A Giesl ejector is a suction draught system for steam locomotives that works on the same principle as a feedwater pump.

This ejector (German: Ejektor, Flachschornstein or Quetschesse) was invented in 1951 by the Austrian engineer, Dr. Adolph Giesl-Gieslingen

Adolph Giesl-Gieslingen

Adolph Giesl-Gieslingen was an Austrian locomotive designer and engineer.Giesl-Gieslingen was born in 1903 in Trient, Tirol, and studied at the Technical College in Vienna. In 1924 he published a technical article on smokebox design and chimneys...

. The Giesl ejector ensures improved suction draught and a correspondingly better use of energy. The existing blastpipe

Blastpipe

The blastpipe is part of the exhaust system of a steam locomotive that discharges exhaust steam from the cylinders into the smokebox beneath the chimney in order to increase the draught through the fire.- History :...

 in a locomotive is replaced by several, small, fan-shaped, diverging blast pipes, from which the diffuser gets its flat, long, drawn-out shape.

Giesl claimed that his ejector enabled a saving in coal of between 6 and 12 % – although in practice the maximum saving was more like 8 % – and an increase in power of up to 20 %. Many railway administrations converted their steam engines to Giesl ejectors, including the ÖBB, ČSD

CSD

CSD may refer to:*Cali Swag District*California School for the Deaf*Cambridge Structural Database*Canonical signed digit*Canteen Stores Department *Canteen Stores Department *Carbonated Soft Drink*Cat scratch disease...

 and Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) in East Germany, as well as railway companies in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 and Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. The licence fees were not paid in every case, it being said that often they almost cancelled out the saving in coal. In the DR it was assessed that the Giesl ejectors would pay for themselves within a year, as a result of which they converted over 500 locomotives; primarily the Classes 38.10

Prussian P 8

The Prussian Class P 8 steam locomotive of the Prussian state railways was built from 1906 onwards by the Berliner Maschinenbau and the Linke-Hofmann factory in Breslau by Robert Garbe...

, 50, 52 and 65.10

DR Class 65.10

- History :Like the DB Class 65 built for the Deutsche Bundesbahn in West Germany, the DR Class 65.10 was intended by the Deutsche Reichsbahn in East Germany for commuter traffic on suburban railways...

.

Use in the United Kingdom

In 1958, Dr Giesl-Gieslingen approached British Railways to offer a free trial of the ejector. When this offer was turned down, the inventor made the same offer to the preserved Talyllyn Railway

Talyllyn Railway

The Talyllyn Railway is a narrow-gauge preserved railway in Wales running for from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1866 to carry slate from the quarries at Bryn Eglwys to Tywyn, and was the first narrow gauge railway in Britain...

 in Wales, and locomotive No. 4, Edward Thomas

Edward Thomas (locomotive)

Edward Thomas is a narrow gauge steam locomotive. Built by Kerr Stuart & Co. Ltd. at the California Works, Stoke-on-Trent in 1921, it was delivered new to the Corris Railway where it ran until 1948. After that railway closed, the locomotive was brought to the Talyllyn Railway in 1951, then...

was fitted with one. Although a coal saving of 40% was officially announced at the time, this has since been disputed by the railway's chief engineer. The ejector was removed in 1969, and no difference in coal consumption was found. The ejector is now on display in the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum

Narrow Gauge Railway Museum

The Narrow Gauge Railway Museum is a purpose-built museum dedicated to narrow gauge railways situated at the station of the Talyllyn Railway in Tywyn, Gwynedd, Wales....

 at Tywyn

Tywyn

Tywyn is a town and seaside resort on the Cardigan Bay coast of southern Gwynedd , in north Wales. The name derives from the Welsh tywyn and the town is sometimes referred to as Tywyn Meirionnydd...

.

In 1962, Bulleid

Oliver Bulleid

Oliver Vaughan Snell Bulleid was a British railway and mechanical engineer best known as the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Southern Railway between 1937 and the 1948 nationalisation, developing many well-known locomotives.- Early life and Great Northern Railway :He was born in Invercargill,...

 Battle of Britain class 4-6-2 34064 Fighter Command was fitted with a Giesl ejector on the grounds that a desired spark arrestor would "suffocate" an ordinary blastpipe. It quickly became apparent, following some adjustment, that the ejector improved the locomotive design, and it was held in high regard by the crews. As a consequence of this experience and for the same reasons, during the 1980s the preserved Bulleid West Country class 4-6-2 34092 City of Wells was similarly fitted at the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway

Keighley and Worth Valley Railway

The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway is a long branch line that served mills and villages in the Worth Valley and is now a heritage railway line in West Yorkshire, England. It runs from Keighley to Oxenhope. It connects to the national rail network line at Keighley railway station...

.

A BR Standard Class 9F

BR standard class 9F

The British Railways BR Standard Class 9F 2-10-0 is a class of steam locomotive designed for British Railways by Robert Riddles. The Class 9F was the last in a series of standardised locomotive classes designed for British Railways during the 1950s, and was intended for use on fast, heavy freight...

 2-10-0 92250 was also fitted with a Giesl ejector, but with "indifferent" results.

In fiction

In the fictional narrow gauge railway

Skarloey Railway

On the fictional Island of Sodor in The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry, the Skarloey Railway is a narrow gauge railway which runs from the main line at Crovan's Gate to the passenger terminus at Skarloey. Beyond Skarloey the line continues to a slate quarry.In the stories, the railway is run by...

 by the Rev. W. Awdry based on the Talyllyn Railway, the locomotive Peter Sam

Peter Sam

Peter Sam is a fictional steam locomotive The Railway Series children's books by the Rev. W. Awdry and the spin-off TV series Thomas and Friends. Peter Sam lives and works on the Skarloey Railway on the Island of Sodor as engine No. 4....

, based on Edward Thomas, also received a Giesl ejector.

External links

• www.eisenbahnfotograf.de - Numerous photos of steam locomotives with Giesl ejectors (German)
• There is a relevant English-language forum at Railways of Germany