The Indian locomotive class WCP-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 gas ...
s that was developed in late 1920s by
Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
(SLM) 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 tot ...
. The model name stands for
broad gauge (W), Direct Current (C), Passenger traffic (P) engine, 1st generation (1). They entered service in 1930. A total of 22 WCP-1 was built at England between 1928 and 1929.
The WCP-1 served passenger trains for over 50 years. With the introduction of more modern types of locomotives and 25 KV
AC electrification, all were withdrawn by early 1980s. Today one locomotive is preserved with the remainder of the units scrapped.
History
The electrification of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway began in 1922. Powerful locomotives were required to transport the express trains on the mountain railway to overcome the Western Ghats. They also had to be able to reach speeds of 85 miles an hour (137 km / h) - a very high speed at that time, which was not even the case with the E 501 and 502 of the Paris-Orleans Railway had been requested.
Three test locomotives were therefore ordered from different manufacturers in order to be able to select a suitable design for the series. The tender and evaluation was monitored by the UK electrical engineering firm Merz & McLellan in London.
The Great Indian Peninsula Railway ordered the following test locomotives in 1923:
Books
See also
*
Rail transport in India#History
*
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 tot ...
*
Locomotives of India
The Indian Railways primarily operates fleet of electric and diesel locomotives, along with several compressed natural gas (CNG) locomotives. Steam locomotives are operated on a few World Heritage Sites and also run occasionally as herita ...
*
Rail transport in India
Rail transport in India is an important mode of conveyance for people and goods in India. Indian Railways (IR) is the primary operator of rail operations throughout the country. IR is a state-owned organisation of the Ministry of Railways, whic ...
References
External links
*http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-specs.html#WCP-1
Electric Locomotive Classes – AC India railway fan club
India railway fan club
Electric locomotives of India
1500 V DC locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1928
5 ft 6 in gauge locomotives
SLM locomotives
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