Slugs?!

Midland said:
About a year back I went through a phase of downloading all the glamorous looking slugs I could. Boy did they look neat in Railyard!:)

When I tried using them in Driver I had a top speed of about 8 mph. Seeing as locos are free in TRS I gave up using slugs and simply reverted to conventional locos in multiple. At least I was able to get my shunting done much more quickly that way.:rolleyes:

Slugs? Look good but are a real pain to use. Bung 'em in sidings or yards where they can act as decoration but if you want your yards to get sorted efficiently stick to conventional locos.

As for the stylommatophore variety they are incredibly useful (and delicious) if you happen to be an ericaneus europaeus (hedgehog). :D



Cheers

Nix
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input ... :)
 
sfrr said:
i'm pretty sure a slug is like a helper engine for the switching
this is off wika-pidia
"A railroad slug is an accessory to a diesle-electric locomotive. It has trucks with traction motors but is unable to move about under its own power, as it does not contain a prime mover to produce electricity. Instead, it is connected to a locomotive, called the mother, which provides current to operate the traction motors.
The slug concept is similar to switching from two wheel drive to four wheel drive in an automobile."

for example, there are cabless slugs, or a yard slug, there are also road slugs here is off wika-pidia agian --->

"Slugs are used in situations where tractive effort is more important than extra power, such as switching operations in yerds. At low speeds, a diesle-electric locomotive's prime mover can produce more electric power than its traction motors can use. Extra power would simply cause the wheels to slip and/or overheat the traction motors. A slug effectively adds axles to the locomotive, increasing both the pulling and braking power. Slugs carry ballast to increase their weight and improve traction. Large blocks of conctere are frequently used for this purpose, substituting for the weight of the now-absent diesel engine(s).
Slugs can be built new or converted from existing locomotives. Conversion has enjoyed popularity as a way to reuse otherwise obsolete engines."

here are pictures

first: a low slug, or cabless, or yard slug
800px-Lowslug.jpg


second: a road slug, or railroad, or cabbed slug.
780px-Highslug.jpg

hope thats what you wanted to know :)

mike
Click to expand...

Thank you!!:wave:
Ish
 
hogger1961 said:
Ask a question, get lots of info. Here is a little more.
Slugs are not limited to yard duty. Some are used as road slugs. They are coupled to the mother unit but are unpowered until extra force is needed, at which point the loco driver feeds the slug power until he is once again rolling. Then its unpowered again. This is more economical than sending extra locomotives that may only be needed to get the train moving. Some road slugs are built in the railroads shops, but some are purpose built for this type of use. General Electric builds them from scratch, and calls them "MATES". (Motor to Assist Tractive Effort). Or something to that effect. I dont know that road slugs would be much use in hilly terrain since extra locomotives are required anyway.
In addition to helping start a train, slugs add braking force as well. This extra force reduces shunting time since the loco driver can use a bit more speed without excess wheel slide and stopping distance. In a case where the railroad needs more brakes but doesn't need the starting force, the motors and other associated electrical equipment is removed (for use elsewhere) and the brake equipment is kept intact. The result is called a "sled". Alternatively, filling an old gondola car with cement make a good sled as well. I've seen it done.........
If you get some spare time, get on the 'net and type "locomotives" in your search engine. There is a ton of cool stuff there. Happy reading! Cheers, Ray
Click to expand...

Thank you for the info!!:hehe: :D
 
"Slugs are used in situations where tractive effort is more important than extra power, such as switching operations in yerds. At low speeds, a diesle-electric locomotive's prime mover can produce more electric power than its traction motors can use. Extra power would simply cause the wheels to slip and/or overheat the traction motors. A slug effectively adds axles to the locomotive, increasing both the pulling and braking power. Slugs carry ballast to increase their weight and improve traction. Large blocks of conctere are frequently used for this purpose, substituting for the weight of the now-absent diesel engine(s).
Slugs can be built new or converted from existing locomotives. Conversion has enjoyed popularity as a way to reuse otherwise obsolete engines."


Thanks Mike:wave: :p
 
re: slugs in garden!

Locate 12 oz. can of beer(your choice). Consume half (fortify yourself for this heartless task). Pour remainder in a small bowl. Place bowl in garden.
Slug(s) like beer............ will drink...........will thoroughly inebriate themselves..........will fall into beer..........will drown!
Have significant other remove this mess from the garden after several days.
Regards
P.S. I found Slug topic(railroad kind) quite interesting. The Boston and Maine (now Guilford) operated these puppies in the Boston area.
 
I think the second video was testing a nuclear fuel container. For some reason they didn't want it to rupture or leak in an accident.
As for the first; if you're going to abuse cars, try this;
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=24iZDl-U8es&feature=related

As for the slugs, have we done a complete list of manufactureres yet? EMD has been well documented here, and GE made the MATE (Motors for Additional Tractive Effort) to go with the U36B, but how abiout Alco and Baldwin?

:cool: Claude
 
Tokkyu40 said:
I think the second video was testing a nuclear fuel container. For some reason they didn't want it to rupture or leak in an accident.
As for the first; if you're going to abuse cars, try this;
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=24iZDl-U8es&feature=related

As for the slugs, have we done a complete list of manufactureres yet? EMD has been well documented here, and GE made the MATE (Motors for Additional Tractive Effort) to go with the U36B, but how abiout Alco and Baldwin?

:cool: Claude
Click to expand...

Cool!!! :D
 
Freightcar2, if that's your signature, you seriously need to crop and shrink the picture. It's overwhelming.

:cool: Claude
 
Thanks for taking care of it so quick. :wave: Now we can focus on your posts better.
Except for the size, it was a great picture. I can't wait to see what your final signature image will be like.

:cool: Claude
 
19 more terms for 'slug'

A third definition is the D51-type steam locomotive built for the Japanese National Railway. According to Wikipedia: "Early D51s built were known as 'Namekuji type' (or 'slug')" There are about 18 surviving in Japan and at least 4 in Russia.
There are 18 more definitions here.
~TTT100~
 
Tokkyu40 said:
Thanks for taking care of it so quick. :wave: Now we can focus on your posts better.
Except for the size, it was a great picture. I can't wait to see what your final signature image will be like.

:cool: Claude
Click to expand...

Not to get too offtopic, but my new sig will be something from trainz: perhaps the R30s and R32s side by side? :o That's yet to be confirmed.
 
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