Chittaranjan Locomotive Works
| Government of India | |
| Industry | Electrical Locomotives (at present) |
| Founded | 1950 |
| Founder | Indian Railway |
| Headquarters | Chittaranjan, Asansol |
Area served | India |
| Parent | Indian railways |
| Website |
www |
Chittaranjan Locomotive Works ( Bengali: চিত্তরঞ্জন লোকোমোটিভ ওয়ার্কস ) is a state-owned electric locomotive manufacturer based in India. It is located at Chittaranjan in Asansol. It is one of the largest locomotive manufacturers in the world.
Overview
Founded in 1950 the Indian Railway owned industrial unit is named after the Indian freedom-fighter Chittaranjan Das. The manufacturing unit was established at a place close to the Chittaranjan railway station.
The 18.34 km2 township, which included a factory, 191 km. of roadways, 43 schools, 9,131 staff quarters, 8 clinics (including a 200-bed hospital) and 7 markets, was built at a cost of Rs. 140 million and had a population of over 80,000.
The factory commenced the production of steam locomotives on the 26 January 1950 (the date when India formally declared itself a Republic), in collaboration with the North British Locomotive Company. On November 1, 1950 Indian President Dr. Rajendra Prasad formally dedicated the first steam rail-engine produced by the company (a WG class locomotive bearing the registration number 8401) to the freedom fighter Deshbandhu Chittranjan Das. The name of the nearby railway station Mihijam was also changed to Chittaranjan. Many of the specialised machinery required for steam locomotive manufacture was obtained from the Vulcan Foundry in England, previously a major supplier of locomotives to India, which at this time was moving from building steam locomotives to diesel.[1]
Post-1968 the factory began to manufacture diesel-hydraulic locomotives. The production of steam and diesel locomotives were discontinued in 1973 and 1994 respectively. The company has since been manufacturing only electric rail-engines. It is now the only government electric loco producing factory in India.
The factory obtains its iron & steel from Asansol and Jamshedpur and hydel power from Maithon Dam. The township under CLW i.e. Chittaranjan is bordered by high boundaries and 3 main gates, and guarded by Railway Protection Force(RPF), Railway Protection Special Force(RPSF) and also West Bengal police.
History
The planners of the nation with their prudence planned to set up a loco building factory in the eastern part of a country. In the late 1930s,a committee consisting of M/s Humphries and shrinivasan was constituted to consider the possibility of establishing a locomotive manufacture unit and its economic facilities. The initial project at Chandmari, a place near Kanchrapara in the state of West Bengal, could not mature due to partition, which inevitably necessitated a change of site. This present site at Chittaranjan was chosen after a fresh survey and for this the approval of Railway board was obtained in 1947. Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) started producing locomotives from the year 1950, the same year the township was formally established! Starting with steam engines, CLW now produces state of the art Electrical engines capable of running at 160 km/h and upgradable up to 200 km/h.
Products
Locomotives
WAP-7 : 6000 hp, AC, B.G. 140 km/hrs. speed, 3-phase drive or P7[2]
WAP-5 : 5450 hp, 25 kV ac, B.G. 160 km/hr. speed,3-phase drive
WAG-9 : 6000 hp, 25kV ac, B.G.,freight locomotive,100 km/hrs. 3-phase drive
WAG-7 : 5000 hp, 25 kV ac, Broad Gage (BG)1.676m, speed 100 km/hrs. (on Indian Rlys.track).Tap changer/ DC Traction Motor technology
WAP-4 : 5000 hp, 25kV, ac, B.G.1.676 m speed 130 km/hrs., Tap changer / DC Traction Motor technology
Traction Motors
I 3-PHASE TRACTION MOTOR TYPE 6FRA6068 & 6FXA 7059: 3-Phase Trcation Motors type 6FRA6068 for WAG-9 and WAP-7 locomotives & 6FXA7059 for WAP-5 locomotive are being manufactured indigenously by CLW since the financial year 1998-99 & 1999-2000 respectively. With the production of 3-phase Traction Motor,CLW has entered the era of state of the art,3-phase technology
II HITACHI TRACTION MOTOR TYPE HS15250A: Hitachi traction Motor is one of the most critical and vital equipment in conventional Electric locomotives type WAG-7 & WAP-4 under production at CLW.The production of Hitachi TM is now completely stabilized.
See also
External links
- Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) Company website
Coordinates: 23°51′32″N 86°54′40″E / 23.85891°N 86.91111°E
References
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