How do trains pull so much weight? I’ve seem them with hundreds of freight and gas tanker cars.
In: 192
The portion when the locomotive needs to develop the greatest force is when it starts from a dead stop. If the locomotive started the entire train at once it would not be able to do it, so the connections between cars are loose. This means it takes longer for the final car to start and deceases the force required. That’s why you hear that extended crashing sound when a train starts. It’s like a cushion reducing the force when you fall. It takes a smaller force to stop or start motion when the time is long. To move a train at constant speed on level ground only requires a force equal to the rolling resistance and air resistance to the trains movement. These are bothe fairly low. Then going up hills is a different story. That’s going to require a force equal to the component of the weight opposing motion. Depending on the angle of hill that could be major. That’s why they need several locomotives on big trains. To make it up hills.
Latest Answers