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Re: Half-a**ed-article on the errors of BART Technology
Author: Dr Zarkoff
Date: 03-28-2016 - 11:14
>I would like to point out that the cars used in Chicago weigh approximately twice as much as BART cars.
Wooden EL cars weight more than BARTD cars??
>BART pioneered use of very light weight cars.
Nope, the SP's red electrics (1911/1912) were one of the early pioneers of unibody (lightweight) construction, as were the Cincinnati curveside cars.
>Since things like axles, truck frames, and other parts for the most part are not in stock in some manufacturers warehouse, they are all built to order.
That has been pretty much the way things have always been manufactured: MTO -made to order. However, if your order is for something for which there are a lot of other orders, then your wait time, and the cost per unit, is less. Using the phrase "in stock" is a bit disingenuous because manufacturers don't make things and stock them out of the good of their hearts. They do it to sell the stuff, not to have it sit around on shelves in their warehouses gathering dust.
>So the additional cost for material used by broad gauge is only a very tiny amount of the price. I suspect the savings in electricity used by BART trains more than compensates for the additional cost.
Agreed, although I will say that after spending what was considered an astronomical amount of money at the time on the Concord Test Track, all that really came out of it was a change in track gauge and propulsion voltage.
Wooden EL cars weight more than BARTD cars??
>BART pioneered use of very light weight cars.
Nope, the SP's red electrics (1911/1912) were one of the early pioneers of unibody (lightweight) construction, as were the Cincinnati curveside cars.
>Since things like axles, truck frames, and other parts for the most part are not in stock in some manufacturers warehouse, they are all built to order.
That has been pretty much the way things have always been manufactured: MTO -made to order. However, if your order is for something for which there are a lot of other orders, then your wait time, and the cost per unit, is less. Using the phrase "in stock" is a bit disingenuous because manufacturers don't make things and stock them out of the good of their hearts. They do it to sell the stuff, not to have it sit around on shelves in their warehouses gathering dust.
>So the additional cost for material used by broad gauge is only a very tiny amount of the price. I suspect the savings in electricity used by BART trains more than compensates for the additional cost.
Agreed, although I will say that after spending what was considered an astronomical amount of money at the time on the Concord Test Track, all that really came out of it was a change in track gauge and propulsion voltage.
