General Electric Company

Thomas C Sonney

Robert Douglas Cryer

Richard H Holmes

John E Kleiner

Gail Leroy Detar

Allen C Bieber

Douglas William Miller

Geoffrey Perkins

Bhupinder Singh Dayal

Charles Joseph Waugaman

Harold Edward Rinn

Frederick William Schulze

Dennis William McAndrew

John Paul Kralik

Keith A Condran

William Joseph Ruprecht, Iii

Matthew Lee Swedberg

John Albert Mayle

A system () for ensuring the quality of lubricating oil in an engine of a locomotive without the need for specialized diagnostic and fluid handling systems on the locomotive. A test portion () of lubricating oil is removed from the engine and is analyzed at an oil analysis center () to determine an oil quality parameter (). The oil quality parameter is used as an input to a calculator () to determine a quantity of oil () that must be replaced by fresh oil during a current maintenance outage in order to ensure that the engine oil quality will remain acceptable throughout a forthcoming operating period. In this manner, a complete change-out of the lubricating oil may be delayed or avoided. The oil replacement decision and quantity is communicated to a service center () via a communications link such as the Internet () prior to the arrival of the locomotive at the service center. The used oil may be removed from the engine using a portable transfer device and mixed with fuel in a fuel storage tank for subsequent refueling of other locomotives.

Lubricant management method for a vehicle

Disclosed herein are methods for detecting a water leak in a locomotive engine cooling system comprising numerous components, each being a potential source of leakage of water. The method typically comprises performing at least one inspection providing an indication of a water leak from an engine cooling system of the locomotive. The step of performing at least one inspection may comprise at least one of several steps including performing a visual inspection to determine if water is leaking from a portion of the cooling system external to the engine; performing a visual inspection of exhaust of the engine to detect an indication of water vapor in the exhaust; performing a visual inspection to detect an indication of water leaking into an intake air manifoldof the engine; performing an engine oil analysis to detect water in the engine lubricant; reviewing a fault log history for the locomotive; and checking a level of a cooling system sight glass. The method allows for the isolation of potential sources of the water leak from one another so as to prevent false positive leak identification caused by transient water flow between the potential sources. If an engine cylinder assembly is a component identified as a potential source of the water leak during the water pressurization test, the method enables further testing to confirm leakage at such cylinder assembly, before undertaking the costly and time-consuming process of removing the cylinder assembly from the engine. Cylinder assemblies can be tested for leaks by performing an air leak test disclosed herein.

Method of detecting a water leak in a locomotive

A locomotive assembly having a longitudinally extending platform and attached sidewalls with a frontal nosepiece extending about a front portion of the platform. The locomotive having a connection device for connecting components to hollow supports in the sidewalls without deforming the sidewalls, a bulkhead with an attached portion for preassembly components thereon before insertion between the sidewalls, a window assembly sealingly disposed in an opening within the sidewall and attached to the sidewall to allow limited relative movement without disrupting the seal, an enclosed headlight assembly flush mounted in the nosepiece with air circulation to prevent overheating within the assembly and an integral collision assembly for transferring collision forces to the platform.

Bulkhead assembly for a monocoque locomotive

Monocoque locomotive

Growing community of inventors

Wattsburg, PA, United States of America

Thomas C Sonney