A Giesl ejector is a suction draught system for
steam locomotives that works on the same principle as a
feedwater injector. This ejector (German: ''Ejektor'', ''Flachschornstein'' or ''Quetschesse'') was invented in 1951 by the
Austrian engineer, Dr.
Adolph Giesl-Gieslingen. The Giesl ejector ensures improved suction draught and a correspondingly better use of energy. The existing
blastpipe in a locomotive is replaced by several, small, fan-shaped, diverging blast pipes, from which the diffuser gets its flat, long, drawn-out shape.
Fuel savings
Giesl claimed that his ejector enabled a saving in coal of between 6 and 12% – although in practice the maximum saving was closer to 8% – and an increase in power of up to 20%. Many railway administrations converted their steam engines to use Giesl ejectors, including the
ÖBB,
ÄŒSD and
Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) in
East Germany, as well as railway companies in
Africa,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
(such as on the
Class D51
The is a type of 2-8-2 steam locomotive built by the Japanese Government Railways (JGR), the Japanese National Railways (JNR), and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Company, Kisha Seizo, Hitachi, Nippon Sharyo, Mitsubishi, and Mitsubi ...
). The licence fees were not paid in every case, it being said that often they almost cancelled out the saving in coal. In the DR it was assessed that the Giesl ejectors would pay for themselves within a year, as a result of which they converted over 500 locomotives; primarily the Classes
38.10,
50,
52 and
65.10.
Use in the United Kingdom
Talyllyn Railway
In 1958, Dr Giesl-Gieslingen approached
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
to offer a free trial of the ejector. When this offer was turned down, the inventor made the same offer to the preserved
Talyllyn Railway in
Wales, and locomotive No. 4, ''
Edward Thomas'' was fitted with one. Although a coal saving of 40% was officially announced at the time, this has since been disputed by the railway's chief engineer. The ejector was removed in 1969, and no difference in coal consumption was found. The ejector is now on display in the
Narrow Gauge Railway Museum at
Tywyn.
British Railways
In 1962,
Bulleid Battle of Britain class 4-6-2 34064 ''Fighter Command'' was fitted with a Giesl ejector on the grounds that a desired spark arrestor would "suffocate" an ordinary blastpipe. It quickly became apparent, following some adjustment, that the ejector improved the locomotive design, and it was held in high regard by the crews. A
BR Standard Class 9F 2-10-0 92250 was also fitted with a Giesl ejector, but with "indifferent" results.
National Coal Board
The
National Coal Board had a vast array of
coal mines all around the UK and therefore employed a massive fleet of steam locomotives. With the requirement for locomotives, NCB acquired locomotives from various locomotive builders such as
Hunslet,
W.G.Bagnall,
Peckett,
Andrew Barclay and many more builders, which all provided locomotives of various designs to the NCB, the most notable locomotives were the
Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST locomotives. The National Coal Board wanted to improve its steam locomotives and experimented with different blastpipe arrangements, and notably worked with
Livio Dante Porta and Hunslet to create the Porta locomotives. The NCB also upgraded many of its locomotives with Giesl ejectors, with 25 of its Hunslet Austerity locomotives being upgraded to have them. NCB also upgraded a number of other locomotives such as the W.G Bagnall 0-6-0ST 3059Â ''Florence No 2'' to have Giesl ejectors, Florence No 2 is preserved at the
Foxfield Railway.
Keighley and Worth Valley Railway
As a consequence of the experience with ''Fighter Command'', and for the same reasons, during the 1980s the preserved Bulleid
West Country class 4-6-2 34092 ''City of Wells'' was similarly fitted at the
Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.
Australian Railways
New South Wales Government Railways
NSWGR only had one locomotive in its entire fleet which was fitted with a Giesl ejector. The locomotive being 3616, a member of the NSWGR C36 class 4-6-0. In 1957, 3616 was fitted with a Giesl ejector along with its new Belpaire boiler. 3616, has made it into preservation. In the ownership of the New South Wales Rail Transport Museum located at Thirlmere, the locomotive is a static exhibit in the Thirlmere Train Hall.
In fiction
On the fictional narrow gauge
Skarloey Railway in ''
The Railway Series'' by the
Rev. W. Awdry
Wilbert Vere Awdry (15 June 1911 – 21 March 1997) was an English Anglican minister, railway enthusiast, and children's author. He was best known for creating Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas and several other characters he created appeared ...
based on the Talyllyn Railway, the locomotive ''Peter Sam'', based on ''
Edward Thomas'', also received a Giesl ejector. Unlike ''Edward Thomas'', ''Peter Sam'' retains the ejector to the present day. In ''
Thomas & Friends'', the television adaptation, it was depicted as a square chimney (as on his TV series model, his old chimney was never removed and the new chimney was a shroud placed over the old one), but was changed to an accurate Giesl Ejector in the CGI series.
References
Sources
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Further reading
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External links
Der Eisenbahnfotograf: Fotogalerie, ÖBB Dampflok - Numerous photos of steam locomotives with Giesl ejectors
{{Steam locomotive exhaust systems
Steam locomotive technologies
Steam locomotive exhaust systems
Locomotive parts
Austrian inventions