The Indian locomotive class WDG-4 (EMD GT46MAC) is a type of six-axle ( Co-Co)

freight In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in ...

-hauling

diesel–electric locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

with AC electric transmission designed by General Motors Electro-Motive Diesel in 1997–1998 for

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

, where they are classed as WDG-4. Derived from the EMD SD70MAC, it is powered by a 16-cylinder

EMD 710G3B The EMD 710 is a line of diesel engines built by Electro-Motive Diesel (previously General Motors' Electro-Motive Division). The 710 series replaced the earlier EMD 645 series when the 645F series proved to be unreliable in the early 1980s 50-se ...

prime mover. Thirteen were built by EMD as order #958647, and a further eight were exported in kit form and assembled in India. The class entered service in 1999. A Dedicated Passenger version of this locomotive, the WDP-4 ( EMD GT46PAC), has also been produced, with a Bo1-1Bo Wheel Configuration, which entered service in 2001. These locomotives are also famous for, and can be identified by, the distinct Jet Turbine Engine–like sounding property of the EMD 710 prime mover. Further construction has been under license in India by the Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW), with the first purely indigenously built WDG-4 locomotive, numbered 12022, that rolled out in 2002. More than 60 additional locomotives have been built . They are numbered from #12001 upward. , EMD and DLW have begun building GT46ACe's using

IGBT An insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is a three-terminal power semiconductor device primarily forming an electronic switch. It was developed to combine high efficiency with fast switching. It consists of four alternating layers (NPNP) that ...

technology to replace the older

gate turn-off thyristor A gate turn-off thyristor (GTO) is a type of high-power (e.g. 1200 V AC) thyristor that unlike a normal thyristor is fully controllable and can be turned On and Off by their gate lead. It was invented by General Electric. Device descrip ...

technology and along with increase of 500 hp, ie, , using the Newly tweaked EMD 16N-710G3B-EC, like the passenger

WDP-4B The Indian locomotive class WDP-4 (EMD GT46PAC) is a passenger-hauling diesel–electric locomotive with AC electric transmission designed by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and built by both GM-EMD and under license by Banaras Locomotiv ...

have been produced. Newer versions with widened ''Piggy-face'' cab profile for enhanced visibility, just like the later variants of WDP-4's and WDP-4B's were also produced. , DLW began building the Dual Cab version, EMD JT46ACe, called WDG-4D, based on the passenger variant

WDP-4D The Indian locomotive class WDP-4 (EMD GT46PAC) is a passenger-hauling diesel–electric locomotive with AC electric transmission designed by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and built by both GM-EMD and under license by Banaras Locomoti ...

locos, same for both-side visibility. Here again, many features, including IGBT and 4,500 hp have been carried on from the single cab GT46ACe's. The first WDG-4D, numbered 12681, is named "Vijay". Later WDG-4D's were numbered from 70301, as the 12*** series came to an end in 2014 and got switched to 70*** series. Over 1,500 such locomotives, including both WDG-4's and WDG-4D's are currently in operation. Indian Railways has also developed the WDG-4 series into EMD GT50AC (aka WDG-5), using a v20-710G prime mover, based on the

SD80MAC The EMD SD80MAC was a C-C diesel-electric locomotive. It was powered by a 20-cylinder version of EMD's 710G prime mover, and was the second diesel locomotive by GM-EMD to use a V20 engine, since EMD's SD45 series. It introduced a wide radiato ...

, rated at 5,500 HP (4,130 kW). However, this locomotive has turned out to be a Failure, due to various reasons. Since the year 2017, BLW (DLW then) began manufacturing such locomotives for Non-Railway Customers. The first such locomotive, which would be a Dual-Cab WDG-4D, rolled out to serve Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC), in March 2017. Three WDG-4D locomotives currently serve OPGC. As of 2024, two new Single-Cab ''Piggy-face'' WDG-4 locomotives have been manufactured and rolled out for Obra Thermal Power Station, based at Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh.

Locomotive sheds

Non-Railway Operators

References

External links

Detailed Specifications for the WDG4
{{DEFAULTSORT:WDG-4 G-4 Co-Co locomotives Banaras Locomotive Works locomotives G46TMAC 5 ft 6 in gauge locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1997

Locomotive sheds

Non-Railway Operators

See also

References

External links