Indian railway Locomotive engine codes decoded/deciphered

Indian Railways, one of the biggest railway systems in the world, uses a wide range of locomotive engines with a series of codenames, which are difficult to understand, as far as a common man is concerned. Here is how to decode a code given in engines and find what are the specifications of the locomotive. It is quite interesting that there are many types of engines though they look almost alike in our eyes. Towards the end of this article, I have added the details of duel consumption of a diesel locomotive engine of Indian railways.

There are two parts for IR engine number. One is the main code and the other is a serial number of 5 digits in common. The other half is which gives the information about the engine specifications. Here is a short list of abbreviations and its definition.

WDM-2

In this engine code, W Stands for wide gauge. Other two gauges are Z-narrow gauge and Y- meter gauge.

D stands for diesel. That means the engine is powered by diesel than electricity. If it was A instead of D, it means the engine is powered by Alternating Current or AC traction motors. In engines powered by DC motors, letter C is used instead to avoid confusing it with diesel.

M , at the third position, stands for mixed service. That is, this loco can be used to power both passenger and goods trains. For locos designed to propel passenger trains only, the code will be P. For those which power goods trains, the code will be G.

What does the number means? 2 means, the engine has 2000 hp of power output. 4  means 4000 hp and so on. If the engine name is WDM 2D, the last D is for 100 position of power. A=100, B=200, C=300, D=400 etc. So the engine has 2400 hp of power output.

So, what does WCAM means? It means engines capable of running using AC and DC power or more easily called dual traction engines. These engines are now being used in Mumbai Vadodara route.

Fuel consumption of locomotive engines:

Diesel locomotives, actually diesel-electric locos, has a fuel consumption of about 5.5 to 6 liters per kilometer.

This mileage translates to carrying 1200 people (on average), per kilometer. Compare it with the 70 kmpl mileage of your most economic bike?

A bike of 70 kmpl mileage consumes 15 ml per kilometer for 2 people. That is, 7.5 ml per kilometer for a single person. In a train, it consumes 6 liters per km for 1200 passengers. That is 5 ml per kilometer of distance covered. However, this fuel consumption cannot be compared directly with that of your bike because your bike may not have as much space freedom, lavatories, pantry, sleeping facilities and cargo space as a train offer you.

Cheers!