The Indian locomotive class WCM-1 is a class of 1.5 kV DC

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or g ...

s that was developed in 1954 by

Vulcan Foundry The Vulcan Foundry Limited was an English locomotive builder sited at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire (now Merseyside). History The Vulcan Foundry opened in 1832, as Charles Tayleur and Company to produce girders for bridges, switches, crossin ...

and English Electric for

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...

. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), Direct Current (C), Mixed traffic (M) engine, 1st generation (1). They entered service in 1955. A total of 7 WCM-1 locomotives were built in England between 1954 and 1955. The WCM-1 served both passenger and freight trains for over 45 years. With the introduction of more modern types of locomotives and 25 KV AC electrification, all were withdrawn by the early 2000s after repeated failures. Today 1 locomotive is preserved with rest of the units being Scrapped.

History

The history of WCM-1 begins in the mid 1950s with the stated aim of the

(IR) to remove the aging fleet of WCP-1, WCP-2, WCP-3 and WCP-4 class locomotives working on the Central Railway (CR) . So IR to procure 7 1500 V DC electric locomotives from English Electric and

, the latter previously supplied Steam locomotives to India. They are manufactured in England and shipped to India in 1954-1955. These locomotives were the first mixed class electric locomotive to roam India as well as the first electric locomotive with now common Co-Co wheel arrangement. They were also the longest serving non steam locomotives in India until the arrival of the WCG-2, WCAM-1,

WCAM-2 The Indian locomotive class WCAM-2 is a class of dual-power AC/DC series electric locomotives that was developed in 1995 by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited used in the Indian Railways system. They are the second locomotive from the WCAM class ...

, WCM-6,

WCAM-3 The Indian locomotive class WCAM–3 is a class of dual-power AC/DC series electric locomotives That was developed in 1997 by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited used in the Indian Railways system. They are the third locomotives from the WCAM clas ...

and WCAG-1 class. Initially the WCM-1 class were known as EM/1 class. They were easily recognizable with their huge size and round smooth noses. They had their cab doors placed in the middle of the body instead of being near the cab. The WCM-1 locomotives were used on many Express trains like the

Deccan Queen The 12123 / 12124 Deccan Queen is a daily Indian passenger train service operated by the Central Railway zone of the Indian Railways connecting the cities of Mumbai and Pune. Introduced on June 1, 1930, the Deccan Queen was India's "first sup ...

Indrayani Express The 22105/22106 Indrayani Superfast Express is a superfast express train belonging to Indian Railways that runs between Mumbai CSMT and Pune Junction in India. It is a daily service and is named after the river Indrayani flowing near Pune. T ...

and as well as on Freight Duties. In 1968, the placement of the entry doors were moved to near the cab for better practicality. The Deccan Queen had WCM-1 with a matching livery until 1990s. In the mid 1990s the aging WCM-1s began to fail regularly causing disruption on train services. So Central Railways decided to withdraw these locomotives from service and by 2000, all units were withdrawn with only 1 unit preserved.

Preserved Examples

Former sheds

* Pune *

Kalyan Kalyan (Pronunciation: əljaːɳ is a city on the banks of Ulhas River in Thane district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division. It is governed by Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. Kalyan is a subdivision (Taluka) of Thane district ...

(KYN) * All the locomotives of this class has been withdrawn from service.

References

External links

*http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-specs.html#WCM-1
India railway fan club
{{Broad gauge locomotives of India , state=collapsed Electric locomotives of India 1500 V DC locomotives Co-Co locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1955 5 ft 6 in gauge locomotives English Electric locomotives

History

Preserved Examples

Former sheds

See also

References

External links