I ride the Metra commuter train to work in the Chicago and am curious how much fuel such a locomotive burns.?

Question

In terms of MPG or gallons per mile. approximatly 6-10 passenger cars is typical.

Answer 1

Miles per gallon is a benchmark suited to automobiles and highway trucking.

When speaking of railroad, the benchmark is "Ton Miles Per Gallon".  Using this form of calculation provides a better concept of fuel efficiency.

On older EMD locomotives, such as SD-40s, SD-45s or SD-45 T2s (and probably the SD-60s as well, although of this I am unsure), the "prime mover", which is the diesel engine in a diesel electric locomotive, burns fuel at 196 gallons per hour, under load, at full throttle, aka "Run 8," aka "full rack," ('rack' in this instance refers to the 'injector racks').

The good news is, once the tonnage has reached track speed, the engines can be throttled back, making use of the inertia of the moving tonnage.  Obviously, at this point, the ton miles per gallon of fuel burned is quite high.

The newer locomotive prime movers burn fuel at a rate around 168 gallons per hour in run 8, making them even more efficient.

Ascending a grade, however, more often than not all locomotives in the consist are in run 8, for a long time, at a slow speed.  So, TMPG takes a major nose dive.

When idling, the locomotives ferenced above burn fuel at 6 gallons per hour at idle, and slightly more at "fast idle", where the motor idles at a higher speed during freezing weather.  Once upon a time, when fuel was dirt cheap, the engines were always left running, so that continual heating and cooling would not hasten metal fatigue in internal moving parts.

Not any more.  When considering a power roster as extensive as that of the Union Pacific, coupled with current fuel prices, running engines contantly, one looks at perhaps 3 to 5 million dollars a DAY for fuel for idling engines.

Good question.  Thanks for asking.

Answer 2

I know on the bigger freight trains on the BNSF the locomotives carry 4000+ gallons of fuel. They usually top the engines off in Chicago, refill them in Kansas City, again in Belen, NM and again in Barstow, CA. so for every 1000 or so miles they burn off 3500-4000 gallons, but of course they are carrying anwhere from 5000 to 17000 tons. Passenger trains such as Metra, Amtrak and others make me wonder, just how fuel efficient are they? I would figure with their stramlined design and limited weight, (i think the max is 5000 tons.) they probably get maybe about 20 or 30 mpg but since they spend a lot of time idleing then they lose about 10% of their fuel.

A recent report by the CREATE program in Chicago said that nearly 3000 gallons of fuel a day are wasted by the Metra Trains that are idleing at Ogilvie Transportation Center or at Union Station. I am not sure if this is exactly what your looking for but I hope this helps.

Answer 3

Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC) for one of the new METRA locomotives (built by MotivePower in Boise, ID), using an EMD 645E3B engine rated for 3600 bhp @ 926 RPM, is around 0.370 lb/bhp-hr or roughly 1344 lbs./hr. Diesel fuel oil is around 7 lbs./gallon, making fuel consumption 192 gal./hr. @ notch 8.

Answer 4

No idea...but good luck with your search!

Answer 5

Considering a single train car weighs about 80,000 lbs, and carries about 40 passengers, the MPG per passenger would be equivilent to one person riding in a 2,000 lb auto powered by a diesel engine, so the MPG would probably average around 35 MPG per passenger.

I'd estimate that a train of 10 cars carrying a total of 400 passengers at an average of 35mph would burn about one gallon of diesel per passenger per hour, or around 10 gallons per mile.

That's not as efficient as you might think, but probably why trains have largely been replaced by automobiles which are about as efficient, but more flexible.  Either mode of transportation takes about the same amount of natural resources and land.

Answer 6

none when it is parked...sorry that's the best i can do for ya