Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 11, 2006

A gas turbine-electric locomotive, or GTEL, is a locomotive that uses a gas turbine to drive an electric generator or alternator. The electric current thus produced is used to power traction motors. The turbine (similar to a turboshaft engine) drives an output shaft, which drives the alternator via a system of gears. Aside from the unusual prime mover, a GTEL is very similar to a diesel-electric. In fact, the turbines built by GE used many of the same parts as their diesels. A few gas turbine locomotives used a mechanical transmission, and there were some steam turbine locomotives. Gas turbine locomotives are very powerful, but also tend to be very loud. This type of locomotive was first experimented with in 1920 but reached its peak in the 1950s to 1960s. Union Pacific Railroad operated the largest fleet of such locomotives of any railroad in the world, and was the only railroad to use them for hauling freight. Most other GTELs have been built for small passenger trains, and only a few have seen any real success in that role. After the 1973 oil crisis and the subsequent rise in fuel costs, gas turbine locomotives became uneconomical to operate, and many were taken out of service.

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