Have you heard of the Hybrid on Rails? ~the train of the future!

Hunkiedoo

New Member
Loco Shop Photo in Popular Mechanics

Re the cool picture of the locomotive shop at the top of the Popular Mechanics article. Looks impressive until you realize that they just placed a mirror behind two unpainted locos in the background to make it look like more.:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
 

Joepomp

Member
Popular Mechanics! I am still waiting to get to work in that hovercraft they said everyone would have by 1970.
 

jetrock

Member
Precisely...although it isn't quite the same. A hybrid uses a gasoline engine connected to a generator to charge a bank of batteries, which powers an electric motor--I think in a diesel-electric the diesel/generator runs directly to the electrics, so you have to rev up the diesel to rev up the electrics. The secret to hybrid efficiency is that the engine normally runs at a constant rate, and is optimized to run at a specific charging RPM, rather than accelerating and decelerating all the time (which wastes power.)
 
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