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Oiled Rails
Cheaper than Maglev. (the main reason for rails is low friction so...) | |
Rails server three purposes: (1) low friction on the one hand for fast and energy eficient travel, (2) direction control - no need for steering, and (3) friction for stopping, by using the brakes.
The Maglev system and similar systems (like aeroduct.com) create a route for very fast transportation.
But why not work with oiled rails, for low friction (and wheels running on these rails for even lower friction, and then for brakes add another rail used only when stopping, or have the oil sucked in, so that the train stops (or how about soap and water sprayed), or have an inflatable substance pertrude from tracks to stop train.
This ultra quiet and super fast train slides silently on its tracks.
[addition to original idea:]
And of course the propulsion will be achieved by other means, such as rope, conveyor or tractor for inclines or using electro-magnetic or jet power. Then again, the soapy idea could work well for these cases. (Tracks have two pipes inside which emit soap or oil in different places or alternatively, the train has "soap/oil" control.
Help the bombardier
http://www.transpor...1763%26sCateg%3D1_0
I'm the bombardier [thumbwax, Oct 05 2004]
[link]
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oiled wheels + oiled rails = no traction |
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True story: My father used to work as a station master for Queensland Railways. When he was working at a phosphate mining town called Duchess, in 1959, a man painted about 100m of both tracks with axle grease, about a mile either side of the station. Duchess is at the bottom of an incline in both directions. It took 14 hours to get the train out of town. No traction at all. |
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I don't think this one is such a good idea, [pashute]. |
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No traction - exactly! Tell me why Maglev is better (besides being much more expensive and having even less traction?) |
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Wait, I realize UnaBubba what's missing in the idea. [fixed idea] |
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Perhaps the application of a jet engine would assist here? Then you could use reverse thrust for braking. Wait, that's baked, in the last few weeks. |
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What do you mean by that [unabubba]? |
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I mean that someone has recently invented a jet-powered train, in real life. It was in a local newspaper last week. I'm too tired to go digging for a link tonight, maybe tomorrow. |
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It would solve your traction and friction problems though. |
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Rolling friction isn't the same as regular friction. Wheels don't slide over tracks, they roll! The resistance is due to microscopic deformation of the rail that causes a little bump to form in front of the wheel. |
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Oil doesn't change that. Oil is already used where the sliding actually occurs- at the bearing of the axle. |
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I think we've left behind the issue of why the oil is there. Now we're trying to overcome the fact that's it's there. |
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Hmmm... this might be a forest, if only I could see past this tree. |
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What's wrong with a rope? (like the ropeway trains) for braking/propulsion, but NOT for guideway and support. Granted that it's better to spray only a bit ahead and back. Wheels (=oily bearing) with in addion low friction on tracks themeselves may be very useful. No? |
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The reason MagLev works at all is because the magnets in the train and the rail work like a linear electric motor. they push against each other at a distance. The reason a wheeled train works is that the wheel and the track push against each other at the point of contact. Friction is all that keeps a wheeled train moving. Putting oil on a track is like putting a sheet of ice under your car's wheels. |
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The coefficient of friction of steel-on-steel is about equivalent to that of a car's tires on ice. The only way that the engines make any headway is through weighing so frickin' much. |
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If you put oil on the track, the only analogy that I think would come close would be to spin one's wheels in mid-air. |
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