The ALCO DL560C is a series 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 ...

with AC electric transmission designed by the

American Locomotive Company The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

and produced under license 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 Foun ...

(BLW) Varanasi, India 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 ...

as their classes

WDM-2 The Indian locomotive class WDM-2 is a class of diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in 1962 by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), Diesel (D), Mixed traffic (M) engine, ...

, WDM-3A/2C,

WDM-3D The Indian locomotive class WDM-3D is a class of diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in 2003 by Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW), Varanasi for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), Diesel (D), Mixed traffic (M) engi ...

and

WDG-3A The Indian locomotive class WDG-3A is a class of diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in 1994 by Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW),Varanasi for Indian Railways. The model name stands for 5 ft 6 in gauge railway, broad-gauge (W), Diesel (D), ...

for operation in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. The locomotive is fitted with a 16-cylinder ALCO 251 B,C diesel engine. In the early 1960s

needed a reliable

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engi ...

workhorse to gradually replace its

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...

fleet. Equal numbers (40 each) of ALCO's DL560C and EMD's G16 were chosen for trials. More locomotives of each of these were purchased for more trials. Indian Railways was keen on producing these locomotives in the country rather than depending on imports. EMD did not agree for a Transfer-of-Technology, while

ALCO The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

did. Thus ALCO DL560C was chosen for the job due to its easy maintenance, reliability and simple operation. And from then on vast numbers of this loco in different configurations have been produced and remain the main diesel traction power of Indian Railways.

Indian Versions

There are four main variants of this loco, which are extensively modified for particular needs. They are, as follows:

WDM-2

The first loco of the type DL560C to arrive in India is WDM-2. Initial batches arrived from the ALCO manufacturing facility in ready-to-ride condition. And 12 more arrived from ALCO in, to be assembled kits. This loco remained as the workhorse of Indian Railways in the 20th century. This loco solely can haul 9 passenger and can haul 18 with the help of another WDM-2. This model had a maintenance schedule of 3000 km/10days. Later on, improving the fluid level and bearings, the schedule was increased to 30 days. The gear ratio being 65:18 and having a max speed of 120 km/h. JUMBOS (full-width short hood) and WDM-2A/2B are some of WDM-2s variants with minor modifications. The production began in the late 1960s, and went on till the late 1990s. They are being eventually retired. They belong to series 18xxx, 17xxx and 16xxx.

WDM-3A/2C

WDM-3A, previously known as WDM-2C, are more powerful than the previous WDM-2 version by 500 hp. The first loco was delivered in 1994. This loco was capable of doing the work of two WDM-2S. They too had a top speed of 120 km/h. The gear ratio is same as that of WDM-2. There are some locomotives whose maximum hp has been tuned close to 3900 hp and named as WDM-3A. They are still under production. WDM-3C is an upgraded loco from its previous WDM-3A. Their series is 14xxx.

WDM-3D

This is the latest and the most advanced variant of all the available ALCOs. The WDM-3D are fitted with micro-processors. This variant has enhanced cabin facilities including left hand driving. This loco also has some features borrowed from its mate

EMD GT46PAC The EMD GT46PAC or WDP4 is a passenger-hauling diesel-electric locomotive with AC electric transmission designed by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and built by both GM-EMD and under license by Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW) of Varanasi, ...

. Features such as microprocessors to detect wheel slipping and phased manner power supply, monitoring engine parameters are incorporated from the latest

. This proved this variant a real success. Serial production began in 2005 and almost all diesel broad gauge sheds were allotted with this loco. The minor variants of this loco include WDM–3E and WDM–3F. They belong to series 11xxx.

WDG-3A

WDG-3A, previously known as WDG-2 were designed owing to the problems which arose with WDM-2 on hauling freight. This loco normally hauls freight. The common problems were poor ride quality, lateral oscillations, and poor traction with heavy loads. First loco was manufactured in 1995. The gear ratio is 74:18. This loco has a balancing speed of 69 km/h with a load of 58 BOXN wagons (Max. speed 100 km/h). This variant is being gradually modernized to the level of WDM-3Ds. Some of its minor improvements include WDG-3B, WDG-3C and WDG-3D. Their series are in 14501-14999 and 13000–13665. Last one built for Indian Railway was 13665 rolled out in 2012. Total 1171 were built for Indian Railways and a considerable number were supplied to non Railway customers like thermal power plants, port trusts and steel plants.

WDM-7

They are lower powered (2000 HP instead of 2600 HP) version of the WDM-2. These locomotives were built from 1987 to 1989. A few were at

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the Central Business District of the city of Kochi in Kerala, India and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Many major establishments, including the Kerala High Court, the office of the Kochi Municipal Corporation a ...

earlier, but later all were transferred to

Tondiarpet Tondiarpet is a northern neighbourhood of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Etymology This area got its name from a famous nineteenth-century Muslim Saint Kunangudi Masthan Sahib. His birthplace is located near Thondi in Ramanathapuram District. H ...

seen shunting at Chennai Central or for light passenger haulage. Some are at the thermal power station, Chennai. They were formerly housed at

Erode Erode () is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Erode is the seventh largest urban agglomeration in the state, after Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Tiruppur and Salem. It is also the administrative headquarters of the ...

and Golden Rock also. They are reliable and rugged locomotives even though low powered. They can be easily recognized by the lack of grilles on the short hood. Two locomotives are running on a mixture of bio-diesel and diesel. All 15 are still in service.

Export versions

Sri Lanka

WDM-2 - Class M8 In Sri Lanka Eight WDM-2 locomotives were purchased by the

Sri Lanka Railways The Sri Lanka Railway Department (more commonly known as Sri Lanka Railways (SLR)) ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා දුම්රිය සේවය ''Śrī Laṃkā Dumriya Sēvaya''; Tamil: இலங்கை புகையிரத ...

, the state run railroad operator in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in 1996. They were the longest and most powerful locomotives at that time. They were allocated the M8 class. However, some modifications to the appearance were done by SLR. These locomotives belong to road number 841 to 848 and all are still operational.

Bangladesh

Ten WDM-2 locomotives were purchased by

Bangladesh Railway Bangladesh Railway ( bn, বাংলাদেশ রেলওয়ে) is the state-owned rail transport agency of Bangladesh. It operates and maintains all railways in the country, and is overseen by the Directorate General of Bangladesh Ra ...

in 2001. They were the most powerful locomotives at that time. They were allocated Class 6400 or BED-26 numbered from 6401 to 6410. All are fitted with air brake and

AAR coupling Janney couplers are a semi-automatic form of railway coupling that allow rail cars and locomotives to be securely linked together without rail workers having to get between the vehicles. They are also known as American, AAR, APT, ARA, MCB, knuck ...

. Unlike their Indian counterparts, these locomotives do not have the dynamic braking system. All locomotives are still in service. On 27 July 2020

(IR) handed over 10

diesel locomotives to

s under its “grant assistance” plan. The vehicles cost an estimated ₹600m ($US 8m) to manufacture.

Manufacturers

They were manufactured and designed by

. Now they are licensed produced by BLW and are overhauled and rebuilt by DLMW. The rebuilt locos carry an 'R' behind their serial number.

Users

The locomotive is used by the following zones of Indian Railways: * South Western Railway * Southern Railway * Central Railway *

South Central Railway The South Central Railway (abbreviated SCR) is one of the 19 zones of Indian Railways. The jurisdiction of the zone is spread over the states of Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh. It has three divisions under its administrati ...

* South Coast Railway * Northern Railway *

North Western Railway The North Western Railway (abbreviated NWR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India. It is headquartered at Jaipur,Rajasthan with 59,075+ employees, 658+ stations and a route length of more than 5761 km across at least some parts of four ...

Northeast Frontier Railway The Northeast Frontier Railway (abbreviated NFR) is one of the 19 railway zones of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered in Maligaon, Guwahati in the state of Assam, and responsible for operation and expansion of rail network all across No ...

* West Central Railway *

East Central Railway The East Central Railway (abbreviated ECR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India. It is headquartered at Hajipur and comprises Sonpur, Samastipur, Danapur, Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, and Dhanbad divisions. History First set up on 8 ...

* Western Railway * South East Central Railway *

East Coast Railway The East Coast Railway (abbreviated ECoR) is one of the 19 railway zones of Indian Railways. It came into existence on 1 April 2003. The headquarters of the zone are at Bhubaneswar, Odisha History Consequent upon the parliament's approval, Ea ...

North Central Railway The North Central Railway (abbreviated NCR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India. The largest railway station in NCR is Kanpur Central. It is headquartered at Prayagraj and comprises three divisions: Allahabad division, Jhansi division, A ...

* North Eastern Railway * Eastern Railway * South Eastern Railway In addition, DL560Cs were exported to * Peru. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DL560C DL560C ALCo DL560C 5 ft 6 in gauge locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1962