The MK5000C is a North American diesel-electric locomotive developed by
MK Rail
MK or mk may refer to:
In arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters
* Moon Knight, a Marvel Comics superhero
* M.K., an '' ''Into the Badlands'' (TV series) character
* Mary Katherine "M.K." Bomba, the protagonist in ''Epic'' (2013 fi ...
. At the time of its introduction in 1994, the MK5000C was the most powerful single
prime mover
Prime mover may refer to:
Philosophy
*Unmoved mover, a concept in Aristotle's writings
Engineering
* Prime mover (engine), motor, a machine that converts various other forms of energy (chemical, electrical, fluid pressure/flow, etc) into energy ...
diesel-electric
locomotive ever made, a title it would hold for only for one year until
GE Transportation
GE Transportation is a division of Wabtec. It was known as GE Rail and owned by General Electric until sold to Wabtec on February 25, 2019. The organization manufactures equipment for the railroad, marine, mining, drilling and energy generati ...
released its competing
AC6000CW model in 1995.
In the early 1990s MK Rail, a long time locomotive remanufacturer, announced its plan to compete directly with
Electro-Motive Diesel
Progress Rail Locomotives, doing business as Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its s ...
and
GE Transportation
GE Transportation is a division of Wabtec. It was known as GE Rail and owned by General Electric until sold to Wabtec on February 25, 2019. The organization manufactures equipment for the railroad, marine, mining, drilling and energy generati ...
by beginning its own high-horsepower locomotive program, starting with a DC drive locomotive and continuing with and AC drive locomotives in later years.
In response to the MKRail program, GE announced the 6000 hp AC drive
GE AC6000CW
The AC6000CW is a diesel electric locomotive built between 1995 and 2001 by GE Transportation. It is among the world's most powerful single-engined diesel locomotives. The locomotive was designed for extremely high horsepower needs, such as pu ...
, and EMD announced the
EMD SD80MAC
The SD80MAC was a C-C diesel-electric locomotive. It was powered by a 20-cylinder version of EMD's 710G prime mover, and was the second diesel locomotive by GM-EMD to use a v20 engine, since EMD's SD45 and SD45-2. It introduced a wide radia ...
, and later the
EMD SD90MAC
The EMD SD90MAC is a model of C-C diesel-electric locomotive produced by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. It is, with the SD80MAC, one of the largest single-engined locomotives produced by EMD, surpassed only by the dual-engined DDA ...
, both which were AC drive locomotives.
Technical
The MK5000C was powered by the 5000 hp
Caterpillar V12 V12 or V-12 may refer to:
Aircraft
* Mil V-12, a Soviet heavy lift helicopter
* Pilatus OV-12, a planned American military utility aircraft
* Rockwell XFV-12, an American experimental aircraft project
* Škoda-Kauba V12, a Czechoslovak experim ...
3612 diesel engine. This diesel engine remains one of the largest engine blocks used in rail service in North America. The Cat 3612 features a bore with a stroke and has a displacement per cylinder, total. The 3612 has dual turbochargers that are liquid aftercooled. The 3612 idles at 300 rpm and has a maximum speed of 1000 rpm.
The Caterpillar 3612 drove a Kato 16P12-27000 main
alternator
An alternator is an electrical generator that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current. For reasons of cost and simplicity, most alternators use a rotating magnetic field with a stationary armature.Gor ...
which was capable of handling 8400
amperes
The ampere (, ; symbol: A), often shortened to amp,SI supports only the use of symbols and deprecates the use of abbreviations for units. is the unit of electric current in the International System of Units (SI). One ampere is equal to elect ...
at 1315 V DC at 1000
rpm
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
. The power generated by the main alternator drove 6 MK1000
traction motors
A traction motor is an electric motor used for propulsion of a vehicle, such as locomotives, electric or hydrogen vehicles, elevators or electric multiple unit.
Traction motors are used in electrically powered rail vehicles (electric multiple uni ...
, each with a gear ratio of 83:20 and connected to wheels which allowed the MK5000C a maximum speed of . The MK5000C rode on two 3 axle
Dofasco
ArcelorMittal Dofasco is a steel company based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Dofasco is a standalone subsidiary of ArcelorMittal, the world's largest integrated steel producer.
History
Clifton and Frank A. Sherman founded Dominion Foundries and S ...
designed bolster-less trucks, the same that many Canadian MLW and GE designed locomotives ride on.
The first 3 MK5000C were long, while the last three were in length, all six were tall and wide. The MK5000C weighed .
Like most modern locomotives the MK5000C was microprocessor controlled, using an in-house designed system called the MK-LOC. This system monitored the performance of all aspects of the locomotive and controlled the power output as well as the traction control/adhesion of the locomotive. The MK5000C also had electro-pneumatic braking, provided by the EPIC 3102 air brake system which can be found on locomotives of other builders.
The MK5000C carried 5300 US gallons (20,100 L) of diesel, 246 US gal (931 L) of lubricating oil, and 320 gallons (1,210 L) of coolant. This coolant system was unlike that of most other North American locomotives, using a water/antifreeze mix; only with a few Caterpillar repowered switchers and the Electro Motive Division SD90MAC share this trait.
The MK5000C generated of continuous tractive effort, and produced around 35% adhesion on dry rail.
Appearance
The MK5000C at first look appears similar to many 1990s era
EMD locomotives. The MK5000C has a fuel tank and long hood that appear very similar to EMD designs; however mechanically the MK5000C shares very little in common with any EMD product.
History
Six were built, three in August 1994 for demonstration on the
Southern Pacific
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
numbered 501 to 503, and another three in August 1995 for demonstration on the
Union Pacific
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...
numbered 9901 to 9903. Due to termination of the MK Rail high horsepower program, neither railroad purchased the model, and the units were returned after one year of demonstrations. Production was stopped after the sale of MK Rail in 1996, and three more partially built units sat in storage until 2001, when their frames were scrapped by MK Rail successor
Motive Power
''Motive Power'' is a bi-monthly railway related magazine that focuses on diesel locomotives in Australia. The first issue was published on 23 August 1998. Its headquarters is in Sydney. The content includes photographs of locomotives & trains, ...
. One of the MK5000C cabs was used on
Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad
The Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad is a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Before its purchase, it was the largest Class II railroad in the United States, operating across South Dakota and southern Minnesota in ...
5000, a former
ATSF
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...
SD45B rebuilt into a SD50M-3. This unit is still in service as MPEX 5000, and can be found in lease service on various railroads in North America. The other six were leased briefly to
BC Rail
BC Rail is a railway in the Canadian province of British Columbia.
Chartered as a private company in 1912 as the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE), it was acquired by the provincial government in 1918. In 1972 it was renamed to the British ...
.
[New life for MK's Big Cats ''Trains'' January 1999 page 21]
In 2001 the
Utah Railway
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its we ...
tested and later acquired all six from
Wabtec
Wabtec Corporation (derived from Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation) is an American company formed by the merger of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) and MotivePower Industries Corporation in 1999. It is headquartered ...
, the owner of Motive Power. However, after one year of operation, all units were out of service due to problems with the main bearings on the Caterpillar 3612 diesel engine and Kato main alternator. The units were returned to Wabtec and had the Caterpillar 3612 and Kato main alternator removed and replaced with an EMD AR11 main alternator. At the same time, the engine blocks were replaced by EMD 3500 Horsepower
16-645F3B diesel engines from five retired Union Pacific
EMD SD50
The EMD SD50 is a diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. It was introduced in May 1981 as part of EMD's "50 Series"; production ceased in January 1986. The SD50 was a transitional model between EMD's Dash ...
and one retired Union Pacific
EMD GP50
An EMD GP50 is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD). It is powered by a 16-cylinder EMD 645F3B diesel engine, which can produce between . 278 examples of this locomotive were built by EMD b ...
locomotives. The six were reclassed with the designation MK50-3 and put back in service with the Utah Railway.
In March 2017, four units were prepared to be shipped to the
Kyle Railroad
The Kyle Railroad is a regional railroad line that runs from North Central Kansas into Eastern Colorado. It is based in Phillipsburg, Kansas and runs on track, mostly the former Rock Island Railroad Chicago to Denver main line. The Kyle was o ...
, a few months after Utah Railway's coal train contracts expired. A
BNSF
BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...
train picked up the four units and left with them on March 14, 2017. A fifth unit, left the Utah Railway in late March/April, and the final unit departed on April 6, 2017.
References
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{{MPI Locomotives
C-C locomotives
Diesel-electric locomotives of the United States
MPI locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1994
Standard gauge locomotives of the United States