Re: Train Accident in Blue Mountains

[matthew@mail.usyd.edu.au (Matthew Geier)]

In article <384CC789.F66CEAE5@zeta.org.au>,
Don Allitt  <nahgfa@zeta.org.au> wrote:
>At say 40kph it would travel 11 Meters a second less braking time.So that
>is at least 10 seconds to get back to warn.So how good are the brakes on
>the trains?? I know if i jam the car brakes on i will stop in less than
>100 meters.Don.
>

 Your car doesnt weigh around 500 tonnes. Probably less than 1.

 I understand that an Interurban power car wieghs in at around 68 tonnes,
the trailers are a little lighter, but still its considerably more
weight than a car.
 The 68 tonne car has 8 wheels on the ground instead of 4, but the train car
weighs in at considerably more than 4 times your car. Also the friction
between the 'road' and the wheels is a lot less (One of the reasons why rail
is energy efficient, but there is a cost in stopping distance). Try 'emergency'
braking in your car on a gravel road. That would be more the feel of it.

 Car drivers just dont realise. Try speaking to a truck driver who does
city deliveries some time. The number of car drivers who change lanes into
their stopping distance, thinking that the large gap in front of a slowing
truck is just that, free space for them, and NOT what the truck driver needs
to stop!.

 Ive had a scary enough experience driving a railway trike with braking distances,
the rails were wet. Had the wheels locked up, hardly slowed at all.