The autumn years of the ICE should be the golden years for the ICE.

[1990RangerinSK]

The electric motors pushing those trains are powered by diesel generators spewing black smoke, it was about power, not about being "green".

I wonder, though. Living beside the main rail line, I hear a lot of trains go by. The locomotive seems to sound different, depending on how much power it's putting down to pull the train. Maybe I'm just imagining. I would think that if the diesel engine was strictly a generator, generating the electricity needed in order to power the electric motors that actually drive the wheels, that the diesel engine would always operate at the same RPM, but it seems like that's not the case.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I'm pretty sure trains are more similar to an electric over hydraulic system than a hybrid with battery backup, I'm pretty sure they mainly generate the power and use it at that time without much buffer... so more load on the train is more load on the engine so the engine is trying harder...

 

[Chapap]

I wonder, though. Living beside the main rail line, I hear a lot of trains go by. The locomotive seems to sound different, depending on how much power it's putting down to pull the train. Maybe I'm just imagining. I would think that if the diesel engine was strictly a generator, generating the electricity needed in order to power the electric motors that actually drive the wheels, that the diesel engine would always operate at the same RPM, but it seems like that's not the case.

As I understand it, the electric part is essentially the transmission. Just a different solution than a torque converter and gears.

 

[bobbywalter]

A diesel locomotive....is electric.


It drives essentially a giant alternator and feeds the traction motors.


The earlier drilling rigs are similar....I used to be in charge of the scr house. AC to DC....kind of a waste. Modern stuff is much better

Even with all three generators going ...it will bogg and beller clouds of smoke pulling off bottom with over 1/2 million string weight....and as it gains speed they quiet right down...the reversion was epic.


That is three 398 caterpillars on 30k power heads....

Eat fuel at an unreal rate on deep trips...


They were turned up to 950 hp..

Caterpillar D398

Caterpillar D398

mship.no

 

[rusty ol ranger]

You ever been next to a train when its taking off from a dead stop?

At my old job they delivered lumber on rail cars...up to 20 at a time. The reverberations when your ~20feet away or so is pretty intense.

As a side note though...its pretty crazy how easy rail cars roll. If we had to move the cars ourselves we had a big 11k cap toyota dual wheeled forktruck (around 18k empty weight), had a 90 (or 110 i dont remember for sure)HP I6 N/A yota diesel...it could shove 4 loaded if you could get traction.

 

[Chapap]

You ever been next to a train when its taking off from a dead stop?

At my old job they delivered lumber on rail cars...up to 20 at a time. The reverberations when your ~20feet away or so is pretty intense.

As a side note though...its pretty crazy how easy rail cars roll. If we had to move the cars ourselves we had a big 11k cap toyota dual wheeled forktruck (around 18k empty weight), had a 90 (or 110 i dont remember for sure)HP I6 N/A yota diesel...it could shove 4 loaded if you could get traction.

I live near a port and will regularly see trains do their thing. I’m just under a mile from the tracks and can hear the locomotives rumbling if it’s a big one leaving town. If You’re getting gas near the tracks and they do the thing where all the cars are bunched togeather, they hit the throttle, and a half mile of slack is taken up, it can make you hit the deck.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

you'd need quite a solar array. I’m looking at a hybrid Sonata. The top trim has solar panels on the roof (15 square feet?). Hyundai brags that it provides up to 2 miles per day.

I already have the solar trailer. I dont mean tow it behind the car lol. My buddy plugs his Tesla into it when he comes over, and it barely makes a dent in the consumption on a sunny day. Right now it just powers my pool pump , and sometimes I plug yard lights or power tools into it. I bought it because it was a good deal, and for emergency power with having to run a generator. its built on an open car trailer maybe 20' and has two rows of panels running the whole length and width, two inverters, lots of batteries...breaker box has two 50amp and one 20amp breakers.

 

[bobbywalter]

I already have the solar trailer. I dont mean tow it behind the car lol. My buddy plugs his Tesla into it when he comes over, and it barely makes a dent in the consumption on a sunny day. Right now it just powers my pool pump , and sometimes I plug yard lights or power tools into it. I bought it because it was a good deal, and for emergency power with having to run a generator. its built on an open car trailer maybe 20' and has two rows of panels running the whole length and width, two inverters, lots of batteries...breaker box has two 50amp and one 20amp breakers.

The new light plant systems are ruthless...they are popping up in the oilfield....and they are pushing us to convert the rigs to grid power to get aight emissions down...

There are several systems I have looked at...

32 foot hi cap trailer for my shop and 40 foot bus still need fold out panels for self containment even in az....but that's HVAC and water from air systems.

And 70 k ish in current dollars just for those systems. Spread over 10 years....that is cheap living...and high mobility.

 

[19Walt93]

I wonder, though. Living beside the main rail line, I hear a lot of trains go by. The locomotive seems to sound different, depending on how much power it's putting down to pull the train. Maybe I'm just imagining. I would think that if the diesel engine was strictly a generator, generating the electricity needed in order to power the electric motors that actually drive the wheels, that the diesel engine would always operate at the same RPM, but it seems like that's not the case.

Since I'm a long time New Hampshire Electric Coop member, I have a generator. It purrs along making a steady dull roar until my 3/4 Hp 220 volt water pump kicks on, then it's right on the governor and straining. I'll bet the same thing happens to trains.

 

[RonD]

Yes, train diesels idle at 300rpm and make max power at about 900rpm(about 3,500HP), also they 2 stroke diesels
So yes their RPMs can vary depending on electrical demand from electric wheels

There is usually a separate diesel engine that makes electrical power for the rest of the trains needs, the cars, and its RPMs can vary as well depending on electrical load

And where you are when the engine passes is effected by where the end of the train is at that time, some are a mile or more long, so engine may still be dragging the end of the train over a small incline, 1/2 a mile back, lol

 

[1990RangerinSK]

I'm pretty sure trains are more similar to an electric over hydraulic system than a hybrid with battery backup, I'm pretty sure they mainly generate the power and use it at that time without much buffer... so more load on the train is more load on the engine so the engine is trying harder...

As I understand it, the electric part is essentially the transmission. Just a different solution than a torque converter and gears.

A diesel locomotive....is electric.


It drives essentially a giant alternator and feeds the traction motors.


The earlier drilling rigs are similar....I used to be in charge of the scr house. AC to DC....kind of a waste. Modern stuff is much better

Even with all three generators going ...it will bogg and beller clouds of smoke pulling off bottom with over 1/2 million string weight....and as it gains speed they quiet right down...the reversion was epic.


That is three 398 caterpillars on 30k power heads....

Eat fuel at an unreal rate on deep trips...


They were turned up to 950 hp..

Caterpillar D398

Caterpillar D398

mship.no

You ever been next to a train when its taking off from a dead stop?

At my old job they delivered lumber on rail cars...up to 20 at a time. The reverberations when your ~20feet away or so is pretty intense.

As a side note though...its pretty crazy how easy rail cars roll. If we had to move the cars ourselves we had a big 11k cap toyota dual wheeled forktruck (around 18k empty weight), had a 90 (or 110 i dont remember for sure)HP I6 N/A yota diesel...it could shove 4 loaded if you could get traction.

I live near a port and will regularly see trains do their thing. I’m just under a mile from the tracks and can hear the locomotives rumbling if it’s a big one leaving town. If You’re getting gas near the tracks and they do the thing where all the cars are bunched togeather, they hit the throttle, and a half mile of slack is taken up, it can make you hit the deck.

Interesting. So a train locomotive operates similar to Toyota's Hybrid system, where the diesel engine assists the electric motors. Ford used the same hybrid system in the Escape. The diesel engine actually applies power, which is supplemented by the electric motors, that actually drive the wheels.

 

[RonD]

Electric wheels drive the engine/train, a large diesel runs a generator, diesels are 710cubic inch, PER CYLINDER, and there are 12 cylinders

There are hybrids where diesel can also apply power directly to the wheels

But because of the full torque, at 1RPM and up, with electric motors its just better for full electric in this application
Larger ships are also converting to this as well, they also get the benefit of 360deg rotation for propeller direction, which was hard to do with crankshaft and gears

 

[pjtoledo]

Fellas, I appreciate the likes, but this is a sad thing lol.

I'm thanking you for telling the truth of what's happening there.

 

[97RangerXLT]

73% of statistics are made up.

Mark Twain once said: "there are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Everyone is missing the point.


We need more of this.

View attachment 71936

Father in law and I were talking about the Ford 300 tonight... one of the best engines out there.

I have wood.

me too.

AJ

 

[Chapap]

Electric wheels drive the engine/train, a large diesel runs a generator, diesels are 710cubic inch, PER CYLINDER, and there are 12 cylinders

There are hybrids where diesel can also apply power directly to the wheels

But because of the full torque, at 1RPM and up, with electric motors its just better for full electric in this application
Larger ships are also converting to this as well, they also get the benefit of 360deg rotation for propeller direction, which was hard to do with crankshaft and gears

You could say that (very loosely defined) aircraft carriers are quadruple hybrids. Nuke runs a boiler, boiler powers a turbine, turbine makes electricity for the props. A nuke/steam/turbin/electric powered vessel. But same thing as the locomotive. Nuke powered with a complex transmission… and engine for that matter.