TRIAL RUN OF OIL-BURNING LOCOMOTIVE

Chronicle (Levin), 7 November 1946, Page 4

TRIAL RUN OF OIL-BURNING LOCOMOTIVE

The exporimentaj. New Zealand Bailways ' ' ICA " class locomotiyb fitted. to burn crude oil, arrived in Palmerston North on Tuesday afternoon, after its first triai run frotn Wellington. Tho locomotive rau .light to Paekakariki where it picked up a niixed goods train, which was brought on to Palmerston North. The experiment could be deemed successful, said the. oliiciai in cliarge of the experiineatal rua. Fforti the evidence of the trial run it could not yet be seen exactly how expensive the locomotive would be to run, but it would be safe to say that it would not be very much more expensive than coal. There was a good supply of fuel oil in the country. The locomotive earried 1300 gallons of erude potroleuili oil in whai was usually the coal tender, this being enough to give the engiiie a range of about 200 miles. "Howevef, the greatest advantages of the oil-burning S3rstem are ease of operat.ion aud the absence of smoke and coal-dust," said the offieial. ''Then, also, steam pressure can be built up more quickly for sudden demands than in a coal-burning engine." He pointed out that all the fireman had to do was waich the oil temperature, and control the flow of oil to the burners through an easily operated graduated valve. The ereW had fouad the engine very easy to operate on its | trial run. ' Up till now the. engine has had one or two small runs without load. but the preliminary adjusttoents have been made and it is considered in good trim to undertake more seriouS work. Its load on Tuesday was 500 tons. Sleek and shining in a neyf coat of paint, K927 looked yesterday in the yards just as an,; engine • fresh. 'from the shops shohld look; but>it! has a chance of staying that way i.onger than fhe other ongines whieh . were ' movirig around the yards. For oil fuel bfings, among other thingS, eleanliness and eonvenienee. *• The preliminary tests have been particularly satisfactorv, and iii some direetions more, than satisfaetory. The sjioke nuisance ' is completely wiped out so far as this engine is concerned — as was anticipated — but in additiou it lias beeji found that there is no notieeable smell assoeiated with the burning oil in the firebox. , Wliile getting up steam in the yard yesterday K927 had only a slight haze issuing from the tunnel, and even later on, wli^n moving along the tracks, no real smoke was discernible. Although the changfe-over njeans little to the driver apart from better working coiulitions, the fireman 's job is considerably easier. Normally he would have to shift soiuething like . 40cwt of coal into the firebox on a run from Paekakariki to Palmerston North, but in K927 he has 'to look after a few valves and keep an eye on the funnel to see that only a misty haze is eomiug out instead of smoke. If that is the case the fuel is bein'g properly atomi'sed and cbmbusUoli is eomplete. No Spark Menace One big advantage of oil fuel is that any fumes which might collect in the cab are non-poisouous. The lack of smoke is a big advantage ou lines which include tuuncls, and the absence of sparks will help4to eradicate the menace of bush fires during the hot summer months.- r. • , Although the-: conveifsidn- ofi K927 is really aii experiment,. it; appears even at this early stage tliat :it ihis been a successful experiment. As a result, probably many more oil-fneiled locomotives will make tlicif appearauce ou New Zealand tracks. The locomotive returned to Wellington last night at 0.15 hfter which more accurate details of it? running would be available. ■