Why won't Trains move if not on rail?

S

SuperSpeedMaglev

Wonderfully Old Fashioned
I quickly googled searched(in exact words of title) and didn't find anything.


Time to answer a mystery for me. Why don't trains move if not on the rails?(Make the answer simple)
 
To Heavy.......It's not rocket science for petes sake!
I don't know why I answer this guy.
Maybe its increase my post count.
 
Because they are not designed to drive on something else than tracks.

I think the name for it is roll-resistance.
 
Train wheels are thin, metal, and support a very heavy vehicle. With that combination, the wheels would sink into any surface it's placed on. For a good example, try cutting a piece of fruit with a knife, imagining the force you're exerting on the knife as the weight of a loco on a wheel, with the fruit as the ground surface. Now try cutting the same fruit with a sponge using a similar amount of force. It's basically the same as a flanged steel wheel versus an automobile tire on a road.
xcrossi is right. It's not rocket science. It's simple physics.
 
Not to mention there's no way to steer without rails.

That said, interestingly at one time Canadian National loaned a pair of locomotives to the town of Boucherville, Quebec to act as generators after a particularly nasty ice storm in 1998. Both engines (CN 3502 and CN 3508) apparently suffered some gearbox damage - I don't know if this was due to clearance issues by running directly on the pavement or due to the extra stress from carving its own path down the road.

http://www.railpictures.net/photo/346295/
 
SuperSpeedMaglev said:
I quickly googled searched(in exact words of title) and didn't find anything.

Time to answer a mystery for me. Why don't trains move if not on the rails?(Make the answer simple)
Click to expand...

What, exactly, does that even mean ? ? ? It just don't make sense in English

I can type in: "Why is a train on the grass" ... and I might expect zero results.

Type in "My dog eats ... " ... and Google suggestions, will come up with a whole slew of different suggestions

SuperSpeedMaglev said:
Why don't trains move if not on the rails?(Make the answer simple)
Click to expand...

Maybe ... Just maybe, because they are "on dirt" ... or they are derailed ?

The wheel profile on a train are canted inward on an angle, the railhead profile is also canted inward on an angle ... this makes a train axle want to find a center of gravity, and not hunt, back and forth, from side, to side. The flanges are a check device, to kick wheels back on tracking ... and a smooth steel rail overcomes friction ... trains really don't roll too smooth, over rocks.:hehe:

https://video.search.yahoo.com/vide...:s,v:v,m:sa&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=mozilla&tt=b

https://video.search.yahoo.com/vide...:s,v:v,m:sa&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=mozilla&tt=b

https://video.search.yahoo.com/vide...:s,v:v,m:sa&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=mozilla&tt=b
 
Last edited:
Hi everybody.
This thread must rank among the most ridiculous ever posted on this forum. Super also informed this forum that he was at college some months ago. I commented that he should therefore concentrate on his education rather than Trainz as his tomorrow lay their. I was criticized by some on the forum for stating that, but it certainly looks now after starting this thread as if he definitely needs to put 100% into education if he cannot work out why rail vehicles cannot run on roads

Bill
 
wholbr said:
Hi everybody.
This thread must rank among the most ridiculous ever posted on this forum. Super also informed this forum that he was at college some months ago. I commented that he should therefore concentrate on his education rather than Trainz as his tomorrow lay their. I was criticized by some on the forum for stating that, but it certainly looks now after starting this thread as if he definitely needs to put 100% into education if he cannot work out why rail vehicles cannot run on roads

Bill
Click to expand...
+1 .............
 
wholbr said:
Hi everybody.
This thread must rank among the most ridiculous ever posted on this forum. Super also informed this forum that he was at college some months ago. I commented that he should therefore concentrate on his education rather than Trainz as his tomorrow lay their. I was criticized by some on the forum for stating that, but it certainly looks now after starting this thread as if he definitely needs to put 100% into education if he cannot work out why rail vehicles cannot run on roads

Bill
Click to expand...

I believe we both had a word with him about this. Education is so important yet it is so neglected in so many ways it seems...

John
 
Perhaps (I hope) we are misjudging the context of his question. It could be possible that he was asking why Trainz locos can't run on the Trainz roads surface. Nobody asked if that was the question.

We must remember that a lot of these kids do not have a clue about engineering principles.

In case that was the question, here is an answer:- Trainz locos can not run on Trainz roads because they are coded to prevent it happening.

Peter
 
Last edited:
SuperSpeedMaglev said:
I quickly googled searched(in exact words of title) and didn't find anything.


Time to answer a mystery for me. Why don't trains move if not on the rails?(Make the answer simple)
Click to expand...

Train is a massive machine weighing 160+ tonnes (Diesel)

Train wheels will submerge a little in ground.

It ain't a toy.

Friction between rails and train wheel is less compared to other surface.
 
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