by Anura Guruge
on February 2, 2023
The post shown at top appeared on my ‘Facebook‘ timeline last week (no doubt because I belong to a number of train-related groups). It immediately caught my interest — especially the claim that it was the MOST powerful & that it was ‘homegrown’. I made a note to check on these when I had the time.
Yes, I did do some quick checking. Both claims are what I think of as “Indian truths” — they have to be taken with a large grain of salt since they are not exactly true.
Wikipedia, to its credit, has a list of the “World’s Largest Locomotives” — some of them, by their sheer nature, also happening to be the “Most Powerful“. The WAG-12 is listed as the LARGEST but in terms of horsepower (HP) there appears to be at least two Russian locos that supposedly produce 17,000(+) hp.
But, I enjoyed the few minutes I go to look up this stuff. I love trains — or to be really truthful I love train engines. Train carriages, whether passenger, freight or caboose, doesn’t move me. But, I love all engines.
THREE (3) main things I learnt, & if & when I have time I sure plan to look into these more.
1/ That Russia & India made such big, powerful engines — way, way bigger than anything being built in the U.S. That is pretty amazing.
2/ That steam engines could deliver more power than diesel, diesel/electric or electric locs. Wow. Had no idea.
3/ That there is some difference as to the power — to the wheels — delivered by steam compared to the other methods. I really need to understand this better.
Just wanted to share this with you. Hope you find it interesting & maybe even useful.
