Other 2-strokes

[Iceni John]

Turn up the volume.

And because Detroits are not the only 2-strokes, here's a clip of a lovely old Foden with a 2-stroke of Foden's own design.   Foden was one of England's venerable lorry makers, starting with steam traction engines and ending with modern trucks for the military, and they were always highly regarded.   The air-shift 3 x 4 gearbox is interesting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pwhm_xoDiY

And for something else familiar yet very different, how about a 3-cylinder engine with 6 pistons and only one crankshaft (work that one out!), the legendary Commer TS-2.   I rode in an old Commer bus once, and my memory to this day is that it was LOUD!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0sLp7wvq60

No power steering in those days.

And if we think our Detroits are sometimes smoky, we've got nothing to worry about:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViqtdExYDRU
36 cylinders, 72 pistons, 6 crankshafts, and not a single valve.   Now that's music to my ears.

John

[Jeremy]

Watching those old British trucks reminds me that I found out recently that the classic 1950s movie 'Helldrivers' was based upon real events involving the dump truck drivers taking gravel away from the gravel pits which is now the reservoir that I sail at every week!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051713/

Jeremy

[CrabbyMilton]

That's interesting stuff there. I never heard a locomotive sound quiet like that before.

[Iceni John]

When you have all those pistons doing their thing at 1500 RPM crankshaft speed, it sounds "busy".   Actually the Deltics are almost noisier at idle  -  they then have a deep thrum that resonates through your whole body when you walk past them.   3300 HP, 99 tons, 100 MPH  -  like Concorde, there's never been anything like them ever since.   The biblical amounts of smoke is because unburnt fuel and oil collects in their mufflers after idling for more than a few minutes, then when the driver gives it some welly it gets blown out of the exhaust system.   Occasionally their exhausts used to catch fire, but they would usually burn themselves out after a few minutes, not a big deal!   The white smoke smells completely different to their usual bluish/grey exhaust, and even that smells different to a 4-stroke's exhaust  -  when I was a gricer at school we used to try and guess the class of loco by their smell!

I think that growing up with Deltics and Commer Knockers has given me an appreciation now for 2-stroke diesels.   I could have bought a Crown Super II with a Cummins or a Cat, but what's the fun in that?   There were even a few Detroits used in some Bedford trucks, but curiously the Dutch these days have the greatest appreciation of them.   I'm glad that Caterpillar has kept the EMD design alive, so I guess that big 2-stroke diesels still have a future here.

John        

[TomC]

Now all the container ships are powered by one, sometimes two huge-up to 14 cylinder 2 stroke engines. They have up to a meter in diameter piston (39") with 137" stroke (yes that's over 11ft!) running at a maximum of 82rpm. Piston speed wise that's like our 71 or 92 series (both have 5" strokes) running at 2,246rpm! Good Luck, TomC