English Electric DC Generator 2

[Zoidberg]

Are there any ex English Electric Company Electrical Engineers or others with knowledge on English Electric equipment.

I have a EE 319-7E DC generator (in a DE locomotive). The armature fromm this unit failed. A replacement is available, but is a 319-4A. Does anyone know what the suffixes refer to. There are also other 319 variants , 319-3C, 319-8F, 319-18F

Cheers

 

[jbartos]

Suggestion: Normally, this kind of information is traced over the manufacturer literature. The manufacturer should appear on the generator nameplate.

 

[ScottyUK]

jB,

English Electric is a very famous company, but sadly it no longer exists.

Zoidberg,

Have you considered enquiring in the railroad engineering forum?

 

[UKpete]

I don't know what the suffixes mean, the problem is that English Electric (whose works was the Vulcan Foundry of Newton-le-Willows in the UK) were absorded into GEC Traction back in 1972, there being no further machines manufactured under the EE name after this date. English Electric built complete locomotives including the diesel engines and all the electrical equipment in-house.

Even GEC Traction is now gone, and I think the engineers from the time of the 319 production (1950's and 60's) will no longer be with us. I worked for a rival company in the UK.

What I can tell you is that there are still some 319-3C main generators around, they were used on the original Type 1 British Railways locos later called the Class 20, built between 1957 and 1968, and this generator was a single-bearing type coupled to an English Electric 8SVT mkII diesel engine rated at 1000hp, 850rpm. The 319-3C has a continuous rating of 1070A at 600V dc, and using battery power was also used to start the engine. Outboard of the generator was an auxiliary generator, an EE911-2B.

On the later GEC traction machines the suffixes referred to minor mechanical and electrical variations, this practice was probably carried over from EE. As you can imagine, there must have been a few variants in terms of mechanical interfaces with the main generator being fitted between a diesel engine and an auxiliary generator, although this may not have affected the armature. I wouldn't like to suggest that any of the 319s would be mechanically compatible with the 7E, I just don't know (but I wouldn't mind betting that the armature diameter and core length are the same).

Is there no chance of repairing the original armature? Bear in mind, any replacements are going to be old too. Alternatively, modify if necessary one of the replacement types to suit?

 

[jbartos]

Suggestion to ScottyUK (Electrical) Dec 19, 2003 marked ///\\jB,
English Electric is a very famous company, but sadly it no longer exists.
///This often happens in electrical and electronic industries. It appears that there might be a service firm or a maintenance depot that might possess the sought information.\\

 

[jbartos]

Suggestion: Visit

http://www.55s.co.uk/manuals.htm

for EE manuals

 

[Zoidberg]

Thanks UK Pete. I would be interested in locating some of the 319-3C units (ex 20 Class). Can you provide contact details for persons or organisations who might be scrapping or have these units available. I would also be interested in other suitable EE spares (both electrical and mechanical), as we have other EE locomotives in operation.

 

[jbartos]

Suggestion: Visit

http://www.55s.co.uk/

for more info on UK Diesel-Electric locomotives.

 

[UKpete]

Zoidberg, I run the risk of overloading you with information here, but here goes.

Nearly all the EE locomotive output from the mid-50s stayed in the UK, either with British Railways or the National Coal Board (both organizations now defunct). Only a fairly small proportion are left in service now, notably the class 08, class 20 and the class 37. The ex-British Rail EE locos (all diesel-electric)were:
Class 08 (350hp 0-6-0 shunter)
Class 20 (1000hp Bo-Bo)
Class 37 (1750hp Co-Co)
Class 40 (2000hp 1Co-Co1)
Class 50 (2700hp Co-Co)
Class 55 (3300hp Co-Co)
As you may know, the UK railways were privatised back in 1993 and we are left with many private companies separately owning, operating or maintaining the fleet. It's a bit of a mess frankly.

There are two ways of looking for EE spares, either in the preservation scene or the professional market. There are hundreds of preserved locos in the UK, EE locos alone have the following organizations which own locos:

http://www.ctls.org.uk/index.htm

http://www.c37lg.co.uk/

http://www.cfps.co.uk/

http://www.fiftyfund.org.uk/index1.htm

http://www.thedps.co.uk/

Many of these organizations (and others too numerous to mention) will possess spares, many of which were reclaimed from locos destined for scrap.

If you are particularly interested in the Class 20, here is a list of present owners of these locos:

http://www.railwayscene.co.uk/list.php?class=Class 20

(this site lists the owners of each individual loco in service in the UK)

http://www.preserved-diesels.co.uk/engines/20/index.htm

(this site lists all the owners of the preserved locos)

The present main operator of the class 20 is:

http://www.directrailservices.com/

They own several locos now out of service but retained for spares.

Among the professional organizations that may be of assistance are as follows:

http://www.hnrc.co.uk/index.html

http://www.rmslocotec.com/

Also in the market is the company I used to work for

http://www.brushtraction.com

they actually did the refurbishment of some of the class 20s for DRS, although I was not involved in this work. I don't think they hold any spares, they just do the refurbishment work.

Incidentally, there is also EE equipment still in service on the UK passenger EMU fleet, although it is slowly being withdrawn. There are hundreds of EE507 185kW traction motors about to become surplus to requirements.

If I can be of any further help, let me know.