to cool the water in the radiator.* Some engines have fans with an electrically or hydrostatically driven motor.* An hydraulic motor uses oil under pressure which has to be contained in a special reservoir and pumped to the motor.* It has the advantage of providing an in-built fluid coupling.

A problem with engine cooling is cold weather.* Water freezes at 0°C or 32°F and frozen cooling water will quickly split a pipe or engine block due to the expansion of the water as it freezes.* Some systems are "self draining" when the engine is stopped and most in Europe are designed to use a mixture of anti-freeze, with Gycol and some form of rust inhibitor.* In the US, engines do not normally contain anti-freeze, although the new GM EMD "H" engines are designed to use it.* Problems with leaks and seals and the expense of putting a 100 gallons (378.5 litres) of coolant into a 3,000 hp engine, means that engines in the US have traditionally operated without it.* In cold weather, the engine is left running or the locomotive is kept warm by putting it into a heated building or by plugging in a shore supply.* Another reason for keeping diesel engines running is that the constant heating and cooling caused by shutdowns and restarts, causes stresses in the block and pipes and tends to produce leaks.

My source. http://www.railway-technical.com/diesel.shtml