How It's Made - Locomotives

a locomotive is the powerful vehicle at the front of a train which pulls the cars along the track sometimes there's a second one pushing from behind as well passenger train locomotives are smaller and designed primarily for speed freight locomotives pulling rail cars are significantly larger and stronger heavy halls are mammoth freight locomotives designed for north america where tracks are wider and stronger than in most other parts of the world those smaller yellow locomotives are for the european market the larger gray ones to the right are heavy halls workers well together massive pieces of steel to construct the locomotive's structural under frame at each end they insert a giant steel pin through a hole in the under frame's floor for now they weld the pins partially to tack them in position lifting and maneuvering it with giant trunnions they flip the under frame so that the protruding side of the pins is facing upward a crane system transfers the under frame to another area to complete the welding the pins require exceptional bonding because they connect the under frame to the wheel frames an automated welder circles each pin repeatedly progressively building up a 2.5 centimeter thick weld they make the same size weld on the other side of the pin all the welded steel parts are exceptionally thick rendering the under frame strong enough to pull 454 metric tons next they install the air reservoir and pipes for the pneumatic brake system and a 20 000 liter fuel tank then they assemble the locomotives six traction motors each one generates 750 horsepower three times more than a typical car giving the locomotive 4500 horsepower strength to build each traction motor they bolt coils of wound copper into a cylinder called a stator then they lower another cylinder called an armature into the stator powered by an alternator the coils produce an electric field that rotates the armature turning components which propel the locomotive workers lubricate the wheels then using a strong press fit two on each of the vehicle's six axles each wheel is a meter in diameter and weighs about half a ton the axle has a large gear that turns both wheels this finished unit is called a wheel axle gear assembly wag for short workers install a wag onto each of the six traction motors the wax gear engages with the traction motor's gear so when the motor runs that gear turns which then rotates the wag gear which turns the wheels so now there are six wagon traction motor combinations workers divide them into two groups of three then bolt each trio into a frame called a bogey so now the locomotive has two bogeys each with an air driven brake system built into it until this point the bogeys have been upside down now a crane flips them right side up to prepare for the final assembly of the locomotive they position the two bogeys next to the ender frame at opposite ends cranes then lift the under frame and slowly lower it onto the bogeys the pivot pins protruding from beneath the under frame drop into receiving holes in the bogeys next they lower a giant alternator onto the deck of the under frame it powers the traction motors as well as the control systems and other auxiliary equipment this 16 cylinder 4500 horsepower engine drives the alternator next the operator's cab it's insulated for sound and sits on a shock absorber system then the various electrical hookups including these thick cables each one contains more than a thousand wires carrying nearly 10 000 amps now a hood goes over the engine and alternator to protect them from the elements from here the locomotive goes to another department for paint and decals the finished locomotive is almost 23 meters long fueled up it weighs 204 metric tons and depending on the terrain can haul a train up to a kilometer long

Channel: Panos Egglezos

Views: 1,483,717

Keywords: Discovery, Science, Channel, How, It's, Made, Locomotives, Television, TV

Id: WokCyQAsh-E

Length: 4min 57sec (297 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 22 2012