Re: [VIC] Wooden cars at high speed (was: [VIC] Parallel run)

[dbromage@fang.omni.com.au (David Bromage)]

John Wayman (trecker@optusnet.com.au) won a Nobel Prize for literature by writing:
> I have been in E cars at high speed and have been absolutely terrified. The
> amount of sway in some of them was incredible. You could just stand at on
> end of the corridor and look down it to watch it sway alarmingly.
> Occassionally they were known to hit the edges of platforms. These cars need
> to be in top condition to ever be  allowed to travel at high speed,

E cars are not well known for hitting platforms. The large W cars did this
more often as they were built to the limit of the loading gauge.

What is interesting is to stand at the end of the corridor of an E car and
watch the whole car flex. It's designed to do this. If it stops flexing,
you're in trouble!

E cars were designed to ride rough track at 80mph. The bogies have 3 axles
not because of weight, but so there will always be at least 4 wheels on
the track at any given time over rough joints.

V/Line was running very run down E cars at full speed into the 1980s.
Today's main line registered E cars have not been in a better condition
since the 1930s.

Now if you want to feel terrified at high speed, try a PL car at 70mph!

Cheers
David