The DMC

General characteristics of the switcher:

Builder:	Gaston Moyse (La Courneuve)
Model/Type:	25 TED100
Date of delivery:	1929
Road numbers:	N°276
Diesel power [kW]:	56
Locomotive power [kW]:	?
Maximum starting tractive effort [kN]:	?
Maximum safe speed [km/h]:	?
Weight in working order [t]:	16,9
Total length [m]:	6,75
On-board voltage [V]:	24

General view:

DMC-Tag

Builder plate:

DMC-plaque

Short presentation:

The switcher nicknamed "DMC" at the CFTR is a switcher built by a well-known company in France: Gaston Moyse. It has been built in the suburb of Paris in 1929. It has a long history at the CFTR: it was belonging to the CFT of the Doller (the former touristic railway from which the founding members were coming) and came to Volgelsheim in 1982. Its owner is a founding member who owns the Baldwin locomotive too.

Its nickname DMC comes from the former textile company from Mulhouse "Dollfuss, Meig & Cie" which used it the last before the CFTVD saved it.

Life at CFTR:

Last owner before salvage:	CFTVD
Retirement date:	?
Acquisition date:	1982
Current owner:	CFTR
Restauration:	2010
Use at the CFTR:	Internal switch
Retirement by the CFTR:	-

At the begininning, (what can be seen here between 1'10 and 3'00), it has been used to pull the train to the station and this was a quite difficult task for a switcher which is so weak. But at that time, there was not enough switchers to do the job and without it, the CFTR would have had great difficulties!

After this, the DMC was only used to switch other locomotives in the depot but this service was a little bit too hard and one of its traction motors could not survive it (despite some failed attempts of the webmaster to try to bring it back to life. Then it has been put aside, waiting for an occasion to repair it. At the beginning, it stayed at the depot but because it just disturbed the operation, it has been parked at the station in Volgelsheim.

After some few years and because the safety situation in France continuously worsens, the DMC and the mail car (which also was parked at the station) have been vandalized (fortunately only superficially).

DMC-Tag

One can forget it but it is one of the very rare last switcher from the Chemin de Fer Alsace-Lorraine (the successor of the imperial railway of Elsaß-Lothringen) like the steamlocomotives 030. That's why it has been repaired in 2010 and in 2014 a second Moyse has been acquired for spare parts, especially for the traction motor.

Pictures (CFTR):

Video1, Video 2

External links:

More technical infos:

The 4 cylinder in line diesel engine is directly mounted in the cab! Something very positive for the service but suboptimal for the operation. The transmission is electrical, like a lot of Moyse produced in the 20's. The intention was praiseworthy but the transmission is not the best part of the switcher. It has been reported that it went up regularly in smoke. (Traction motors and generator...)

The generator is flanged to the diesel and is situated between cab and one of the short hoods. There are 2 traction motors which are mounted in the same frame. This frame is suspended on three points under the frame of the switcher. When dismantled, the frame can only be removed through the cab... Changing the traction motors implies to remove the cab, the diesel engine and the generator!

The control and brake stand is very complete and allows the easy change of running direction. Driving this switcher is really easy: the engineer only needs to change the lever of the injection pump to accelerate the engine. The engine speeds increases, the generator runs faster, the voltage increases and consequently, the speed of the traction motors or their tractive effort increases. A lever for shunting allows the limitation of current in the traction motors: an electrical resistance is inserted in parallel with them and the current is redirected through it. The current in the motors decreases. Following current values are valid:

Continuous:

One hour:

Maximum current (transitionnal regime):

150A

180A

210A

In reality, these official values are a little bit exagerated. The performances are in fact lower.
The technical data of the diesel engine are the following:

Type:

4C125

Cycle:

4 stroke

Number of cylinders:

4

Bore:

125 mm

Stroke:

170 mm

Displacement:

8,34 litres

Output Power:

59kW at1500 rpm

Injection:

direct

Idle speed:

600 rpm

Specific fuel consumption:

244 gr/(KW.h)

The transmission between traction motors and axles is realized by chains.