Materfer (an acronym for Material Ferroviario S.A. ) is an Argentine manufacturer of railway and road vehicles, located in the city of Ferreyra in Córdoba Province . The company was established by Fiat Concord in the late 1950s, being its subsidiary until 1980 when Sevel Argentina took over Fiat vehicles.
99-571: Materfer has built several types of rolling stock in its history, such as diesel locomotives , coaches and trams , most of them for the state-owned company Ferrocarriles Argentinos which operated trains within Argentina from 1948 to 1991. The company has also exported its products to Cuba , Bolivia , Uruguay and Chile . Materfer owns a 66,000-square-metre (710,000 sq ft) factory with 200 machines, mainly electrofusion , folding , sheet metal cutters and overhead crane machines. In
198-471: A consist respond in the same way to throttle position. Binary encoding also helps to minimize the number of trainlines (electrical connections) that are required to pass signals from unit to unit. For example, only four trainlines are required to encode all possible throttle positions if there are up to 14 stages of throttling. North American locomotives, such as those built by EMD or General Electric , have eight throttle positions or "notches" as well as
297-429: A "reverser" to allow them to operate bi-directionally. Many UK-built locomotives have a ten-position throttle. The power positions are often referred to by locomotive crews depending upon the throttle setting, such as "run 3" or "notch 3". In older locomotives, the throttle mechanism was ratcheted so that it was not possible to advance more than one power position at a time. The engine driver could not, for example, pull
396-609: A Rational Heat Motor ). However, the large size and poor power-to-weight ratio of early diesel engines made them unsuitable for propelling land-based vehicles. Therefore, the engine's potential as a railroad prime mover was not initially recognized. This changed as research and development reduced the size and weight of the engine. In 1906, Rudolf Diesel, Adolf Klose and the steam and diesel engine manufacturer Gebrüder Sulzer founded Diesel-Sulzer-Klose GmbH to manufacture diesel-powered locomotives. Sulzer had been manufacturing diesel engines since 1898. The Prussian State Railways ordered
495-399: A consortium formed by many FIAT subsidiaries operating in Argentina. The company built a factory to manufacture rolling stock in the country to provide goods for Ferrocarriles Argentinos , the state-owned company that operated all the railway network then. The factory started operations in 1958, producing Materfer's first diesel multiple unit , the 7131 , in 1962. Between 1956 and 1968,
594-657: A consortium of Italian and Argentine companies, "Gruppo Aziende Italo Argentine" (GAIA), is founded to manufacture spares and parts for the GAIA locomotives . In 1958 the Ministry of Transport of Argentina signed an agreement with Fiat Ferroviaria to acquire 210 brand-new railcars . Those machines were formed by 2 units powered by a FIAT diesel engine at 660 HP . The railcars could reach speeds of 115 km/h. Their low weight made them suitable to run on any railway line. The vehicles also had two driver cabins, one on each end of
693-592: A diesel locomotive from the company in 1909, and after test runs between Winterthur and Romanshorn , Switzerland, the diesel–mechanical locomotive was delivered in Berlin in September 1912. The world's first diesel-powered locomotive was operated in the summer of 1912 on the same line from Winterthur but was not a commercial success. During test runs in 1913 several problems were found. The outbreak of World War I in 1914 prevented all further trials. The locomotive weight
792-504: A diesel-driven charging circuit. ALCO acquired the McIntosh & Seymour Engine Company in 1929 and entered series production of 300 hp (220 kW) and 600 hp (450 kW) single-cab switcher units in 1931. ALCO would be the pre-eminent builder of switch engines through the mid-1930s and would adapt the basic switcher design to produce versatile and highly successful, albeit relatively low powered, road locomotives. GM, seeing
891-465: A flashover (also known as an arc fault ), which could result in immediate generator failure and, in some cases, start an engine room fire. Current North American practice is for four axles for high-speed passenger or "time" freight, or for six axles for lower-speed or "manifest" freight. The most modern units on "time" freight service tend to have six axles underneath the frame. Unlike those in "manifest" service, "time" freight units will have only four of
990-577: A major manufacturer of diesel engines for marine and stationary applications, in 1930. Supported by the General Motors Research Division, GM's Winton Engine Corporation sought to develop diesel engines suitable for high-speed mobile use. The first milestone in that effort was delivery in early 1934 of the Winton 201A, a two-stroke , mechanically aspirated , uniflow-scavenged , unit-injected diesel engine that could deliver
1089-497: A nearly imperceptible start. The positioning of the reverser and movement of the throttle together is conceptually like shifting an automobile's automatic transmission into gear while the engine is idling. Belgrano Norte Line (Buenos Aires) The Belgrano Norte line is a commuter rail service in Buenos Aires , Argentina run by the private company Ferrovías since 1 April 1994. This service had previously been run by
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#17327830276291188-566: A promotional tool to advertise passenger rail service in the United States . In 1962, the 7131, a railcar manufactured by FIAT Concord, made its debut in the Villa Ballester – Zárate and Victoria – Capilla del Señor sections of General Mitre Railway , then managed by Ferrocarriles Argentinos . Those light cars replaced Ganz Works railcars that had been run on those lines since 1938. In 1964, 27 coaches built by Aerfer ,
1287-690: A prototype trolleybus for the Mendoza trolleybus system , based on designs developed by that system's operator, the Empresa Provincial de Transportes de Mendoza (EPTM). The completed vehicle, which was the first trolleybus built in Argentina in 24 years, was delivered in March 2013 and entered service in June. It is an 11.23-metre (36.8 ft), low-floor design. In July 2013, EPTM placed an order with Materfer for 12 production-series trolleybuses of
1386-421: A prototype diesel–electric locomotive for "special uses" (such as for runs where water for steam locomotives was scarce) using electrical equipment from Westinghouse Electric Company . Its twin-engine design was not successful, and the unit was scrapped after a short testing and demonstration period. Industry sources were beginning to suggest "the outstanding advantages of this new form of motive power". In 1929,
1485-486: A real prospect with existing diesel technology. Before diesel power could make inroads into mainline service, the limitations of diesel engines circa 1930 – low power-to-weight ratios and narrow output range – had to be overcome. A major effort to overcome those limitations was launched by General Motors after they moved into the diesel field with their acquisition of the Winton Engine Company ,
1584-545: A result, the English Electric locomotives operated alongside the Aerfer and Werkspoor coaches. In 1965 a group of residents raised the funds to build a new railway stop, named "Km. 42", which was then changed to "Manuel Alberti". In 1975 Materfer supplied more coaches ("FIAT IIIs") for the line. That same year, some stations (such as Padilla, Florida and Aristóbulo del Valle) were completely remodelled. One year later,
1683-536: A subsidiary of FIAT Ferroviaria , were added to the Belgrano Norte line . Four years later, the fleet was expanded with the addition of 20 coaches which replaced the old ones made in Tafí Viejo. In 1975 Materfer supplied more coaches (named "FIAT III") for the line. During the 1980s Materfer began to export its products, and the factory also manufactured a line of diesel locomotives, named "Transfer". In
1782-484: Is because clutches would need to be very large at these power levels and would not fit in a standard 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in)-wide locomotive frame, or would wear too quickly to be useful. The first successful diesel engines used diesel–electric transmissions , and by 1925 a small number of diesel locomotives of 600 hp (450 kW) were in service in the United States. In 1930, Armstrong Whitworth of
1881-533: Is better able to cope with overload conditions that often destroyed the older types of motors. A diesel–electric locomotive's power output is independent of road speed, as long as the unit's generator current and voltage limits are not exceeded. Therefore, the unit's ability to develop tractive effort (also referred to as drawbar pull or tractive force , which is what actually propels the train) will tend to inversely vary with speed within these limits. (See power curve below). Maintaining acceptable operating parameters
1980-502: Is generally limited to low-powered, low-speed shunting (switching) locomotives, lightweight multiple units and self-propelled railcars . The mechanical transmissions used for railroad propulsion are generally more complex and much more robust than standard-road versions. There is usually a fluid coupling interposed between the engine and gearbox, and the gearbox is often of the epicyclic (planetary) type to permit shifting while under load. Various systems have been devised to minimise
2079-414: Is the same as placing an automobile's transmission into neutral while the engine is running. To set the locomotive in motion, the reverser control handle is placed into the correct position (forward or reverse), the brake is released and the throttle is moved to the run 1 position (the first power notch). An experienced engine driver can accomplish these steps in a coordinated fashion that will result in
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#17327830276292178-605: The Burlington Route and Union Pacific used custom-built diesel " streamliners " to haul passengers, starting in late 1934. Burlington's Zephyr trainsets evolved from articulated three-car sets with 600 hp power cars in 1934 and early 1935, to the Denver Zephyr semi-articulated ten car trainsets pulled by cab-booster power sets introduced in late 1936. Union Pacific started diesel streamliner service between Chicago and Portland Oregon in June 1935, and in
2277-723: The Busch-Sulzer company in 1911. Only limited success was achieved in the early twentieth century with internal combustion engined railcars, due, in part, to difficulties with mechanical drive systems. General Electric (GE) entered the railcar market in the early twentieth century, as Thomas Edison possessed a patent on the electric locomotive, his design actually being a type of electrically propelled railcar. GE built its first electric locomotive prototype in 1895. However, high electrification costs caused GE to turn its attention to internal combustion power to provide electricity for electric railcars. Problems related to co-ordinating
2376-611: The Canadian National Railways became the first North American railway to use diesels in mainline service with two units, 9000 and 9001, from Westinghouse. However, these early diesels proved expensive and unreliable, with their high cost of acquisition relative to steam unable to be realized in operating cost savings as they were frequently out of service. It would be another five years before diesel–electric propulsion would be successfully used in mainline service, and nearly ten years before fully replacing steam became
2475-494: The DFH1 , began in 1964 following the construction of a prototype in 1959. In Japan, starting in the 1920s, some petrol–electric railcars were produced. The first diesel–electric traction and the first air-streamed vehicles on Japanese rails were the two DMU3s of class Kiha 43000 (キハ43000系). Japan's first series of diesel locomotives was class DD50 (国鉄DD50形), twin locomotives, developed since 1950 and in service since 1953. In 1914,
2574-919: The Government of Argentina took over freight railway company Belgrano Cargas , Materfer offered to build the rolling stock to supply the 7,040 km length of the line. The company stated that it could produce 6 locomotives per year. Materfer also supplied railcars for the Entre Ríos railways, mainly the Basavilbaso – Concordia and Paraná – Concepción del Uruguay branches, currently operated by Trenes Argentinos S.E. Some 7131 railcars were also refurbished in 2008 and used by Private company Trenes Especiales Argentinos (TEA) to run passenger services from F. Lacroze (Buenos Aires) to Posadas in Misiones Province . In 2012–13, Materfer built
2673-717: The Puerto Madero and La Boca neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires, a length of 24 km. However, the project was never carried out and the Alstom vehicles were sent to the Tren de las Sierras instead. In 2014 the national government began building the Ciudad Universitaria station. The new station, opened in August 2015, replaced Scalabrini Ortiz (located 700 metres to the south of it). Ciudad Universitaria connects
2772-488: The Società per le Strade Ferrate del Mediterrano in southern Italy in 1926, following trials in 1924–25. The six-cylinder two-stroke motor produced 440 horsepower (330 kW) at 500 rpm, driving four DC motors, one for each axle. These 44 tonnes (43 long tons; 49 short tons) locomotives with 45 km/h (28 mph) top speed proved quite successful. In 1924, two diesel–electric locomotives were taken in service by
2871-1003: The Soviet railways , almost at the same time: In 1935, Krauss-Maffei , MAN and Voith built the first diesel–hydraulic locomotive, called V 140 , in Germany. Diesel–hydraulics became the mainstream in diesel locomotives in Germany since the German railways (DRG) were pleased with the performance of that engine. Serial production of diesel locomotives in Germany began after World War II. In many railway stations and industrial compounds, steam shunters had to be kept hot during many breaks between scattered short tasks. Therefore, diesel traction became economical for shunting before it became economical for hauling trains. The construction of diesel shunters began in 1920 in France, in 1925 in Denmark, in 1926 in
2970-589: The University of Buenos Aires ' Ciudad Universitaria campus, Aristóbulo del Valle and terminates at Del Viso in Pilar Partido with prices ranging from AR$ 1.50 to AR$ 17 with a SUBE card and AR$ 3 to AR$ 34 without a SUBE card. The service's route was altered from its original plans, skipping the Boulogne Sur Mer station and the proposed new station at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery airport that
3069-477: The University of Buenos Aires (UBA) campus (known as " Ciudad Universitaria " from which it took the name) by a bridge which allows students to reach the University facilities without the risk of traffic accidents. It was initially announced that construction would be concluded by March 2015 at a cost of AR$ 48 million. However in June 2015 it was announced that it was "completed and awaiting its opening" by
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3168-406: The electrification of the line in 1944. Afterwards, the company kept them in service as boosters until 1965. Fiat claims to have built the first Italian diesel–electric locomotive in 1922, but little detail is available. Several Fiat- TIBB Bo'Bo' diesel–locomotives were built for service on the 950 mm ( 3 ft 1 + 3 ⁄ 8 in ) narrow gauge Ferrovie Calabro Lucane and
3267-432: The 1,500 kW (2,000 hp) British Rail 10100 locomotive), though only few have proven successful (such as the 1,342 kW (1,800 hp) DSB Class MF ). In a diesel–electric locomotive , the diesel engine drives either an electrical DC generator (generally, less than 3,000 hp (2,200 kW) net for traction), or an electrical AC alternator-rectifier (generally 3,000 hp net or more for traction),
3366-459: The 1960s, the DC generator was replaced by an alternator using a diode bridge to convert its output to DC. This advance greatly improved locomotive reliability and decreased generator maintenance costs by elimination of the commutator and brushes in the generator. Elimination of the brushes and commutator, in turn, eliminated the possibility of a particularly destructive type of event referred to as
3465-552: The 1980s Materfer employed 2,500 people, mainly in the manufacture of diesel locomotives , coaches and railcars for the Argentine and international markets. The factory produced about one coach per day. Materfer has also produced combine harvesters under the brand "Maraní Agrinar ". Nowadays the company has 400 employees working at its factory in Ferreyra. Materfer was established by Fiat Ferroviaria , through Fiat Concord,
3564-523: The 1990s, starting with the Electro-Motive SD70MAC in 1993 and followed by General Electric's AC4400CW in 1994 and AC6000CW in 1995. The Trans-Australian Railway built 1912 to 1917 by Commonwealth Railways (CR) passes through 2,000 km of waterless (or salt watered) desert terrain unsuitable for steam locomotives. The original engineer Henry Deane envisaged diesel operation to overcome such problems. Some have suggested that
3663-634: The 7131 was inspired on the 1934 Pioneer Zephyr , a diesel-powered railroad train formed of railroad cars permanently articulated together with Jacobs bogies , built by the Budd Company in 1934 for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q), commonly known as the Burlington. The train featured extensive use of stainless steel , was originally named the Zephyr , and was meant as
3762-468: The Belgrano Norte line (along with all the other suburban railway lines) until it was given in concession to the private company Ferrovías in 1994, as part of the privatisation process carried out by President Carlos Menem . Some improvements made by Ferrovías included the acquisition of 17 railcars (built by Alstom in 1977) which were to serve from Vicente López and Avellaneda , crossing
3861-520: The Belgrano Norte's fleet, sharing duties with the Ganz railcars. Due to Córdoba Central Railway's financial problems, the Government of Argentina took over the company and began operating the trains. In 1949 the line was merged into the then recently created General Belgrano Railway , which incorporated all of the country's 1,000 mm ( 3 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in ) rail lines. Local services were run by Ferrocarriles Argentinos under
3960-600: The CR worked with the South Australian Railways to trial diesel traction. However, the technology was not developed enough to be reliable. As in Europe, the usage of internal combustion engines advanced more readily in self-propelled railcars than in locomotives: A diesel–mechanical locomotive uses a mechanical transmission in a fashion similar to that employed in most road vehicles. This type of transmission
4059-535: The Government led by President Arturo Frondizi closed several railway lines, with the Don Torcuato-Campo de Mayo line among them. In 1964, 27 coaches built by Aerfer , an Argentine subsidiary of FIAT Ferroviaria , were added to the line. Four years later, the fleet size was increased with the addition of 20 coaches built by local company Materfer , which replaced the old ones made in Tafí Viejo. As
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4158-633: The Government of Argentina nationalised French and British companies in 1948. In 1903 the company was authorised to extend the railway to Boulogne Sur Mer in Greater Buenos Aires and work began three years later. In 1909 the line was finally opened. Trains departed from Rosario, finishing the journey in Villa Adelina , named in honour of Adelina Munro Drysdale , the General Manager's granddaughter. The trains stopped at
4257-699: The Maipú Avenue in Vicente López Partido , so a railway bridge was built. This bridge was named "Puente Saavedra". A short time after that, a new station, "Km. 12" was built near the bridge and renamed "Aristóbulo del Valle" in the 1920s. The current Florida station was initially opened as a railway stop along the way. In 1913, when the San Martín Avenue was paved, a storage property of the Narciso Agüero & Cía company
4356-461: The Ministry. Finally, the station was opened at the end of August 2015, providing rail access for the 40,000 people who attend the UBA campus each day. Another proposed station was "Aeroparque", which would join the railway station with Aeroparque Jorge Newbery airport. The original project saw the addition of a pedestrian tunnel to be built between the station and the airport. However, in 2015 it
4455-670: The National Academy of History suggested "Carapachay", which was chosen in 1946. While the line was operated by the State-owned company Argentine State Railway , in 1938 brand new Ganz Works railcars were acquired to serve on the Retiro-Villa Rosa and Don Torcuato-Campo de Mayo lines. Between 1947 and 1948, 50 coaches made at the Tafí Viejo workshops and 70 Whitcomb diesel locomotives were added to
4554-895: The Netherlands, and in 1927 in Germany. After a few years of testing, hundreds of units were produced within a decade. Diesel-powered or "oil-engined" railcars, generally diesel–mechanical, were developed by various European manufacturers in the 1930s, e.g. by William Beardmore and Company for the Canadian National Railways (the Beardmore Tornado engine was subsequently used in the R101 airship). Some of those series for regional traffic were begun with gasoline motors and then continued with diesel motors, such as Hungarian BC (The class code doesn't tell anything but "railmotor with 2nd and 3rd class seats".), 128 cars built 1926–1937, or German Wismar railbuses (57 cars 1932–1941). In France,
4653-543: The Retiro- Boulogne Sur Mer section, with only two intermediate stops, Ciudad Universitaria and Aristóbulo del Valle. For a second phase of the project, the service would be extended to Pilar. Construction of the first train was completed in the Grupo Emepa's workshops at Chascomús in March 2015. The new service with Alerce DMUs started operations on 13 July 2015 with three Alerce trains, with
4752-566: The United Kingdom delivered two 1,200 hp (890 kW) locomotives using Sulzer -designed engines to Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway of Argentina. In 1933, diesel–electric technology developed by Maybach was used to propel the DRG Class SVT 877 , a high-speed intercity two-car set, and went into series production with other streamlined car sets in Germany starting in 1935. In the United States, diesel–electric propulsion
4851-499: The War Production Board put a halt to building new passenger equipment and gave naval uses priority for diesel engine production. During the petroleum crisis of 1942–43 , coal-fired steam had the advantage of not using fuel that was in critically short supply. EMD was later allowed to increase the production of its FT locomotives and ALCO-GE was allowed to produce a limited number of DL-109 road locomotives, but most in
4950-567: The Zárate and Capilla del Señor branches. The company bought 8 units made by Materfer and soon nicknamed them Pitufos (a Spanish translation for " Smurfs ") due to their small size. Nevertheless, the low passenger capacity and poor damping of those units made many of the 7131 remain active. In the late 1980s and early 1990s the company built its last vehicles under the FIAT Ferroviaria name, an order of trams for Premetro line E2 in
5049-433: The axles connected to traction motors, with the other two as idler axles for weight distribution. In the late 1980s, the development of high-power variable-voltage/variable-frequency (VVVF) drives, or "traction inverters", allowed the use of polyphase AC traction motors, thereby also eliminating the motor commutator and brushes. The result is a more efficient and reliable drive that requires relatively little maintenance and
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#17327830276295148-722: The benefits of an electric locomotive without the railroad having to bear the sizeable expense of electrification. The unit successfully demonstrated, in switching and local freight and passenger service, on ten railroads and three industrial lines. Westinghouse Electric and Baldwin collaborated to build switching locomotives starting in 1929. However, the Great Depression curtailed demand for Westinghouse's electrical equipment, and they stopped building locomotives internally, opting to supply electrical parts instead. In June 1925, Baldwin Locomotive Works outshopped
5247-420: The break in transmission during gear changing, such as the S.S.S. (synchro-self-shifting) gearbox used by Hudswell Clarke . Diesel–mechanical propulsion is limited by the difficulty of building a reasonably sized transmission capable of coping with the power and torque required to move a heavy train. A number of attempts to use diesel–mechanical propulsion in high power applications have been made (for example,
5346-522: The car, which reduced the time of manoeuvres at termini stations, particularly in urban services. Railcars were built in the FIAT factories of Turin , Decauville and Córdoba . Although the first railcars were manufactured in Italy and France, most of them were made in Argentina, in a factory specially designed for that assignment located in Ferreyra, Córdoba and named "Materfer". Some versions stated that
5445-637: The city of Buenos Aires . In February 1998 the company declared bankruptcy and therefore closed. When Argentine railways were privatised , 8 of the FIAT 7131 cars were sent to serve at Merlo-Lobos branch of Sarmiento Line and the rest continued to serve at the Retiro – Victoria branches of Mitre Line . Their original engines were replaced by Cummins ones. The units on the Mitre Line was also equipped with air conditioning, while seats were upholstered in corduroy and floors carpeted. In March 2002, Materfer
5544-422: The design of diesel engines reduced their physical size and improved their power-to-weight ratios to a point where one could be mounted in a locomotive. Internal combustion engines only operate efficiently within a limited power band , and while low-power gasoline engines could be coupled to mechanical transmissions , the more powerful diesel engines required the development of new forms of transmission. This
5643-739: The diesel segment of the Mitre Line , running services from Victoria to Capilla del Señor in Greater Buenos Aires . Diesel 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 wheels . The most common are diesel–electric locomotives and diesel–hydraulic. Early internal combustion locomotives and railcars used kerosene and gasoline as their fuel. Rudolf Diesel patented his first compression-ignition engine in 1898, and steady improvements to
5742-609: The early to mid 1980s, the company built the Fiat-Materfer underground cars for use on the Buenos Aires Underground . The intention of these trainsets was to create a standardised fleet for the Underground network - which had a diverse range of rolling stock at the time - in order to reduce the maintenance costs associated with having many different models, and also to replace the ageing rolling stock of
5841-443: The engine governor and electrical or electronic components, including switchgear , rectifiers and other components, which control or modify the electrical supply to the traction motors. In the most elementary case, the generator may be directly connected to the motors with only very simple switchgear. Originally, the traction motors and generator were DC machines. Following the development of high-capacity silicon rectifiers in
5940-419: The engine and traction motor with a single lever; subsequent improvements were also patented by Lemp. Lemp's design solved the problem of overloading and damaging the traction motors with excessive electrical power at low speeds, and was the prototype for all internal combustion–electric drive control systems. In 1917–1918, GE produced three experimental diesel–electric locomotives using Lemp's control design,
6039-423: The engine driver operates the controls. When the throttle is in the idle position, the prime mover receives minimal fuel, causing it to idle at low RPM. In addition, the traction motors are not connected to the main generator and the generator's field windings are not excited (energized) – the generator does not produce electricity without excitation. Therefore, the locomotive will be in "neutral". Conceptually, this
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#17327830276296138-565: The entire length of the line takes roughly one hour and twenty minutes for the regular service and one hour and five minutes for the differential service. During peak hours, trains run approximately every 8 minutes and an estimated 42 million passengers are transported each year. The line was part of the Córdoba Central Railway (CCR), specifically the branch from the city of Rosario to Retiro , Buenos Aires . The CCR would become part of General Belgrano Railway network when
6237-449: The first grade crossing signals and gates by General Railway Signal (GRS) were installed at the main level crossings of the line. In 1972, the first G22 diesel locomotives manufactured by General Motors ' Electro Motive Division were delivered to the Belgrano Norte line. These were the CU version, adapted to run on metre-gauge railways . From then on, the locomotives were built by
6336-456: The first diesel railcar was Renault VH , 115 units produced 1933/34. In Italy, after six Gasoline cars since 1931, Fiat and Breda built a lot of diesel railmotors, more than 110 from 1933 to 1938 and 390 from 1940 to 1953, Class 772 known as Littorina , and Class ALn 900. In the 1930s, streamlined highspeed diesel railcars were developed in several countries: In 1945, a batch of 30 Baldwin diesel–electric locomotives, Baldwin 0-6-6-0 1000 ,
6435-480: The first known to be built in the United States. Following this development, the 1923 Kaufman Act banned steam locomotives from New York City, because of severe pollution problems. The response to this law was to electrify high-traffic rail lines. However, electrification was uneconomical to apply to lower-traffic areas. The first regular use of diesel–electric locomotives was in switching (shunter) applications, which were more forgiving than mainline applications of
6534-509: The following year would add Los Angeles, CA , Oakland, CA , and Denver, CO to the destinations of diesel streamliners out of Chicago. The Burlington and Union Pacific streamliners were built by the Budd Company and the Pullman-Standard Company , respectively, using the new Winton engines and power train systems designed by GM's Electro-Motive Corporation . EMC's experimental 1800 hp B-B locomotives of 1935 demonstrated
6633-406: The freight market including their own F series locomotives. GE subsequently dissolved its partnership with ALCO and would emerge as EMD's main competitor in the early 1960s, eventually taking the top position in the locomotive market from EMD. Early diesel–electric locomotives in the United States used direct current (DC) traction motors but alternating current (AC) motors came into widespread use in
6732-570: The limitations of contemporary diesel technology and where the idling economy of diesel relative to steam would be most beneficial. GE entered a collaboration with the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) and Ingersoll-Rand (the "AGEIR" consortium) in 1924 to produce a prototype 300 hp (220 kW) "boxcab" locomotive delivered in July 1925. This locomotive demonstrated that the diesel–electric power unit could provide many of
6831-556: The local licensee Astarsa at its factory in San Fernando . To strengthen local services to Villa Rosa, 20 brand new G22 were purchased in 1980. These locomotives were built by the Argentine company Astarsa , replacing the English Electric locomotives which were sent to the Belgrano Sur Line . The last station to be inaugurated was Tierras Altas in 1990. In 1991, the state-owned company FEMESA temporarily took over
6930-431: The locomotive business were restricted to making switch engines and steam locomotives. In the early postwar era, EMD dominated the market for mainline locomotives with their E and F series locomotives. ALCO-GE in the late 1940s produced switchers and road-switchers that were successful in the short-haul market. However, EMD launched their GP series road-switcher locomotives in 1949, which displaced all other locomotives in
7029-596: The machines to Brazil . In April 2015 Materfer produced CMM 400-2 railcars for the Tren del Valle that runs between the cities of Neuquén and Cipolletti in Rio Negro Province . The company was also committed to build 20 railcars for other re-opening projected in Chaco and Salta . The railcars (CMM-400-2) finally arrived in Chaco on June. In 2015 CMM 400-2 trainsets were acquired for and incorporated into
7128-529: The mid-1950s. Generally, diesel traction in Italy was of less importance than in other countries, as it was amongst the most advanced countries in the electrification of the main lines and as Italian geography makes freight transport by sea cheaper than rail transportation even on many domestic connections. Adolphus Busch purchased the American manufacturing rights for the diesel engine in 1898 but never applied this new form of power to transportation. He founded
7227-546: The multiple-unit control systems used for the cab/booster sets and the twin-engine format used with the later Zephyr power units. Both of those features would be used in EMC's later production model locomotives. The lightweight diesel streamliners of the mid-1930s demonstrated the advantages of diesel for passenger service with breakthrough schedule times, but diesel locomotive power would not fully come of age until regular series production of mainline diesel locomotives commenced and it
7326-478: The name "Belgrano Norte" to distinguish it from the Belgrano Sur Line . In 1955, 30 Werkspoor locomotives were acquired and, as a result, Ferrocarriles Argentinos removed the Ganz vehicles from service on the Belgrano Norte line, sending them to Córdoba to serve local railways there. Four years later, a fleet of 21 English Electric locomotives arrived to replace the Whitcomb and Werkspoor locomotives. In 1961
7425-488: The network. Ultimately, only enough of these were built to service just Line E rather than the entire network. Nevertheless, they have served many years on the network and today they are used as temporary stand-ins in lines where newer rolling stock is arriving, and is thus being slowly phased-out of the network. The lack of maintenance of the FIAT 7131 coaches put some of them out of service, so in 1987 Ferrocarriles Argentinos looked to Materfer to provide light railcars for
7524-423: The other 17 trains added to the line at a rate of one per month as they were completed by Emepa. The trains run from Del Viso to Retiro with a journey time of 65 minutes. The Alerce DMUs' comfort features include HVAC and Wi-Fi . Unlike the rest of the line, the service is operated by the state-owned Trenes Argentinos rather than Ferrovías. The service begins at Retiro Belgrano railway station and stops at
7623-511: The other four stations in existence at the time: Villa Rosa, Del Viso , Los Polvorines and Don Torcuato . In 1912, the line was extended to Retiro in central Buenos Aires. Other stations were opened, such as Munro (named in memory of Duncan McKay Munro) and "Kilómetro 14", later renamed "Juan B. Justo" in commemoration of the founder of the Socialist Party of Argentina . Between Juan B. Justo and Retiro, tracks had to cross over
7722-402: The output of which provides power to the traction motors that drive the locomotive. There is no mechanical connection between the diesel engine and the wheels. The important components of diesel–electric propulsion are the diesel engine (also known as the prime mover ), the main generator/alternator-rectifier, traction motors (usually with four or six axles), and a control system consisting of
7821-584: The performance and reliability of the new 567 model engine in passenger locomotives, EMC was eager to demonstrate diesel's viability in freight service. Following the successful 1939 tour of EMC's FT demonstrator freight locomotive set, the stage was set for dieselization of American railroads. In 1941, ALCO-GE introduced the RS-1 road-switcher that occupied its own market niche while EMD's F series locomotives were sought for mainline freight service. The US entry into World War II slowed conversion to diesel;
7920-484: The prime mover and electric motor were immediately encountered, primarily due to limitations of the Ward Leonard current control system that had been chosen. GE Rail was formed in 1907 and 112 years later, in 2019, was purchased by and merged with Wabtec . A significant breakthrough occurred in 1914, when Hermann Lemp , a GE electrical engineer, developed and patented a reliable control system that controlled
8019-450: The required performance for a fast, lightweight passenger train. The second milestone, and the one that got American railroads moving towards diesel, was the 1938 delivery of GM's Model 567 engine that was designed specifically for locomotive use, bringing a fivefold increase in life of some mechanical parts and showing its potential for meeting the rigors of freight service. Diesel–electric railroad locomotion entered mainline service when
8118-527: The same design, the delivery of which began in 2014. In 2014 Materfer launched the MTF-3300, a diesel locomotive equipped with 6 engines of 500 HP each. The machines were produced from an agreement with American company National Railway Equipment and its design was based on General Motors GT-26 model. A total of AR$ 100 million were invested to develop the project. Those locomotives were produced for freight services in Argentina, with expectations to export
8217-464: The state-owned General Belgrano Railway since nationalisation of the railways in 1948. Ferrovías also formed part of the consortium Unidad de Gestión Operativa Ferroviaria de Emergencia ( UGOFE ) which operated other commuter rail services in Buenos Aires. The Belgrano Norte line service operates from Retiro station , in the centre of Buenos Aires, through the northern Buenos Aires suburbs to
8316-405: The success of the custom streamliners, sought to expand the market for diesel power by producing standardized locomotives under their Electro-Motive Corporation . In 1936, EMC's new factory started production of switch engines. In 1937, the factory started producing their new E series streamlined passenger locomotives, which would be upgraded with more reliable purpose-built engines in 1938. Seeing
8415-432: The throttle from notch 2 to notch 4 without stopping at notch 3. This feature was intended to prevent rough train handling due to abrupt power increases caused by rapid throttle motion ("throttle stripping", an operating rules violation on many railroads). Modern locomotives no longer have this restriction, as their control systems are able to smoothly modulate power and avoid sudden changes in train loading regardless of how
8514-479: The throttle setting, as determined by the engine driver and the speed at which the prime mover is running (see Control theory ). Locomotive power output, and therefore speed, is typically controlled by the engine driver using a stepped or "notched" throttle that produces binary -like electrical signals corresponding to throttle position. This basic design lends itself well to multiple unit (MU) operation by producing discrete conditions that assure that all units in
8613-554: The town of Villa Rosa in Pilar Partido . The metre gauge line was built by the British-owned Córdoba Central Railway which was bought by the State in 1939 and was later integrated into Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano in 1948 when the entire Argentine railway network was nationalised . There are a total of 22 stations along the 55 km (34 mi) long railway line and the journey along
8712-451: The use of an internal combustion engine in a railway locomotive is the prototype designed by William Dent Priestman , which was examined by William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin in 1888 who described it as a " Priestman oil engine mounted upon a truck which is worked on a temporary line of rails to show the adaptation of a petroleum engine for locomotive purposes." In 1894, a 20 hp (15 kW) two-axle machine built by Priestman Brothers
8811-672: The world's first functional diesel–electric railcars were produced for the Königlich-Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen ( Royal Saxon State Railways ) by Waggonfabrik Rastatt with electric equipment from Brown, Boveri & Cie and diesel engines from Swiss Sulzer AG . They were classified as DET 1 and DET 2 ( de.wiki ). Because of a shortage of petrol products during World War I, they remained unused for regular service in Germany. In 1922, they were sold to Swiss Compagnie du Chemin de fer Régional du Val-de-Travers , where they were used in regular service up to
8910-473: Was 95 tonnes and the power was 883 kW (1,184 hp) with a maximum speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). Small numbers of prototype diesel locomotives were produced in a number of countries through the mid-1920s. One of the first domestically developed Diesel vehicles of China was the Dongfeng DMU (东风), produced in 1958 by CSR Sifang . Series production of China's first Diesel locomotive class,
9009-433: Was acquired by Argentine entrepreneur Sergio Taselli and reopened with only 5 employees. In 2007, the Government of Argentina authorised Materfer to operate as an automotive company. The decree, signed by then president Néstor Kirchner , allowed the company to buy and import spares as well as to export finished vehicles. Therefore Materfer started to produce buses for urban services in company's factory at Ferreyra. After
9108-761: Was announced that this station's construction was cancelled with the Ministry of the Interior and Transport citing a possible increase in security concerns at the airport with the inclusion of a station. In March 2015, the Ministry of Transport announced the purchase of Alerce trains manufactured by the Emepa Group , the first train completely built in Argentina, to run on the Belgrano Norte Line. A fleet of 20 diesel multiple units were to be built and put into operation as an express service covering
9207-527: Was brought to high-speed mainline passenger service in late 1934, largely through the research and development efforts of General Motors dating back to the late 1920s and advances in lightweight car body design by the Budd Company . The economic recovery from World War II hastened the widespread adoption of diesel locomotives in many countries. They offered greater flexibility and performance than steam locomotives , as well as substantially lower operating and maintenance costs. The earliest recorded example of
9306-688: Was delivered from the United States to the railways of the Soviet Union. In 1947, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) introduced the first of a pair of 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) Co-Co diesel–electric locomotives (later British Rail Class D16/1 ) for regular use in the United Kingdom, although British manufacturers such as Armstrong Whitworth had been exporting diesel locomotives since 1930. Fleet deliveries to British Railways, of other designs such as Class 20 and Class 31, began in 1957. Series production of diesel locomotives in Italy began in
9405-461: Was established there. For that reason, the stop was named "Parada Agüero" for a period. In 1931, the Juan B. Justo station had its name changed to M.M. Padilla to avoid being confused with the station of the same name that belongs to the Mitre Line , only a few blocks away. During the 1930s, the "Km. 18" station was established and many names were proposed (Ader, Drysdale, La Tahona, among others) until
9504-415: Was not built. In January 2024, a new station, "Cecilia Grierson" (named after the first woman to receive a Medical Degree in Argentina was opened in Pilar Partido . The station (which originally was given the name "Panamericana") is located on km 46 of Acceso Norte as an intermediate stop between Del Viso and Villa Rosa stations. The opening was delayed several times so works took more than 10 years. It
9603-400: Was one of the principal design considerations that had to be solved in early diesel–electric locomotive development and, ultimately, led to the complex control systems in place on modern units. The prime mover's power output is primarily determined by its rotational speed ( RPM ) and fuel rate, which are regulated by a governor or similar mechanism. The governor is designed to react to both
9702-494: Was shown suitable for full-size passenger and freight service. Following their 1925 prototype, the AGEIR consortium produced 25 more units of 300 hp (220 kW) "60 ton" AGEIR boxcab switching locomotives between 1925 and 1928 for several New York City railroads, making them the first series-produced diesel locomotives. The consortium also produced seven twin-engine "100 ton" boxcabs and one hybrid trolley/battery unit with
9801-737: Was used on the Hull Docks . In 1896, an oil-engined railway locomotive was built for the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich , England, using an engine designed by Herbert Akroyd Stuart . It was not a diesel, because it used a hot-bulb engine (also known as a semi-diesel), but it was the precursor of the diesel. Rudolf Diesel considered using his engine for powering locomotives in his 1893 book Theorie und Konstruktion eines rationellen Wärmemotors zum Ersatz der Dampfmaschine und der heute bekannten Verbrennungsmotoren ( Theory and Construction of
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