****** A SYNOPSIS OF IGBT FITTED FREIGHT LOCO WAG 9 SERIES CREATING A NEW ERA IN IR'S FREIGHT TRANSPORT HISTORY******
Brief Description about WAG 9 Series:
WAG-9 is a type of electric locomotive used in India. It is the most powerful freight locomotive in Indian Railways' fleet. It is very similar to WAP-7; the only major difference being the gear ratio which makes it suitable for heavy freight operations. In November 1998, Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) started producing these with indigenous components. The first one, 'Navyug' (translated, 'New Era'), was flagged off...
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on November 14. Like the WAP-5 units, they have GTO thyristor converters and 3-phase asynchronous motors.
Newer versions starting from WAG-9 31248 feature full IGBT traction control. The class is named as WAG-9i. There is a technical variant of this class named WAG-9H. The 'H' means Heavy. Another variant includes WAG-9Hi which seems to be a combination of the above two.
WAG-9H/9Hi are the heaviest electric locomotives and the heaviest locomotives in regular service in India. These are the only freight dedicated three-phase AC locomotives in India. Also, WAG-9i/9Hi are the only electric locomotives in India fitted with Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT). They are also the freight locomotives with highest operational speed in India.
Introduction of WAG 9 Series:
This locomotive is referred to as the "Heavy Haul" freight locomotive of the Indian Railways (IR). This locomotive was conceived owing to the extreme growth in the rail freight transportation sector. The growth in this sector is considered to be of great importance in the growth of the economy of India. This need had arisen the need for more electrification and electric locomotives in India. Around 60-65% of the freight haulage of IR takes place on the electrified section of the Golden Quadrilateral (Indian Railways) & diagonals (which account for 25% of the route). These routes are very busy routes, so clearance is a necessity. This power give it a great sectional clearance ability. Thus these locomotives are important for the Indian Railways.
These locos have entered Western Railway zone of Mumbai. First 22 units were imported from Adtranz (ABB). Of these, first six were fully assembled and rest were in kit from. Again in the kit form, seven were completely knocked down and rest partially assembled. CLW started producing these traction motors on 11/1/1999. The units built by ABB have double-pan pantographs while CLW built units have single pan pantographs which are common in India. This class had a capacity to MU several units but IR restricts them to two because of dynamic loading restriction on most bridges. Regenerative brakes provide about 260 kN of braking effort.
WAG-9H also has different application software than WAG-9. The first WAG-9H was commissioned on 30 June 2000. #30130 homed at Gomoh (GMO) shed was this prototype then rebuilt back to standard WAG-9 in 2002. This unit has a livery of twin white stripes on green instead of yellow stripe on green of the other WAG-9(x)s.
WAG-9i was introduced in 2010 #31215 homed at GMO shed. With IGBT, even if one traction motor failed, other traction motors can function with a total output of 5000 hp.
Newer units of WAG-9 have been marked as 'CLW Glorious 50 years' on their sides. Some WAG-9(x)s are fitted with solid cowcatcher. Others are fitted with grilled cowcatcher. Some have American style flasher lamps while others have Indian style flasher lamps.
Sheds Holding WAG-9s
1 Gomoh (GMO)
2 Ajni (AJNI)
3 Lallaguda (LGD)
4 Bhilai (BIA)
5 Tata Nagar (TATA)
6 Tughlakabad (TKD)
7 Kalyan (KYN)
Performance of WAG-9 series:
Two units of WAG-9 class can haul 4,500 tonnes (4,400 long tons; 5,000 short tons) of load on grades of 1 in 60 (1.67%). WAG-9H was expected to haul 58 BOXN wagons, i.e.,4,700 tonnes (4,600 long tons; 5,200 short tons) without multiple units on grades of 1 in 150 (0.67%). The locomotive can run even in 100% humidity and even in deserts where there is high saturation of conductive particles. For shunting up to 15 km/h (9.3 mph), it can haul 7,500 tonnes (7,400 long tons; 8,300 short tons) on grades of 1 in 1000 (0.1%) or less. The atmosphere may be humid and salty. Regenerative braking will provide not less than braking force of 260 kN (58,000 lbf) at 10–62 km/h (6.2–38.5 mph) speeds and closer to 260 kN (58,000 lbf) at higher speeds. Following is the capacity of WAG-9 while hauling BOX wagons (in tonnes)
Attached Image:
WAG-9 #31179 of Lallaguda(Hyderabad) shed standing with a coal train at Agra Fort railway station headed towards east
WAG 9H(A VARIANT OF WAG 9 SERIES) HAULING WAGONS
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