New Locomotives Coming? We'll see. . .
- Thread starter davesnow
- Start date
I've often thought something like this might work in the mountains, thought it would require losing some flexibility.
Basically on a grade like Cajon or over the continental divide (a grade that has 2 sides and a crest) battery helpers could be attached and help the train up. Then on the ride back down resistive breaking would recharge the units to near full. Hour or two latter after some time on a charger, repeat. if you didn't want the layover on a charger, or wanted greater energy capture, wire up the diesel road loco's to the battery helpers like a slug and use there dynamic breaks to charge as well.
Basically on a grade like Cajon or over the continental divide (a grade that has 2 sides and a crest) battery helpers could be attached and help the train up. Then on the ride back down resistive breaking would recharge the units to near full. Hour or two latter after some time on a charger, repeat. if you didn't want the layover on a charger, or wanted greater energy capture, wire up the diesel road loco's to the battery helpers like a slug and use there dynamic breaks to charge as well.
Similar concept to Tesla automobiles. Just bigger, and more powerful explosion when it catches on fire.
The battery by itself:
I've known petrol engined cars to burn, just sitting on the drive, Fords used to do this frequently. Just remember, out of all the cars Tesla has made i think 14 have burnt out due to batteries. We had a petrol engined ute burn out here this week, a 22 year old was killed and it was just parked on the side of the road. Any vehicle using any form of combustible material will occasionally malfunction.
Yup. I had my Jeep Liberty front left wheel catch on fire due to a stuck brake caliper. It cost me $720 USD to replace the brakes. I caught the fire in time and put it out, but it could have been worse if I was on the highway and not taking a back road home from my appointment.