If you are a railfan or a train nerd like me, you must have wondered what those "WDP4, WAG9, WAP4 etc mean, at some point of time. Infact, they show a detailed specification of the "iron horse" that the train is being hauled by.
Let me explain them a bit:
The first letter (gauge)
W-Indian broad gauge (The "W" Stands for Wide Gauge - 5 Feet 6 inches)
Y-metre gauge (The "Y" stands for Yard Gauge - 3 Feet or 1000mm)
Z-narrow gauge(2 ft 6 in)
N-narrow gauge (2 ft)
The second letter (motive power)
D-Diesel
C-DC electric (can run under DC traction only)
A-AC electric (can run under AC traction only)
CA-Both DC and AC (can run under both AC and DC tractions), 'CA' is considered a single letter, very rare
B-Battery electric locomotive (rare)
The third letter (job type)
G-goods
P-passenger
M-mixed; both goods and passenger
S-Used for shunting (Also known as switching engines or switchers in United states and some other countries)
U-Electric multiple units (used as commuters in city suburbs)
R-Railcars
For example, in "WDM 3D":
"W" means broad gauge
"D" means diesel motive power
"M" means suitable for mixed(for both goods and passenger)service
"3D" means the locomotive's power is 3,400 hp ('3' stands for 3000 hp, 'D' denotes 400 hp more)
Or, in "WAP 4":
"W" means broad gauge
"A" mean AC electric traction motive power
"P" means suitable for Passenger service
"4" denotes that this locomotive is chronologically the fifth electric locomotive model used by the railways for passenger service.
W-Indian broad gauge (The "W" Stands for Wide Gauge - 5 Feet 6 inches)
Y-metre gauge (The "Y" stands for Yard Gauge - 3 Feet or 1000mm)
Z-narrow gauge(2 ft 6 in)
N-narrow gauge (2 ft)
The second letter (motive power)
D-Diesel
C-DC electric (can run under DC traction only)
A-AC electric (can run under AC traction only)
CA-Both DC and AC (can run under both AC and DC tractions), 'CA' is considered a single letter, very rare
B-Battery electric locomotive (rare)
The third letter (job type)
G-goods
P-passenger
M-mixed; both goods and passenger
S-Used for shunting (Also known as switching engines or switchers in United states and some other countries)
U-Electric multiple units (used as commuters in city suburbs)
R-Railcars
For example, in "WDM 3D":
"W" means broad gauge
"D" means diesel motive power
"M" means suitable for mixed(for both goods and passenger)service
"3D" means the locomotive's power is 3,400 hp ('3' stands for 3000 hp, 'D' denotes 400 hp more)
Or, in "WAP 4":
"W" means broad gauge
"A" mean AC electric traction motive power
"P" means suitable for Passenger service
"4" denotes that this locomotive is chronologically the fifth electric locomotive model used by the railways for passenger service.
Nowadays, we observe that WDP class locomotives are losing popularity. One main reason, which I can think of, is the smoke that they give out. It may get into coaches causing discomfort to passengers. With increasing electrification on railway networks, WAP class has taken over the passenger service to a major extend. However, WDM locos are being used for passenger service on very few remaining non electrified lines. Indian Railways has not yet released an official statistics on this.
On the other side, we see WDG locos going up the graph (especially WDG4 class). It makes sense that while IR is giving more priority to passenger service, they want a major share of load off the power grid by allotting lesser priority goods service to diesels (an exception being WAG9 class).
Enjoy reading and be open to the things that world has to offer.
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