deisel details

Just to play the devil's advocate here

The following picture is the left side of a typical International Diesel from mid last century

In this case it is a UD18 power unit, but theses engines in various sizes were used in dozers and tractors as well.

This is the oposide side of the same engine

Notice the mag, carburator and spark plugs. International started thier engines on gasoline then switched to diesel fuel once the engine was warmed up.

So some diesels did have plug wires

Thanks

Carl

I find the fuel injection lines often very coarse and molded against the block, calling for a scraping of these clean, then replicating with wire- a task that is very similar to plug wiring as far as modeling skills are concerned.

I have always been impressed by the powerful, but maintenance heavy Napier Deltic opposed piston, two stroke diesel, it was a regular feature on the West Highland line (the one you may have seen on Harry Potter) when I was a kid - they pulled all the scheduled stuff on the line so you saw & heard them all day long;

Even more OT, but I've been keeping a eye on the new Australian Revetec crank-less engine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_Combustion_Engine for a while, which is interesting in itself, but there is a thread going on about it which is very interesting;

http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2958

If your interested in this type of thing, the thread has some serious discussion about engine design & includes info & graphics on a multitude of old & new designs like the Pull Rod Engine, Rotary, Stirling, Junkers designs, "new four stroke" 

My favorite Diesel (notice the spelling) is the Fairbanks Morse Opposed Piston engine; the "Opie".

Originally designed for submarines and used in the Gato and Balao class USN Fleet subs, it has 24 pistons in 12 cylinders, with two crankshafts. One at the top and one at the bottom.

Great for a submarine, not so good for height limited applications.

The Southern Pacific Railroad bought 16 locomotives from FM in the "Trainmaster" series that they used on the Peninsula commuter lines in the Bay Area. With 2400 hp they had a lot of get up and go for a diesel on a line with 21 stations in 40 miles.

I was a rail nut as a kid and recorded the big FM's. They had a sound unique to them.

Devil Dawg

Yeah, the glow plug wires would very much resemble spark plug wires on a model. Let's hope that they never mention a diesel is missing the carburetor............

Haha. I hear you.

I had heard that Cat was going to come out with a diesel engine with no cam. Instead it is supposed to have electric solonoids in place of the camshaft. That would be interesting.

Yeah, the glow plug wires would very much resemble spark plug wires on a model. Let's hope that they never mention a diesel is missing the carburetor............

True, unless it has glow plugs which some diesels have.