European Tribune

Display:
Yes, but the secret which eludes most is "which" safety step will be necessary.  To be perfectly safe, take no risk at all.  Simple solution, but the safe solution.  

And to clarify, one of the reasons for the inner/damper/outer wheel design is to dampen vibration, not for "ride quality" but to keep vibration from causing a structural failure of the wheel.  This wheel design has also grounded the Acela trains here in the US, finding the right damper material is a challenge.  

by btower on Mon Nov 28th, 2005 at 04:08:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]
And to clarify, one of the reasons for the inner/damper/outer wheel design is to dampen vibration, not for "ride quality" but to keep vibration from causing a structural failure of the wheel.

It may have been for the sake of the wheel on other vehicles (tough I never heard of this - and a two-part wheel seems more prone to failure to vibration even on a tramway to me), but not the ICE.

The German Railways in fact first tried to run ICEs without any form of dampening, but the result was the infamous "Dröhnen" (carbody vibrations so strong it can be heard), and a rather unsteady run of the biggest car, the restaurant car.

I don't remember the use of such wheels in the Acela, I have to look it up.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Mon Nov 28th, 2005 at 04:22:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]
btower, I looked, and I found absolutely nothing about the Acela being retrofitted with two-part wheels. You must have conflated the earlier wheel profile problem and the newer yaw damper problem.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
by DoDo on Mon Nov 28th, 2005 at 04:30:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
the secret which eludes most is "which" safety step will be necessary.

All of those I mentioned were necessary, and at some stage foreseen. The technical people did see their necessity in advance.

A similar issue is that of tunnels and tunnel fires. I predict right now that there will be a catastrophic tunnel fire in some European rail tunnel opened in the last 10 years, in which the investigation will find that escape shafts were placed too infrequently.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Mon Nov 28th, 2005 at 04:34:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Display:
Login
. Make a new account
. Reset password
Recommended Diaries
The Puritan Edge
by rg - Nov 20
44 comments

So I met Bill McKibben
by SacredCowTipper - Nov 20
1 comment

LQD: Geoengineering Ranked
by nanne - Nov 19
12 comments

Help oppose Sarko's three strike nonsense
by nicta - Nov 20

Early Friday Photography Blog No. 62
by LEP - Nov 20
10 comments

Trains in Moravia
by DoDo - Nov 16
72 comments

A Modest Proposal
by Frank Schnittger - Nov 14
116 comments

UN: end the 'inhuman' blockade of Gaza
by heathlander - Nov 15
10 comments

Debates
Campaigns
Occasional Series