FEC Class MD3

MD3
Type and origin Power type Diesel Builder Hugo Tractive Works Model Lp050A Build date 1979-1989 Total produced 224
Specifications Configuration: ​  • UIC Bo′Bo′ Gauge 1,668 mm (5 ft 5.7 in) Sylvan/'Colonial' gauge Wheel diameter 810 mm (31.89 in) Length 10,050 mm (33 ft 0 in) Width 3,600 mm (11 ft 10 in) Height 4,550 mm (14 ft 11 in) Loco weight 37 t (36 long tons; 41 short tons) Fuel capacity 1,070 l (240 imp gal; 280 US gal) Prime mover Koszalin Ke350-2 Engine type Four-stroke diesel engine Traction motors Hydro-mechanical Cylinders 12 Loco brake Knorr-Bremse hand brake
Performance figures Maximum speed 55 km/h (34 mph) Power output 370 kW (500 hp) 740 kW (990 hp) Tractive effort 74.55 kN (16,760 lbf)
Career Operators FEC Class MD3 Number in class 050

MD3 (model designation Lp050A) is the name of a Chilican diesel locomotive class made for the FEC by Hugo Tractive Works. The MD3 is part of the MD family of locomotives, small family of domestically designed and produced diesel locomotives in Chilicxqua from the 1970s and 80s during it's great reconstruction. In use, the MD3 and its smaller cousin, the MD4, is used primarily for shunting, but is also employed in cow-calf configurations for short-range cargo trips. The locomotive is heralded as one of the most important tools of the great reconstruction.

Technical Data

It is a decently small locomotive, with an independent locomotive having a 370kW power output engine. The engine is coupled to the wheel sets through a hydro-mechanical transmission with a quintuple gearbox.

Engine

The MD3 and the MD3B, the calf variant with two engines, are powered through a Koszalin Ke350-2, a four-stroke, twelve cylinder diesel engine that can be ignited either through a pneumatic starter system or through an electric starter system, the former being used in events where the batteries are dead. The Ke350-2 engine is notable for being used in the T-34-85 tank, the AFV having seen great use during Chilicxqua's War for Liberation. The choice to use these engines, and also buy others from Kolodiya, Polvokia, and Vihoslavia, was to save on costs since many mechanics that worked on these engines could be put to use fixing these locomotives. The engine was reputable for ease of maintenance and it's power.

Gearbox

MD3, MD4, and MD3B all share the same hydro-mechanical transmission with the same CeH050-series quintuple gearbox with a two speed range. While the CeH050 had a 55km/h top speed, it's first versions were far worse and temperamental in practice during the first years of production, resulting in train operators maintaining a slow 45km/h as the clutch either disintegrated or the transmission was assembled wrong, which could cause the system to stick, break entirely, or be borderline sluggish. This was all due to defects in the design of the transmission, poor materials available for manufacture, and poor quality control practices, which were only brought up to satisfactory levels come the second year of production. CeH050G, entering circulation in 1983, would be the final iteration of the transmission series after numerous redesigns, with only a 12% chance to fail.

Brakes

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