Prototype Railroading
WANTED: Kartrak/ACI Information
WANTED:
Any information, photos, or stories of the Sylvania/GTE Kartrak ACI system.
Consider this an informal announcement that I am in the final research phase of writing a reference guide detailing the Kartrak system. No release date or estimated date of completion is available at this time. I've already compiled a large amount of the information that can be found online.
I'm especially interested in advertisements, manuals, photos, and personal stories.
1972 trailer loading
Can someone help me understand this. This photo is a 1972 arial that shows a trailer loading facility. The track is double ended so a ramp is out of the question. I do not see anything that would lift a trailer, so how would the trailers be loaded?
-Scott
Siemens lands $3.4 billion contract with Amtrak
Siemens landed a contract with Amtrak to build 73 train sets as replacement for Amfleet 1 cars. An order for additional 10 trainsets is expected shortly. There are options for 140 more train sets.
The order contains 50 electro-diesel sets ( AC catenary/ diesel dual-mode), 15 battery hybrid sets with remaining pure diesel with bio-fuel ability.
Siemens delivers multi-powered train sets similar to the Brightline trainset that are based on the Venture class of passenger cars and Charger locomotives.
Swing Bridge and Trestle
Was out for a drive today along the Fraser River in Richmond BC and saw a road with a name that rang some bells. I had been on River Road a few years ago about 10 miles west of here, but never this far east in the Queensborough area. Came around a bend and got a pleasant surprise - a double headed tug team with a log boom looking like they are towing this old swing bridge. Many more shots below so as to have a short first post.
Carbon Dioxide Shipping
All,
I have a question on tank car type and also if it has ever been made in a model.
I recently was looking at a facility that transfer CO2 from tank car to truck.. The tank cars looked different then the average car.
They had more of a frame, and the tank body appeared to be mounted by the way of turnbuckles on the bolsters.
Any specifics would be appreciated.
De-rated locomotives
Is it common, rare, or something in between?
I have read some material about de-rated prime movers in diesel engines. By no means did I find enough material to have total confidence in my understanding of the concept or how widespread it is, but it appears to be a way to reduce power in a prime mover so as to conserve lifespan and/or increase fuel efficiency, often by replacing turbochargers with blowers or restricting turbochargers in some way.
What is going on here with this loco?
I got this photo recently from a relative.
Written on the back it says: " Just righted after rollover timbers still connected".
(13).jpeg)
Building a Consist - Locomotive management
The OpSig has posted a You Tube video of the clinic I gave 6/13/2021 on the OpSig Virtual Meetup. The subject was "Building a Consist - Locomotive Management" and discussed how a prototype road manages its locomotive fleet and the general steps for processing locomotives through a terminal, from arrival to building an outbound consist, with suggestions on modeling those practices.
Enjoy.
Will answer any questions if you have them.
Is it prototypical for an engine to shove and pull cars at the same time?
Would you ever see a loco with a few cars being shoved and a few more being pulled while switching an industry? By few I mean two or three. I wondered if you'd see that if the alternative was a lot more shuffling of cars just to avoid it.
Matt
Would an engine ever push a caboose with two or three cars ahead of the caboose?
I'm wondering if a prototype would ever push a set of two or three freight cars, with a caboose as the first car (immediately in front of the engine) at low speed for a mile or so. I'd assume that's a lot of pressure on the caboose and I wonder if the frame could handle it.
I'm wondering if some car movements I was doing on my model were completely unrealistic.
Matt
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