Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
British Rail HS4000
HS4000 Kestrel was a one-off prototype high-powered mainline diesel locomotive that was built in 1967 by Brush Traction, Loughborough, as a technology demonstrator for potential future British Rail and export orders. The locomotive number is a combination of the initials of Hawker Siddeley (the owners of Brush Traction) and the power rating of its Sulzer diesel engine (4,000 hp), making it the most powerful locomotive built by the company.
It was of Co-Co wheel arrangement and was fitted with a Sulzer 16LVA24 engine rated at 4,000 horsepower (3,000 kW) providing a maximum speed of 110 mph (180 km/h) and weighed 133 tonnes. It was painted in a livery of yellow ochre with a broad chocolate-brown band around the lower bodyside separated by a thin white line running around the body.
In the mid-1960s British rail produced specifications for type 5 locomotives weighing less than 126 tonnes with more than 3,000 hp (2,200 kW) of power for both passenger and freight working. Brush Electric Engineering Ltd. (Brush Traction) in association with Sulzer Brothers Ltd. responded with a 4,000 hp (3,000 kW) locomotive for British Rail's appraisal. The body, exterior details, control console, and colours were designed by E.G. M. Wilkes of "Wilkes & Ward" (later Wilkes & Ashmore, industrial design firm based on Horsham, West Sussex). The design principle was that a single engine would require less maintenance than twin-engined vehicles, and that the very high power would mean that double heading for freight trains would be unnecessary.
Brush employed Sulzer's 16-cylinder Vee 16LVA24 engine made in Winterthur. Previous experience with Sulzer's 12-cylinder twin parallel-bank dual-crank 12LDA28 engine had gone well, but the highest power available from Sulzer in this form was the 12LDA31 of 2,350 hp (1,750 kW). Not only did the V engines provide over 3,000 hp (2,200 kW), but being single-crank with the consequently lighter engine block (over the dual-bank design) gave a better power-to-weight ratio.
The engine is a four-stroke turbocharged oil-cooled design, with the oil being cooled by water in a heat exchanger, and the water cooled in radiators. The piston was 240 mm × 280 mm (9.4 in × 11.0 in). A smaller auxiliary generator (~40 kW (54 hp)) was used to charge the batteries or start the engine etc.
To transmit this power to the rail Brush utilised a brushless salient pole three phase alternator connected to a rectifying circuit of 84 silicon diodes producing ~2,500 kW (3,400 hp) of power for electric traction from the diesel engine. An auxiliary alternator, also brushless and producing three phase electrical power gave ~500 kW (670 hp) for electrical train heating, and also supplied power to electrical fans etc. in the locomotive. The armatures/rotors for both alternators were electrically energised by DC produced by the rectified output of brushless alternators.
Each of the 6 axles was powered by an individual traction motor which was a four pole force ventilated type. Connection of the axle to the motor was via a reduction gear (giving 110 mph (180 km/h) top speed), then through a flexible hollow shaft drive to the axle.
The fans (blowers) to cool the traction motors and engine radiators were of the three phase asynchronous type, the motors driving the compressors, pumps, fans for the dynamic (resistive) brake etc. were DC motors.
Hub AI
British Rail HS4000 AI simulator
(@British Rail HS4000_simulator)
British Rail HS4000
HS4000 Kestrel was a one-off prototype high-powered mainline diesel locomotive that was built in 1967 by Brush Traction, Loughborough, as a technology demonstrator for potential future British Rail and export orders. The locomotive number is a combination of the initials of Hawker Siddeley (the owners of Brush Traction) and the power rating of its Sulzer diesel engine (4,000 hp), making it the most powerful locomotive built by the company.
It was of Co-Co wheel arrangement and was fitted with a Sulzer 16LVA24 engine rated at 4,000 horsepower (3,000 kW) providing a maximum speed of 110 mph (180 km/h) and weighed 133 tonnes. It was painted in a livery of yellow ochre with a broad chocolate-brown band around the lower bodyside separated by a thin white line running around the body.
In the mid-1960s British rail produced specifications for type 5 locomotives weighing less than 126 tonnes with more than 3,000 hp (2,200 kW) of power for both passenger and freight working. Brush Electric Engineering Ltd. (Brush Traction) in association with Sulzer Brothers Ltd. responded with a 4,000 hp (3,000 kW) locomotive for British Rail's appraisal. The body, exterior details, control console, and colours were designed by E.G. M. Wilkes of "Wilkes & Ward" (later Wilkes & Ashmore, industrial design firm based on Horsham, West Sussex). The design principle was that a single engine would require less maintenance than twin-engined vehicles, and that the very high power would mean that double heading for freight trains would be unnecessary.
Brush employed Sulzer's 16-cylinder Vee 16LVA24 engine made in Winterthur. Previous experience with Sulzer's 12-cylinder twin parallel-bank dual-crank 12LDA28 engine had gone well, but the highest power available from Sulzer in this form was the 12LDA31 of 2,350 hp (1,750 kW). Not only did the V engines provide over 3,000 hp (2,200 kW), but being single-crank with the consequently lighter engine block (over the dual-bank design) gave a better power-to-weight ratio.
The engine is a four-stroke turbocharged oil-cooled design, with the oil being cooled by water in a heat exchanger, and the water cooled in radiators. The piston was 240 mm × 280 mm (9.4 in × 11.0 in). A smaller auxiliary generator (~40 kW (54 hp)) was used to charge the batteries or start the engine etc.
To transmit this power to the rail Brush utilised a brushless salient pole three phase alternator connected to a rectifying circuit of 84 silicon diodes producing ~2,500 kW (3,400 hp) of power for electric traction from the diesel engine. An auxiliary alternator, also brushless and producing three phase electrical power gave ~500 kW (670 hp) for electrical train heating, and also supplied power to electrical fans etc. in the locomotive. The armatures/rotors for both alternators were electrically energised by DC produced by the rectified output of brushless alternators.
Each of the 6 axles was powered by an individual traction motor which was a four pole force ventilated type. Connection of the axle to the motor was via a reduction gear (giving 110 mph (180 km/h) top speed), then through a flexible hollow shaft drive to the axle.
The fans (blowers) to cool the traction motors and engine radiators were of the three phase asynchronous type, the motors driving the compressors, pumps, fans for the dynamic (resistive) brake etc. were DC motors.