The Indian locomotive class WDP-3A also known as Toaster is a class of

diesel-electric locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels ...

that was developed in 1998 by

Banaras Locomotive Works The Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW) (formerly Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW)) in Varanasi, India, is a production unit of Indian Railways. DLW stopped manufacturing diesel locomotives in March 2019 and was renamed BLW in Oct 2020. History Founde ...

, Varanasi 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), Diesel (D), Passengers traffic (P) locomotive with 3100 horsepower (3A). The WDP-3A is a later classification of earlier WDP-2. They entered service in 1998. A total of 44 were built between 1998 and 2001. They are the Fastest ALCo based locomotive found in India with a Top speed of 160 km/h, on par with the premier Electric Locomotives. The WDP-3A served IR for over 24 years. A significant number of these locomotives are still in use, both on mainline and departmental duties. As of June 2022, few of the locomotives still retain "operational status" on the mainline as WDP-3A, with further examples having been Scrapped.

History

The first one was delivered in October 1998, under the name of WDP-2. 44 units produced until February 2001 (Indian Railway road number 15501-15544) had dual cab forward design different from other classes of locos built by DLW ( WDM3A, WDG3A and WDP1). These new locomotives have control stand similar to many electric locomotives. They are the re-geared versions of the

WDM-3A The Indian locomotive class WDM-3A is a class of diesel–electric locomotive that was developed in 1993 by Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW), Varanasi for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), Diesel (D), Mixed traffic (M ...

. This was IR's attempt to build a high speed loco on ALCO platform. But the EMD locos came with a much better performance with higher HP rating to kill the prospect of WDP3As. These units have air brakes only and the gear ratio is 64:19. These locos (WDP-2s then) were introduced initially the Chennai Egmore - Kanyakumari Section, hauling many Prestigious trains like the ''

Pallavan Express Pallavan Express is an Intercity express typed superfast service operated by the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways. This service connects the cities of Chennai to Karaikudi via Tiruchirappalli in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Th ...

Vaigai Express The Vaigai Superfast Express is a Intercity express typed super fast express train running daily between Madurai and Chennai via Tiruchirappalli operated by Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways. Due to the demand for a day train betwe ...

Rockfort Express The Rockfort Express is a Superfast Express overnight Express rail connecting Tiruchirappalli with Chennai Egmore via Villupuram in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This train serves as the main connectivity to the state capital Chennai ...

Nellai Express Nellai Express is a Superfast train operated by the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways. It runs on all days connecting with via Villupuram Junction, Tiruchirappalli Junction and Madurai Junction through the chord line. It is now ...

'' and ''

Pothigai Express The Pothigai Express is an overnight Superfast train service operated between Chennai Egmore and Sengottai Route The service traverses via Villupuram, Trichy, Madurai, Sivakasi, Rajapalayam and Sankarankovil on the Southern Railway zone of ...

'' to name a few. A problem with the WDP-3A was that it would get uncomfortably hot inside the driving cabin on the radiator side and the locos were nicknamed “toasters” by the locomotive pilots. The WDP3A was best known for hauling the '' Trivandrum Rajdhani'' and later on the ''

Mumbai CSMT - Karmali Tejas Express Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

'' through the

Konkan Railway The Konkan Railway (abbreviated KR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India with its headquarters at CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The first passenger train ran on Konkan railway tracks on 20 March 1993, between Udupi and ...

at a top speed of 120 kmh single-handedly. In 2018, a couple of GOC Based WDP3A locomotives were rebuilt at DMW Patiala with better bogies for Riding comfort. Such Rebuilt toasters bear the suffix 'R' to their road numbers. However, due to age issues and cracking of bogie underframes, the WDP3A locomotives of DLS GOC and KYN were withdrawn gradually from hauling passenger trains and were relegated to hauling departmental rakes. In 2021, GOC announced the Withdrawal of all WDP3A's in their shed and a few WDP3A's were sent to Ponmalai Workshop for scrapping. 15501 is To be preserved. All WDP-3A locomotives of KYN DLS were condemned in January 2022 and scrapped at DLS.

Locomotive sheds

Former sheds

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 ...

Gallery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:WDP-3A P-3A Banaras Locomotive Works locomotives Co-Co locomotives 5 ft 6 in gauge locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1994

History

Locomotive sheds

Former sheds

Gallery

See also

References