How a Diesel-Electric Locomotive Works

Peer deep into the workings of a heavy-haul freight locomotive, rendered in full 3D!

CREDITS
Jacob O'Neal - Modeling, animation, texturing, vfx, music, narrative script
Wesley O'Neal - Research, technical script

MUSIC
I composed the background music specifically for this video. Hear "Locomotion" on my Soundcloud:

PATREON
Help us keep making videos:

PRIVATE WORK
Need 3D illustration and animation? Let's chat:

WEBSITE
See more explanations of how things work:

SOFTWARE USED
We use Blender 3D to create these models. It's free and open source, and the community is amazing:

0:00 Intro
00:31 Body and frame
02:38 Coupling
04:14 Draft gear
04:58 Coupling cables
05:40 Engine
06:38 Turbocharging
08:31 Exhaust gas recirculation system (EGR)
09:06 Water
10:12 Electrical
10:31 Traction motors
12:02 Batteries
12:22 Trucks / bogies
14:30 Sand system
15:06 Braking
15:21 Pneumatic brake system
17:02 Dynamic braking system
19:00 Nose / Operator's cab
20:13 Operator controls
23:09 Engine control panel
24:06 Crew member's area
24:37 Final tour

Correction:
0:10 Before commenting, check the top pinned "VIDEO CORRECTIONS" thread.

[animagraffs]

VIDEO CORRECTIONS (complied from viewer comments):

For questions about fuel usage calculations:

From user @briancelidonia8258:
Some corrections (some nit-picky and some significant, mostly nitpicky):
00:00 Front door opens the other way on newer locomotives. This is in case the loco falls on over on the right side (blocking the rear exit door), the front door will flop open, allowing the crew to climb out without having to lift the door.
00:05 The small cranking transfer box shown on the left walkway has been removed for 10 years. (not mentioned in the description)
05:25 The "dummy" recepticle is shown having pins. The dummy doesn't have pins, that's why it is the dummy.
10:27 The Alternator Blower cooling air then cools the rectifier and inverters before exiting the loco. It does not just cool the alternator.
11:24 Only 4 inverter are shown on a 6 motor locomotive.
11:38 "This process may change". Not sure why it would. Inverter control uses "pulse width modulation" (PWM) or "six step" control to generate AC current wave-forms. There really are no other significantly different ways to do it.
12:10 The batteries are under the walkway, not under the aux cab. (way nit-picky on my part)
14:30 The sand boxes are only 1/4 the size that they should be. The nose cab boxes go all the way to the top where the fills are shown. Also, the rear sand fill is not on top of the radiators- maintainers could not reach that high to insert the sand fill hoses. The rear fill is actually about 6 feet above the deck...about eye level.
14:38 Most railroads do not use a 15 mph sand cutoff speed. Some have no cutoff at all. Some have different speeds depending on operating mode.
17:49 The stator exitation does not travel in reverse when the motor are in braking. It travels more slowly than rotor speed, but in the same direction.
When in motoring, it travels more quickly than rotor speed...thus "inducing" current into the induction motor. However, I will grant that for general illustrative purposes, it does kind of get the point across (but it does not accurately depict how an induction motor works)
18:18 Grids are show backwards. As shown, the super hot air would burn any person exiting the operator cab on the right side where the rear door is. Blowers should be on the right, hot air exiting on the left.
20:18 "Smart Displays" are no longer used. These are now "dumb displays" called "TCD's" (thin client displays)
24:18 There is no "Smart Display" on the helpers console. Not sure what is shown there but it could be an Auxilliary Speed Indicator (ASI) which displays locomotive speed to the Conductor.

[Heatsrepeat]

10 year Conductor here. Exceptional video with almost zero errors in information! This is more info than any railroad gives its employees on how this equipment works. Nice video!

[JaredOwen]

Keep 'em coming - love these animations!

[jamesdoyle]

When I retired as a locomotive machinist in 2018 this video represents state of the art at that time. Things like the second turbo are the result of ever stricter emissions requirements. This is video is an exceptional explanation of a diesel locomotive. Well done.

[MosesMatsepane]

I have worked for many years on locomotives, and this is absolutely amazing.

The Alerter system is called the "Vigilance System" in other parts of the world, I noticed that you put an extra effort to use both American and European descriptions for the components. Just throwing in my 2 cents, your video is already excellent.

[ScottSchapiro]

The time and effort that goes into the creation of these videos is very much recognized and appreciated. Keep up the great work!

[Xaenith]

"Babe wake up animagraffs uploaded"

[ffrige]

Not gonna lie. I’ve watched this particular video many many many times over and over again. It’s something about these animations that keep me intrigued. Your narration in these videos is absolutely outstanding. The way you seamlessly articulate the content is such a smooth and pleasant way whilst discussing an incredibly complex machine leaves me in awe. Had I been narrating this, all you’d be hearing is the phrase, “ummm”.

[proskills]

Better than any training video I've ever seen, and I work for UP as a loco mechanic! Great job. Detail, content, & narration are A+.

[thomask]

Well Done Jake! I'm retired now but worked for a railroad training department for 28 years as an instructor and manager that developed videos and CBT. Your delivery is exceptional! Kudos To You!

[ash.mystic]

Watching videos like this reminds me of how ingenious humans can be, and to not take inventions like this for granted. It’s a humbling experience to see all the engineering and optimizations that go into designing a complex system like this. And there are so many disciplines involved: chemistry, electrical engineering, thermodynamics, material science, etc. It’s so impressive!

[GeocentricKingdom]

I used to work on locomotive engines. This video is crazy accurate and well animated! :)

[TomTheDon_]

As a German train driver I'm impressed by the details. Very good job!!!

[JJRicks]

This is actually insane, I can't believe a video this good is free to watch. Absolutely incredible!!

[wharris]

Jake makes the videos we didn’t know we needed.

Instant like, sir. 👍🏾👍🏾

[robsan]

Railroader here, 22 yrs Switchman/Conductor and 21 yrs as locomotive engineer. This was really nicely done!

[darnit]

The intake air gets cooling, engine gets cooling, alternator gets cooling, traction motor gets cooling, the engineer gets cooling.

This is why diesel locomotives are so cool

[johnvrabec]

My father was a diesel locomotive mechanic. It still amazes me how these machines can pull the amount of freight that they can from a dead stop.

[davisdf]

Ah yes, the most efficient land transportation method ever invented. Such beautiful machines, and such a great video (the corrections on the pinned comment made it even better)!

[RonaldMayDMD-ntfd]

My grandfather was an engineer for Boston & Maine RR. Unfortunately he died before I ever had an opportunity to tour one of the massive movers!!!
I certainly appreciate these marvelous and exceptional videos!!!