Are those rubber wheels under this end of the RLM car? Just curious.
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What were they "testing"?
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Also, is this some sort of hybrid hy-rail configuration? The truck(s) on the right-end of the car look like small tractor-trailer tires, but under the car, it does appear to have standard railroad wheels.
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Finally, why two units?
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Just a truck parked on the other side.
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| Posted by Snowy on July 31, 2014 | |
There is an 18-wheeler parked on the far side of the train is all..
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| Posted by on July 31, 2014 | |
Those rubber wheels is a semi-trailer parked behind the tank car. You can see the normal wheels. It's an optical illusion.
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There's a truck parked behind it. You're seeing its wheels.
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Why two units? My guess is one of them was modified to run on methane and the other still runs on diesel. That way if the methane unit fails they won't get stuck.
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My question is how the engine's are Mu'd.
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At least two comments above deserve a facepalm.
Interesting set up, David. Thanks for catching it.
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| Posted by on July 31, 2014 | |
Will it ware out the couplers sooner. And beat the fram
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You see, on the fuel tender we have some groundbreaking wheel material. They are made of space-aged composite jolly-goo wabber-foam. NASA designed it...
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Each end of the tender car has the applicable MU hoses and 27-pin cable slot just like it is another engine. I used the CN version in the yard while putting a train away and didn't notice any difference in slack with the car in the middle.
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The material used inl those wheels are made of are indeed. jolly goo. invented by NASA 1n the 1960's for the Mars landing in 1971. It worked very well om the lunar surface, but failed badly on Mars. This wheel material was first used under A & EC flat cars to transport atomic bombs from Cherry Point,NC to the Bonam, SC site from where they were to be launched, hopefully, never.
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Back when I was a brakeman on the Frisco, we mortally feared just a few things: gravel trucks, giant rocks on flatbeds from local quarries, gasoline trucks, and of course head-on collisions. This adds a new dimension in which a fairly simple derailment could be disastrous to engine crews. I sure hope they know what they're doing! Other than that, it's a compelling photo of a grand idea.
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I sure hope you're right. I'll try to find some articles on it. But what about fuel couplings? Hoses? Are shut-off valves automatic and impervious to external damage? I'm sure they thought of everything, but even Achilles had a heel problem.
They're probably 99.999% safe. 100%, I'd hope.
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