Why not diesel electric trucks?
If a single diesel electric locomotive can pull 27,000,000 pounds, why has it not been scaled down to pull 20-40,000 pounds yet?
Forum Discussion
JRscooby wrote:
I always thought the idea was traction. Steel on steel is pretty slick. Can you imagine what driveshafts would look like if used them to drive all the wheels?
Years back, sitting around a campfire, burning some illegal substances we discussed driving a pump with engine, to power hydraulic motor on each wheel. Would not have the regen of electric, but hydraulic motor lighted than electric, pump lighter than generator. And with valving, the engine could run idle, or most efficient RPM. As speed increase some motors freewheel
Yes, I can imagine the drive train...look the last steam engines ever built. They were wildly complicated systems of gears, axles and shafts...and even there not all the wheels were powered. Steam engines do have the advantage that they can put out peak torque from zero RPM similar to electric motors.
I believe hydraulic has been used on some smaller railyard engines but it's not as efficient.
There is no "regen" with diesel locomotives. The available power is what the engine is putting out right now. If the engine puts out more power than the electric motors take up, it's wasted but since trains spend 95%+ of their time running at a steady speed, it's not a big deal.
