ACE-G1-4000 Turbine Part 2

How the ACE-G1-4000 turbine come about. With the new way to power locomotives always on the drawing broad, companies all over the world are working on their ideals. The KV&O isn't a stranger in building locomotives. They have been rebuild locomotives since the late 70s at there shops at the Black Mountain Yards. The KV&O decided it would try there hand at building a turbine. The biggest decision to be made what kind of fuel they wanted to use. They looked at passed achievements and failures from other railroads. There was the Union Pacific Turbines that used Bunker C oil. Then The N&W, C&O, and also UP to test out steam turbine locomotives. The Bunker C oil turbines proved to be very reliable but with the cost of oil going up the KV&O decide on trying a steam turbine locomotive due to the main freight haul was coal and it was available at a moments notice.

The KV&O and GE discuses and came up with a plan. GE would come up with a engine and the KV&O would build the body and frame. With in a few month GE contacted KV&O with the plans for the engine and components and the KV&O started working on a frame and body. KV&O was well know for keeping there retired locomotives. They had a frame to a GG1 that had been rolled over during a derailment on the electrified division. The frame was still in good shape but the body was not repairable. The locomotive bed had been found. Purchased from a scrape dealer in California was a cab to a thought to been scraped Krauss-Maffei locomotive.

The frame was refurbished to the specs GE provided and the Krauss-Maffei cab was fitted to the frame. After a couple months GE delivered the engine and the locomotive started taking shape. The locomotive's body was build electric and piping ran and a tender was built.

The coal and water is loaded onto the tender but the coal is pulverized and mixed with a small amount of oil. it is then sent to the locomotive by connection pipes. There it heats the water to produce steam to turn the and turbine.

The next couple pictures are of the tender setting out side of the car shop and the nose of the locomotive (still in SP paint) sticking out of the paint shop waiting to get sand blasted.