Subject:
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Re: 10170 TTX Intermodal Double-Stack Car Preview
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Fri, 6 May 2005 17:48:02 GMT
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Viewed:
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8450 times
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Larry Pieniazek wrote:
> In lugnet.trains, Brian Davis wrote:
> > In lugnet.announce.iltco, Mike Walsh wrote:
> >
> > > the new 10170 TTX Intermodal Double-Stack Cair.
> >
> > OK, this is only marginally LEGO, but... why the shared bogie? As
> > a non-train type, I've certainly seen these on the tracks, but I'm
> > not sure I understand why it's prefered over seperate cars. Is it
> > just cheaper to produce two cars and three bogies over two cars and
> > four bogies?
>
> Marginally, yes.
>
> But much more important is the significant reduction in tare(1)
> weight, and the reduction in length. Since TOFC/COFC(2) is operated
> at high speeds, in long trains, less tare means more payload per
> horsepower used, and less length per car means more cars in the train
> before you exceed the capacity of sidings system wide. Building new
> sidings or lengthening existing ones is VERY expensive
>
> 1 - the weight of everything BUT the load
> 2 - Trailer on Flat Car/Container on Flat Car
Aren't there also gains in reduced wheel friction? Even if the center trucks
weighed the same as 2 normal trucks, the wheel friction would be reduced in
the single truck example. Of course axle loading weight goes up with the
single center truck, so I'm not sure how all of the dynamics play out.
There are also probably maintenance and failure savings. Any more
permanently coupled set of cars will have fewer coupler failure problems and
presumably there are other maintenance savings.
But yea, the operational costs are the biggest factors, and such costs are
the reason for many of the differences between US and European
railroading. -The distances in the US are huge compared to European (of
course Russian, Australian, Indian, and Chinese railroads have similar
distance issues).
Frank
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: 10170 TTX Intermodal Double-Stack Car Preview
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| (...) Don't forget the weight per axle... in Europe it's almost nowhere allowed to go over 22.5 metric tons (21 being most common in the Netherlands), while I've heard it's sometimes over 30 in the USA. Shared bogies here under container cars are (...) (20 years ago, 6-May-05, to lugnet.trains)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: 10170 TTX Intermodal Double-Stack Car Preview
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| (...) Marginally, yes. But much more important is the significant reduction in tare(1) weight, and the reduction in length. Since TOFC/COFC(2) is operated at high speeds, in long trains, less tare means more payload per horsepower used, and less (...) (20 years ago, 4-May-05, to lugnet.trains)
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