Re: QR going national?

[Ian Harvey <ian_harvey@do.not.spam.me>]

So you make the chassis on the electric loco a bit heavier, regear or
rewind the traction motors and fit them with a fancy anti-slip system -
I'm sure there would be no problem generating the same or greater
tractive effort as a diesel.  The only real limit for an electric is the
current draw on the overhead, and that's basically proportional to power
not tractive effort - there seems to be agreement that electrics have
greater power ratings.

Graham Fry wrote:
<snip> 
> There are plenty of diesel locos around now that can easily exceed the
> electric haulage capacity. Electrics only advantage is high kW not
> necessarily high tractive effort which is the key ingredient for heavy
> load haulage. Your about to get the 4000 class diesels which will have a
> higher haulage capacity than the 31/32/35/35 electrics. In NSW the
> western coal trains are regularly hauled by either 4 x 86
> electrics(4500HP) or 3 x 81/82  diesels (3000HP), the lower kW diesels
> can haul a greater load becuase or their superior traction control (ie.
> wheel slip).
<snip again..>
-- 
IanH
Comments and questions welcome at ian_harvey at bigpond dot com
However, do _not_ send me unsolicited commercial email.