Subject:
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Re: The Future of Trains
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Tue, 2 Oct 2007 20:09:49 GMT
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Viewed:
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14409 times
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In lugnet.trains, Bob Parker wrote:
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In lugnet.trains, Todd Thuma wrote:
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Maybe someone will design a butane based fuel cell that will work. Or
perhaps a solar power solution will work.
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This reminds me - has anyone built a fully functioning overhead rail electric
train layout where the power is provided by the overhead wires like this:
This would alleviate the need for powered rails and do away with the battery
issue. True, it would only work for prototypical electrified trains like
seen on the Northeast Corridor, but it would be neat to see if more people
could adapt the newer trains to this configuration. Too bad no freight
trains that I can think of use electric like this - it seems only passenger
trains use overhead wires?
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The only issue with this is that standard catenary has a single wire to deliver
current, and metal rails act as the “ground” for the circuit. One could instead
adopt a setup like that used for electric buses in cities such as San Francisco,
where there are two overhead wires and two contacts. The link has a picture:
http://mirror-uk-rb1.gallery.hd.org/_exhibits/places-and-sights/_more2001/_more02/US-CA-San-Francisco-by-bus-001-electric-trolley-bus-power-cables-overhead-bus-has-orange-red-white-livery-DHD.jpg
This is very doable, if a bit less than prototypical. And it is an idea that
can be tested and improved even with current hardware - one just needs some
motors (9V or otherwise) and a 9V speed regulator to supply current to the
overhead lines.
-Jordan
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: The Future of Trains
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| (...) This reminds me - has anyone built a fully functioning overhead rail electric train layout where the power is provided by the overhead wires like this: (URL) This would alleviate the need for powered rails and do away with the battery issue. (...) (17 years ago, 2-Oct-07, to lugnet.trains, FTX)
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