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Re: What prevents moderrn locomotives from overheating in long tunnels?
Author: Railbaron
Date: 09-07-2018 - 16:59
Margaret (SP fan) Wrote:
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> So -- if you are the engineer on a really heavy
> train going west over Donner, you're going to have
> a really hard time getting through the Big Hole
> without stalling, right? ...
I am not familiar with Donner from an operating standpoint, nor the ventilation qualities of Tunnel 41 (different tunnels have different air flow characteristics), but basically if a train is making a decent speed they should be able to clear the tunnel before losing units. It's almost a given they will have some de-rate but keep loading. As I say, I am not familiar with Donner so I don't know what their minimum safe speed would be.
> ... And there really is no
> way to keep all the trailng unis and DPUs (if any)
> from inhaling dirty air, is there?
Nope. Air intakes on all units today are up high on the hood so they'll ingest dirty, hot air no matter what. A unit facing backwards, especially in the case of GE units, not only gets the exhaust from the units ahead but also it's own exhaust.
> I eally feel bad for the hapless conductors who
> work with engineers who do not use good judgment
> about going into tunnels too slowly. That could
> be fatal to both f them!
Don't get me started; I have gone ballistic more than once with some "brothers" who think it's cool try try and go through our tunnels at 11 or 12 mph - and then stall. Even at our unwritten 16 mph trying to get clear of Tunnel 7 was very close. Personally, if I was in doubt I'd simply stop the head-end of my train at MP 548 (between T8 and T9) and sit for 30 minutes to let everything cool down. I never once had a dispatcher complain because they understood what would happen if we stalled.
> Bring back tunnel motors! Or -- operate all
> railroads with eletric locomotives. The Milwaukee
> Road had the right idea, but they were a century
> ahead of the rest of the RR industry. Yes, I know
> -- that would be extremely expensive.
Tunnel motors were a bit better for cooling but they had issues also and would overheat. Plus they had the same issues of ingesting dirty, hot air.
> Do electric-powered locomotives pulling heavy
> freights through long tunnels ever have problems
> caused by overheating? TIA!
Electrics wouldn't generate a lot of heat and shouldn't have any overheating or dirty air issues; it would be a nice way to go.
-------------------------------------------------------
> So -- if you are the engineer on a really heavy
> train going west over Donner, you're going to have
> a really hard time getting through the Big Hole
> without stalling, right? ...
I am not familiar with Donner from an operating standpoint, nor the ventilation qualities of Tunnel 41 (different tunnels have different air flow characteristics), but basically if a train is making a decent speed they should be able to clear the tunnel before losing units. It's almost a given they will have some de-rate but keep loading. As I say, I am not familiar with Donner so I don't know what their minimum safe speed would be.
> ... And there really is no
> way to keep all the trailng unis and DPUs (if any)
> from inhaling dirty air, is there?
Nope. Air intakes on all units today are up high on the hood so they'll ingest dirty, hot air no matter what. A unit facing backwards, especially in the case of GE units, not only gets the exhaust from the units ahead but also it's own exhaust.
> I eally feel bad for the hapless conductors who
> work with engineers who do not use good judgment
> about going into tunnels too slowly. That could
> be fatal to both f them!
Don't get me started; I have gone ballistic more than once with some "brothers" who think it's cool try try and go through our tunnels at 11 or 12 mph - and then stall. Even at our unwritten 16 mph trying to get clear of Tunnel 7 was very close. Personally, if I was in doubt I'd simply stop the head-end of my train at MP 548 (between T8 and T9) and sit for 30 minutes to let everything cool down. I never once had a dispatcher complain because they understood what would happen if we stalled.
> Bring back tunnel motors! Or -- operate all
> railroads with eletric locomotives. The Milwaukee
> Road had the right idea, but they were a century
> ahead of the rest of the RR industry. Yes, I know
> -- that would be extremely expensive.
Tunnel motors were a bit better for cooling but they had issues also and would overheat. Plus they had the same issues of ingesting dirty, hot air.
> Do electric-powered locomotives pulling heavy
> freights through long tunnels ever have problems
> caused by overheating? TIA!
Electrics wouldn't generate a lot of heat and shouldn't have any overheating or dirty air issues; it would be a nice way to go.
