Taxus Baccata

by | Mar 15, 2018 | Taxus Baccata

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The Indian locomotive class WCM-2 is a class of 1.5 kV DC electric locomotives that was developed in 1956 by Vulcan Foundry and English Electric for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), Direct Current (C), Mixed traffic (M) engine, 2nd generation (2). They entered service in 1957. A total of 12 WCM-2 locomotives were built in England between 1956 and 1957.

The WCM-2 served both passenger and freight trains for over 43 years. With the introduction of more modern types of locomotives and 25 KV AC electrification, all were withdrawn in the early 2000s after repeated failures. All locomotives of this class have since been scrapped.

History

The WCM-2 were designed in the mid 1950s with the intent for the Indian Railways (IR) to remove steam locomotives working on the Eastern Railway (ER) after recommendation of Karnail Singh Fuel Committee.[1][2] In the late 1950s the Kolkata Suburban Railway was established and electrified with overhead 3000V DC supply.[3] So Indian Railways began to look at various designs.

Indian Railways initially invited tenders to build locomotives to the new specification, receiving the following responses:

  • Vulcan Foundry and English Electric submitted their model with 3120 hp with top speed of 105 km/h.
  • Hitachi submitted their model with 3600 hp with top speed of 105 km/h. They also had Co-Co bogies

Each company submitted their prototypes and Indian Railways designated these prototypes as the WCM-2 class and WCM-3 class respectively.[4]

Indian Railways decided to procure seven 3000 V DC electric locomotives from English Electric and Vulcan Foundry, the latter previously supplied steam locomotives to India. They were manufactured in England and shipped to India in 1956-1957. These locomotives were the second mixed class electric locomotive to roam India and also had the now common Co-Co wheel arrangement.[5] Initially the WCM-2 class were known as EM/2 class. They were easily recognizable with their huge size and round smooth noses. They had their cab doors placed near the cab unlike the WCM-1 class.

The WCM-2 were first used on trains in the Kolkata suburban section and a black livery with a red lining in the middle.[6] But by 1960 the Kolkata Suburban Railway was converted to 25,000 V AC, so the 5 and 4 year old WCM-2 units were rendered unusable. So Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) decided to converted the quite new locomotives to run on the 1500V DC power supply used in Central Railway (CR) without loss of power.

They began their CR zone service in 1961. The WCM-2 locomotives were used on many Express trains like the Deccan Queen, Indrayani Express etc., but rarely used on freight service. In the mid 1990s the ageing WCM-2s began to fail regularly causing disruption to train services. Central Railways decided to withdraw these locomotives from service and by 2000, all units were withdrawn.

Former sheds

  • Pune
  • Kalyan (KYN)
  • All the locomotives of this class has been withdrawn from service.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Report of the expert Committee on Coal Consumption on Railways, 1958". INDIAN CULTURE. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  2. ^ Gudgin, D.S.E. (1976). Vulcan Foundry Locomotives 1832–1956. Truro: Bradford Barton. ISBN 978-0-85153-215-8.
  3. ^ History of EMU on Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway, South Eastern Railway, 27 November 2018
  4. ^ "[IRFCA] Indian Railways FAQ: Locomotives - General Information - I". www.irfca.org. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Refer pg 260" (PDF).
  6. ^ Express train in India with commuters in the doorways, 1960's. Archive film 61232, retrieved 21 May 2020

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