[ale] OT: Maglev funding?

Thompson Freeman tfreeman at intel.digichem.net
Tue Feb 17 12:19:16 EST 2009


On 02/17/2009 11:22:38 AM, Jim Kinney wrote:
> On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 10:42 AM, Geoffrey
> <lists at serioustechnology.com> wrote:
> 
> >> Actually, the weight difference is not related to the
> turning radius
> >> at all.
> >
> > Certainly loaded rail cars will ride higher on the rail?
> >
> 
> Nope. The taper on the wheels coupled with the crowning
> sets the ride
> point to be center except for turns. The load will affect
> the
> suspension height certainly. But the suspension, unlike an
> automobile,
> does not affect the wheel geometry with respect to the
> road/rail. A
> loaded rail car will ride lower _ABOVE_ the rail than an
> empty car.
> 
> If the load affeces the rail positioning it is due to
> faulty rail anchoring.
> 
> Side note: If you get the chance, watch a railroad tie
> changing
> process. A special car rides up, claws yank out the
> spikes, a
> hydraulic boom rips the tie out from under the rail, a
> second boom
> pounds a new tie in its place and hydraulic nail guns
> pound in new
> spikes. It does a tie change out in about 40 seconds!
> There is a pile
> of new tie's in Clarkeston so I expect that rail line to
> get  upgraded
> soon. Cool!

Something else rather fun to watch is welding the rail. I  
got my first view of this recently as the railroad worked  
on a crossing near the house here. They use something like  
40 lbs of thermite which is released into a mold clamped  
over the two rail ends. Grind the whole thing smooth with a  
pnuematic(sp) grinder after it cools a little bit.



More information about the Ale mailing list