Re: hybrid tilting train, Re: Modern high speed steam to Mackay.

[tk2@rcs.urz.tu-dresden.de]

On 19 Nov 1998 00:50:44 GMT, Ron Bennell <ron.bennell@qr.com.au> wrote in 
misc.transport.rail.australia-nz:

> You make the mistake that most Europeans do when trying to sell equipment
> in Australia - not accounting for weather and locality conditions.

Well, I was describing a train built for Germany, not trying to
sell one to Australia :) Here it might wait at some siding during
the night in its end station, only connected to the local
electricity supply (if at all), then it comes very handy to
preprogram it so it's warm and ready to start in the morning even
if the temperatures were -20 °C during the night. :)

I understand that for Australian weather conditions, the cooling
systems for the engines as well as the air-conditioning systems
would have to be re-calculated.. and pre-heating might not at 
all be necessary.

> 2 It is often necessary to derate the HP of engines for the hotter climate.

*nod* Just learning about it in "combustion motors" lecture at
university .... the air temperature is an important factor in
a motor's efficiency.

> Also for such a train, wouldn't gas turbine be a light weight alternative
> to a diesel engine.

I haven't heard of a successful application of train gasturbines
since the French RTGs in the '70s and their counterparts in USA
and Iran. With the raise in efficiency and power/weight ratio of
diesel engines, they seemed to be dead. (Also compare the gas
turbine of a RTG, which takes up one third of an end car 
together with its cooling systems, to the underfloor diesel 
engines of many modern DMUs.)

However, Bombardier is building a gas turbine powered locomotive
for Amtrak. Let's see how well it works! I understand that gas
turbines didn't standstill either during the last 25 years, if
you look at the increase in power and speed of turboprop aero-
planes ....

-- 
tobias benjamin köhler                 tk2@rcs.urz.tu-dresden.de
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