First ever HSD oil firing loco for NMR leaves Golden Rock Workshop

TIRUCHY: The Golden Rock Railway Workshop has dispatched the first-ever highspeed diesel (HSD) oil firing locomotive built at a cost of Rs 9.34 crore to the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) on Wednesday.

According to officials, in order to avoid the inconvenience, including suffocation to crew as well as the passengers by the conventional furnace oil firing, it was decided to manufacture the steam locomotive with a slight modification in the furnace besides replacing it with HSD oil firing system.

Accordingly, two types of burners have been fixed in the locomotive- pilot burner, which will be in service initially for raising the steam pressure while the other-main burner is kept on the face of the boiler fire hole. The diesel oil will regulate pressure being supplied to both the burners.

The Railway Board sanctioned the work of oil firing loco at a cost of Rs 9.34 crore. As many as 70 technicians worked for the completion of the project, which lasted for seven months. Officials said that the locomotive would have a maximum speed of 30 km per hour in plains and 15 km per hour at gradient descent. The cylinder diameter of 450 mm with water capacity of 4,500 litres and the oil tank capacity of 1,600 litres in the main tank and 725 in the rear tank.