View allAll Photos Tagged components
Mirrlees Blackstone 8MB275T diesel engine removed from Class 60 locomotive 60022.
The Mirrlees Blackstone 8MB275T is one of the more fascinating British diesel engines because, although it ultimately became synonymous with the British Rail Class 60, its story began more than a decade before the first Class 60 entered service. It was an attempt by the long-established British engine manufacturer Mirrlees to develop a modern, relatively compact and fuel-efficient diesel in a power range suitable for both marine and industrial applications and, potentially, railway traction. Its eventual selection for the Class 60 gave it a brief but important place in British main-line locomotive history.
The Mirrlees background
The story starts with Mirrlees, one of Britain's oldest diesel-engine manufacturers. The company had developed a major reputation for large diesel engines for marine propulsion, power generation and industrial applications. By the twentieth century its works at Stockport had become an important centre for British diesel-engine development and manufacture.
Mirrlees's product range evolved through several generations. The K range appeared in 1950, the K Major in 1966, and then came the MB275, whose development culminated in the first production engines in 1979. The MB275 designation reflected its 275 mm cylinder bore, while the production engine had a 305 mm stroke.
The MB275 was a notably modern design for its period. Rather than relying on a large number of cylinders to produce its power, Mirrlees pursued a relatively low-cylinder-count engine capable of producing substantial output. That approach promised reduced component count, potentially lower maintenance requirements and good fuel economy.
The engine family was intended principally for industrial and marine applications, although Mirrlees was also interested in returning to the railway-traction market. Its earlier railway engines had not always enjoyed a particularly successful reputation, making the MB275 an important opportunity to establish a new generation of Mirrlees traction machinery.
Development for railway traction
The railway connection became much more serious during the 1980s.
British Rail was looking at new diesel locomotive designs to replace ageing locomotives, particularly as its freight business required increasingly powerful and economical traction. The proposed Class 38 was conceived as a new Type 3 freight locomotive, and Mirrlees's MB275 was one of the engines considered for the project.
Rather than immediately committing the engine to a completely new locomotive, British Rail used existing locomotives as testbeds.
Four Class 37s were substantially rebuilt in 1986 as Class 37/9s 37901–37904. These locomotives received the Mirrlees MB275T together with a Brush alternator. Two further Class 37/9s, 37905 and 37906, were fitted with an alternative Ruston RK270T power unit and GEC alternator. The six locomotives therefore provided a direct comparison between two competing British diesel-engine and electrical-system combinations.
The trials were extremely important. They demonstrated that the MB275 could be developed into a viable railway traction engine at a power level substantially above that normally associated with Mirrlees's earlier successful railway engines.
The MB275-equipped 37/9s subsequently became known as “Mirrlees Pioneers”, with 37901 in particular surviving into preservation as “Mirrlees Pioneer”. Its survival is unusually valuable because it preserves the direct experimental stage that led to the Class 60 engine.
The proposed Class 38 itself was ultimately cancelled. The requirement for a new heavy freight locomotive did not disappear, however. British Rail instead proceeded with the much more powerful Class 60, and the MB275 concept was enlarged/developed for that application.
The 8MB275T and Class 60
The final railway version became the eight-cylinder 8MB275T, sometimes identified in contemporary material as the 8MB275RT. The "8" indicates the eight-cylinder configuration, while the MB275 family retained its 275 mm bore.
The Class 60 installation displaced approximately 145 litres and produced around 3,100 bhp at 1,000 rpm. It was a four-stroke diesel, turbocharged and designed specifically for locomotive traction. The engine was physically substantial, contributing to the Class 60's high weight, but its relatively small number of cylinders was intended to reduce maintenance requirements.
The engine's fuel economy was particularly impressive for the period. The Class 60 Preservation Group gives a figure of approximately 189 grams of fuel per kWh, describing it as one of the most fuel-efficient engines then available.
That economy was one of the reasons British Rail was interested in the design. The Class 60 was intended to be a modern heavy-freight locomotive rather than simply another incrementally improved version of the existing fleet.
Why British Rail wanted it
The immediate background was the success of the General Motors Class 59.
The Class 59 had demonstrated that British freight locomotives could achieve considerably higher availability and productivity than many of British Rail's older designs. The various Trainload sectors consequently wanted new locomotives capable of handling heavy trains without the double-heading that was sometimes necessary with older Types 3 and 4.
British Rail therefore commissioned a new Type 5 locomotive.
The contract was awarded to Brush Electrical Machines at Loughborough on 17 May 1988, with an order for 100 locomotives. The first Class 60, 60001 “Steadfast”, was handed over to Railfreight in June 1989.
The 8MB275T was at the heart of the design.
Brush coupled the Mirrlees engine to a Brush BA1006A main alternator, which supplied electrical power to six traction motors. The Class 60 also employed Brush's sophisticated SEPEX traction-control system, in which each traction motor had separately controlled excitation. This was intended to make much better use of the available adhesion and minimise wheel-slip.
The result was a locomotive capable of producing approximately 3,100 hp from the engine and around 2,415 hp at the rail, with maximum tractive effort of approximately 106,500 lbf.
Production at Mirrlees and Brush
The 100 engines for the Class 60 were manufactured by Mirrlees at Stockport, while the locomotives themselves were assembled by Brush at Loughborough.
The Class 60's construction was an interesting collaboration. The locomotive bodies were produced by Procor at Wakefield, then transported to Brush, where they were fitted with the bogies, electrical equipment, cooling system and power unit. The Mirrlees engines therefore travelled from Stockport to Loughborough to become the heart of the completed locomotives.
Production of the MB275 engines for the Class 60 took place principally between 1989 and 1991, although the locomotive production programme itself extended into the early 1990s. The heritage history of the MB275 range records the Class 60 contract as 100 engines, while also noting that additional MB275 engines continued to be produced for marine and industrial applications.
There was initially considerable optimism about the engine. The MB275 was viewed as a modern, fuel-efficient British alternative to the established locomotive engines supplied by competitors such as Ruston and English Electric.
Marine life alongside the railway version
An important part of the story is that the 8MB275 was not a locomotive-only engine.
Mirrlees continued to sell the MB275 family for marine propulsion. Its relatively compact eight-cylinder arrangement was attractive for smaller ships, ferries, dredgers and other vessels where a substantial amount of power was required without the physical size of a much larger marine engine.
There are some particularly good surviving examples.
The CalMac ferry MV Isle of Arran, built in 1983, was fitted with two Mirrlees Blackstone 8MB275 engines, each producing 2,310 bhp and driving a controllable-pitch propeller.
The later MV Caledonian Isles, launched in 1993, also used 8MB275 Mirrlees Blackstone engines.
The MB275 therefore had an interesting dual identity. In Britain it became famous because of the Class 60, yet the engine family was simultaneously powering ferries, dredgers and other marine vessels.
The heritage literature records an especially interesting example in the MV Britannia Beaver, a suction dredger fitted with an 8MB275 main propulsion engine when new in 1990. By 2000 that engine had accumulated more than 50,000 operating hours, demonstrating that the underlying engine family could achieve substantial service life in demanding marine applications.
The Class 60 engine in service
The first Class 60s suffered substantial teething problems.
The locomotives were technologically ambitious, with computer-controlled traction systems, a new engine and a new electrical architecture. Although 60001 was handed over to Railfreight in June 1989, it took approximately sixteen months before the first locomotives were accepted into regular service, and nearly four years elapsed before the entire 100-locomotive fleet had entered service.
Not every problem was caused by the Mirrlees engine. Much of the early difficulty involved the locomotive's electronic and software systems. It is therefore misleading to describe the Class 60's poor early availability simply as an engine failure.
Once properly developed, the MB275T provided a substantial amount of reliable service. The Class 60 Preservation Group notes its excellent fuel consumption and the fact that the engine was also successful in marine applications.
The engine's eight-cylinder configuration was itself unusual. A 3,100 hp locomotive engine was more commonly associated with V12 or V16 configurations. Mirrlees instead achieved the required output from eight much larger cylinders. The theory was straightforward: fewer cylinders meant fewer pistons, connecting rods, cylinder heads and associated components to maintain.
That was one of the MB275's attractions, although it also meant that individual components were very substantial.
The problem of weight
The engine had a disadvantage.
The 8MB275T was heavy. The Class 60 Preservation Group specifically identifies the Mirrlees engine's weight as one of its drawbacks despite its fuel efficiency.
This mattered because locomotive designers are constantly balancing power, reliability, fuel consumption and weight. A heavy engine contributes directly to locomotive weight and axle loading.
The Class 60 nevertheless used that weight to some advantage in freight service. Its approximately 129-tonne mass gave the six traction motors substantial adhesion, while the SEPEX system helped exploit that adhesion.
The locomotive therefore represented a particular British approach to heavy freight: considerable physical mass, high engine power and sophisticated electronic control.
The engine's relationship with the Class 60's reputation
The Class 60 acquired a mixed reputation during the 1990s and 2000s.
The type was undeniably powerful and technologically sophisticated, but its availability under EWS became a major problem. When EWS began taking delivery of large numbers of Class 66s, the newer locomotives proved considerably easier to maintain and offered excellent availability.
Many Class 60s were consequently stored.
It is important, however, to separate the engine's reputation from the locomotive's overall reliability. The Class 60 was a complex machine incorporating the Mirrlees engine, Brush alternator, SEPEX traction equipment, computer systems and other new technology. Failures and maintenance requirements could arise from any of these systems.
The engine itself was not simply abandoned as a failed design. DB Schenker subsequently commissioned substantial overhauls of selected engines as part of the Super 60 programme.
The “Super 60” engine rebuilds
When DB Schenker inherited the former EWS fleet, it considered whether some Class 60s could economically be returned to long-term service.
A selected group received major overhauls. These were commonly called Super 60s.
The engine work was extensive. In 2013, specialist engineering company G S Engineering was contracted by DB Schenker UK to overhaul a number of Mirrlees Blackstone MB275T engines that had previously been removed from locomotives and stored for several years. The work included inspection and repair of crankshafts, connecting rods, pistons and liners.
This is important evidence that the MB275T was considered worth rebuilding rather than simply being regarded as obsolete.
The overhaul process involved stripping the engines extensively, including removal of cylinder heads, pistons, connecting rods, large-end assemblies and liners. Crankshaft removal required a specially constructed heavy-lift arrangement.
The Super 60 programme consequently gave some MB275T engines a substantially extended working life.
The engine after Mirrlees Blackstone
The commercial history of the engine manufacturer is almost as interesting as the engineering.
Mirrlees and Blackstone had become part of the broader Mirrlees Blackstone organisation, bringing together two historic British engine names. The MB275 continued to be offered for marine and industrial purposes during the 1980s and 1990s.
The range continued to receive smaller orders after the Class 60 programme. The heritage history records marine and industrial orders into the 1990s, although volumes were much lower than originally hoped.
A major change came in 1997, when Alstom acquired Mirrlees Blackstone.
The MB275 range was subsequently removed from the industrial and marine catalogue. The heritage research suggests that the decision was probably connected with the development of the Ruston RK280, another product in the newly combined Mirrlees/Ruston portfolio, which competed with the MB275's market position. The MB275 remained listed for traction for approximately another year, with occasional support for existing users continuing thereafter.
The Class 60 engine therefore outlived its manufacturer's commitment to producing the design as a mainstream product.
The end of production
The MB275 did not disappear immediately.
The engine remained available for existing customers and continued to have a small number of marine and industrial applications. One of the last recorded examples was a 6MB275 pump-drive engine supplied in 2000 for an upgrade to the suction dredger Britannia Beaver.
The eventual end of the MB275 range was therefore gradual rather than a sudden termination following the end of Class 60 production.
Its history is also quite remarkable because the Class 60 engines were among the last significant British railway applications of a Mirrlees-designed engine. A heritage paper on British diesel traction describes the MB275 as effectively marking Mirrlees's return to British rail traction after earlier engine programmes.
Preservation
The MB275 has an unusually strong preservation story because 37901 “Mirrlees Pioneer” survived.
This locomotive was one of the original Class 37/9 testbeds fitted with the MB275 before the Class 60 was ordered. It therefore represents the experimental bridge between the engine's development and its adoption in the Class 60.
The locomotive has been preserved and, at various points, operated on heritage railways. The heritage documentation specifically notes that it was operating on the Llangollen Railway in 2008.
There are also preserved examples of the engines themselves outside locomotives. The Anson Engine Museum in Manchester, which has a strong connection with the history of British diesel-engine manufacturing, has examples of Blackstone and Mirrlees machinery.
This makes the MB275 unusually well represented in preservation: its development can be studied through an actual surviving locomotive, while its wider industrial and marine ancestry can be explored through preserved engines and historical documentation.
Why the engine was significant
The 8MB275T is important because it represented a serious attempt to create a modern British heavy-duty diesel engine specifically capable of competing in the high-power traction market.
Its story also illustrates the changing nature of British engineering.
The engine was designed by a historic British manufacturer at Stockport, tested in British Rail locomotives, selected for a brand-new British Rail freight locomotive, manufactured for a fleet of 100 Class 60s, and simultaneously marketed for ships and industrial machinery.
It then became a casualty of the consolidation of the diesel-engine industry. Mirrlees Blackstone passed into Alstom ownership, the MB275 was discontinued, and the British railway market moved increasingly towards imported or multinational engine designs.
That transition is particularly visible when comparing the Class 60 with the Class 66. The Class 60 represents the culmination of British Rail's attempt to design and build its own modern heavy freight locomotive around a British engine. The Class 66 represented the subsequent era in which standardised imported technology became economically dominant.
The numbers tell the story
The MB275 was introduced in 1979.
Four Class 37s received MB275 engines for trials in 1986, becoming 37901–37904.
The Class 60 contract was awarded to Brush in 1988, and the first locomotive was handed over in 1989.
The 100 Class 60 engines were supplied principally during 1989–91.
The engine continued in marine and industrial production into the 1990s, with later support and applications continuing into around 2000.
Mirrlees Blackstone was acquired by Alstom in 1997, after which the MB275 range was progressively discontinued.
That gives the engine a remarkably long development and service story for a design that ultimately powered only one production class of British main-line locomotive.
The legacy of the 8MB275T
The greatest legacy of the Mirrlees Blackstone 8MB275T is the Class 60 itself. Every one of the 100 locomotives was built around the engine, making the two almost inseparable in railway history. The engine's eight-cylinder configuration, distinctive sound and substantial physical presence became part of what made the Class 60 different from the locomotives that came before and after it.
Yet its story goes beyond those 100 locomotives. The engine evolved from Mirrlees's broader industrial and marine engineering work, was experimentally installed in Class 37s, helped shape the proposed Class 38, became the power unit for Britain's final new British Rail heavy-freight locomotive, powered ferries and dredgers, underwent major rebuilds decades later, and survives today in preservation.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect is that the MB275 was not really a failed engine. The Class 60's mixed operational reputation has sometimes obscured that point. The engine was fuel-efficient for its period, had a relatively simple eight-cylinder architecture, achieved substantial power from a comparatively small number of cylinders and proved capable of very long service in marine applications. Its principal problem was partly historical: it arrived just as the economics and structure of British railway freight were changing dramatically.
The 8MB275T therefore represents something of a final flowering of indigenous British diesel-engine technology. It was developed in an era when British companies still designed engines specifically for British Rail, assembled locomotives domestically and expected large fleets to remain in service for decades. The fact that its best-known application was the Class 60 means that its story is inseparable from the rise, decline, storage and subsequent revival of that locomotive class.
Today, surviving Class 60s with their original or overhauled Mirrlees engines provide a direct link to that era. 60013 “Robert Boyle”, 60018 “Moel Siabod” and the other surviving Class 60s are not merely examples of a locomotive design; they are also surviving hosts for one of the last major British-designed diesel traction engines.
Presented by the Josephine B. Scheffenacker Education Trust.
One of the most exciting components of A+ Partners in Education, Battle of the Books gets fifth grade students excited about reading. A lively academic competition, Battle of the Books improves reading comprehension, builds vocabulary, and teaches teamwork and good sportsmanship. The 2015 competition runs concurrently at Howard, Mt. Hebron, Oakland Mills, River Hill and Wilde Lake high schools.
Teams of five students and one adult coach each read the same 16 pre-assigned books over four months. Selected by HCLS instructors and HCPSS media specialists, titles include a wide range of reading levels and subjects. Thanks to generous sponsors, all teams receive a set of books. In addition to reading the books, teams choose a team name then dress accordingly.
During the "battle" (a 50-question exam), a moderator asks questions that relate to one of the following: a direct quote from one of the book characters; a statement about something that happens in the book; a passage taken directly from the book; details about an illustration or picture. Winning teams receive prizes.
RAF Waddington International Airshow - 02/07/2011
Belgian Air Component F16AM
Belgian Air Force F-16 Solo Display
The component (or "bottom") side of a Fujitsu 73 Gb SCSI Hard drive. Taken in Albany, CA by a Nikkormat FT2 with a Micro-Nikor 55mm ƒ3.5 lens on Kodak Portra 400NC. Negative scanned into computer by an HP G4010. Dust removal, gamma and color correction done in Paint Shop Pro Photo X2.
Unknown if that blue on the black case at top of photo is from a light leak in the camera, (doubtful...) some sort of scan problem, a processing glitch, (which I've had before) or mismatched color temperatures in the lighting...
(goarticles.com/article/Setting-Up-an-Electronic-Repair-Sh...) - Every household and every office in the world are full of gadgets and devices that are made up of electronics. Televisions, cellular phones, computers and its peripherals and other business devices and equipments are now made up of electronic parts. Offering repair services for electronic equipments and devices will truly be a feasible business idea.
Componentes metálicos de módulos de vivienda temporales en inadecuadas condiciones de almacenamiento en poblado de Tonohaya, distrito de Ubinas.
Before my local shop for electronic components, Labb Elektronik, shut down, they gave away free bags with random stuff. These pictures are the result of sorting the components in these bags.
--
Small value ceramic and plastic capacitors
Related blog post: gameboygenius.8bitcollective.com/wordpress/2008/11/02/ele...
When you break down white light, you can see the "rainbow". Well here are some of the components that makes up a Rainbow!
This week's Macro Monday theme- Seeing the Light.
Setup- Tamron 90mm macro lens on a 40D, lighting provided by flashlight onto a Blank DVD.
Unfortunately not an original shot, as it is evident, many people have thought of the same.
the Mic of Destruction
Spittin' FIRE WHEN READY! Shure Model 55 SH-STAYS HEAVY! ksssht
"Sought by many, approachable by few,
can ignite knowledge, can destroy the untrue.
The D0G Unkn*wn on a Ran Vendetta.
D0G stay ready.
55 stay heavy.
The Search for Ra, the mission.
Mic of Destruction spit the Final Transmission."
www.shure.com/ProAudio/Products/WiredMicrophones/us_pro_5...
55SH Series II Iconic Unidyne Vocal Microphone
An unmistakable stage icon for 70 years, the Shure 55SH Series II Unidyne® Vocal Microphone features a signature satin chrome-plated die-cast casing for pure vintage look and feel with modern acoustic components to meet today's performance standards. This microphone is excellent for vocal pickup with its characteristic Shure presence peak.
The 55SH Series II microphone has a cardioid (unidirectional) polar pickup pattern that minimizes sound pickup from the rear of the microphone. This allows the Model 55SH Series II to be used in close proximity to loudspeakers without creating feedback problems, and it can perform under adverse acoustic conditions where omnidirectional microphones cannot.
Background
-------------
Shure was founded in 1925 as The Shure Radio Company under an audio magnate named Sidney Shure. The company is based in the United States, and has been a Chicago area company since its founding, when Sidney Shure worked out of an office in downtown Chicago. The company moved to Evanston, Illinois in 1956. In 2002, Shure Incorporated relocated to an award-winning [1] office building in Niles, Illinois ( [show location on an interactive map] 42°0′45″N 87°46′21″W / 42.0125°N 87.7725°W / 42.0125; -87.7725). The building was designed by renowned architect Helmut Jahn, and was originally the headquarters of HA•LO Industries. At 65,000 square feet (6,000 m2) the Technology Annex houses the Shure’s Performance Listening Center opened in 2005 [2].
The company's products including their wireless systems and microphones are ubiquitous in well-known music award events, such as the Grammy Awards.
Microphones
--------------
...Shure's 55SH Series II microphone is a fifties-era iconic mic that is still popular today among musicians and radio personalities.
Visualize Graphics provides technical illustrations and renderings of components and detailed installations to educate your audience. www.vizgraphics.com/portfolio/technical-renderings/
Visualize Graphics provides technical illustrations and renderings of components and detailed installations to educate your audience. www.vizgraphics.com/portfolio/technical-renderings/
Tonight I was able to head down to the Vallie Components shop and install my sweet new rack on the KHS. I couldn't be happier with my colour choice, and the bat wing slats look great too. Jodi's rack is also finished, but I haven't got a shot of that yet. Thanks Lyle!