Cummins pours on the power at Railway Interchange 2015

The bright red diesel power plants that were on display at Railway Interchange 2015 in Minneapolis represented the “ultra-clean” 6.7-, 15-, 60- and 95-liter units from Columbus, Ind.-based Cummins Inc. These engines, delivering from 140 hp (104 kW) to 4,400 hp (3,281 kW) “offer quieter operation and increased fuel economy for everything from maintenance-of-way machines to locomotives while also meeting increasingly stringent emissions regulations worldwide,” the company said.

At 4,400 hp (3,281 kW), the QSK95 “achieves the highest output of any 16-cylinder high-speed diesel, and is capable of a top speed of 125 mph (201 kph) as a prime-mover, Cummins said. “Combining our latest-generation Modular Common Rail Fuel System (MCRS) with quad-turbocharging, the QSK95 delivers reduced noise, excellent response and ultra-low-emissions capability.” These power plants have been selected for the Siemens Charger higher-speed diesel-electric locomotives that are being built for a five-state HrSR (higher-speed rail) initiative encompassing the departments of transportation of Illinois, California, Michigan, Missouri and Washington; the first QSK95 was shipped to the Siemens Sacramento plant on Oct. 2. The Charger locomotives will also power the trainsets for All Aboard Florida (Siemens is also building the coaches). Maryland’s MARC recently ordered eight Chargers. Later this year, the Indiana Rail Road is expected to launch a prototype six-axle heavy-haul Tier 4 locomotive, an SD90-43 repowered with a QSK95.

The QSK60 (2,310 and 2,700 hp/1,723 and 2,013 kW), which received Tier 4 locomotive certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday, Oct. 1, “is an industry leader in productivity and total life-cycle value,” Cummins said. “A one-piece cast iron block, single-piece ferrous cast ductile iron pistons and a heavy-duty crankshaft and connecting rods are the foundation of the engine, delivering outstanding reliability and durability. The same MCRS that powers the QSK95 is also used on the QSK60, bringing low noise, unmatched performance and excellent fuel economy to the package.”

For switcher applications, the QSX15, with a Tier 4 locomotive rating of 600 hp (447 kW) features Xtra-High Pressure Injection (XPI) coupled with fully integrated electronic controls. “This allows for flexibility in injection timing that increases fuel economy and performance, while our proprietary VGT® Turbo provides superior response,” Cummins said. “Multiple engine designs allow the QSX15 to provide power-on-demand response to varying load factors, resulting in fuel savings and a reduced carbon footprint.”

The QSB6.7, Tier 4 Final certified, “is one of the most popular and versatile engines in the m/w market,” Cummins noted. “With 140 hp (104 kW) to 300 hp (224 kW), it combines high strength with a compact footprint, for one of the best power-to-weight ratios in its class.”

Cummins says all its diesel engines “are designed to meet increasingly stringent emissions regulations worldwide using aftertreatment technologies that are developed and manufactured in-house. This approach ensures that our systems are integrated to work in a fully optimized manner that increases efficiency while allowing us to have complete quality control, with robust design and testing procedures that ensure all rail engines meet performance standards everywhere they are operated. Deep understanding of available aftertreatment technologies allows us to choose the most appropriate solution for each engine platform, based on the needs of applications at each power range. Leveraging that expertise results in the ideal pairing of engine and aftertreatment, such as the fit-and-forget Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) and Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC) used on the QSB6.7, or the SCR-only system that occupies the space utilized by exhaust silencers in high-horsepower applications like the QSK95.”