EFFECTIVENESS OF DIESEL-LOCOMOTIVE SHUNTER MODERNIZATION AND WAYS FOR ITS DEFINITION

The majority of improvements and diesel-locomotive modernizations are aimed at the decrease of diesel oil consumption and improvement of indices influencing environment ecology. In this sense the corresponding engineering solutions are offered by many experts representing different companies including those which did not deal with diesel locomotive up-dating and testing earlier. But, as a rule, they estimate cost-effectiveness of their developments only by the results of simplified tool measurements. In the paper there are considered the following methods for the modernization assessment of diesel-locomotive shunters: a tool method, a statistical and tool-calculation method with the aid of which it is possible to assess diesel-locomotive shunter cost-effectiveness. It is necessary to take into account advantages and disadvantages of each method depending on operation conditions of traction units. For a test (rebuilt) diesel-locomotive and a test one without up-dating it is necessary to take the same parameters (rolling-stock masses, setoff number etc.) and also conditions (plan and track profile, number, type and point location). It allows obtaining fully comparable results. A basis for the calculation of operation and power indices of diesel-locomotive shunters is a shunting mode characterizing a general and a relative duration of work in the traction mode, fuel consumption, a level of power use which is set depending on operation conditions and traction properties of a specific diesel-locomotive.