Someone brought up self driving cars and trucks as not working, they work fine and if you run the numbers they have less accidents than regular stuff per driven mile. People seem to expect perfection but people are not perfect. Don't expect self driving trains for a long time, too many people don't like the idea, they don't like the trucks either but they may get a pass on set routes.
Really great ideas here.
I did a "sci-fi" train for wargaming made mostly of resale shop toys. Roughly O scale but more of a hollywood idea of a somewhat dystopian future than anything resembling a scale model approach to logicaly futuristic transportation.
More pics and such here:
https://www.chicagoskirmishwargames.com/blog/2016/11/21/sci-fi-train-finished/
Visit the Chicago Valley Railroad for Chicago Trainspotting and Budget Model Railroading.
Well I think we might see a resurgence of heavy-duty cars that have capacities of at least 150 tons, and of course ride on triaxle trucks, on my railroad I plan to have an extensive fleet of such cars, I'm already working on the first cars 150 ton coal gons.
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
NWP SWP Well I think we might see a resurgence of heavy-duty cars that have capacities of at least 150 tons, and of course ride on triaxle trucks, on my railroad I plan to have an extensive fleet of such cars, I'm already working on the first cars 150 ton coal gons.
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
Yup. You could certainly make a car large enough to carry huge loads while not exceeding per axle load limits, but you get into the same boat as huge horsepooower locomotives. It's great as long as you cna always load it to capacity, but if not, wouldn't it be better to have multiple smaller cars that you can add or subtract as necessary to meet the traffic demands and minimize the dead weight being carried around?
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I was saying that car load volume might increase, and that we might see cars like the battleship gons, whopper hoppers, railwhales, ect... return to service, albeit modernized.
We heard you, Steven, and the answer was that there are limits to what is feasible in economic terms as well as the application of the laws of Physics.
Malmbanan in Sweden has been scratching on those limits already - if a fully loaded car isn´t moved for a longer period, it tends to get "glued" to the rail by the high pressure.
The idea of crewless trains is real and technology is at hand. See January 2018 issue of Trains Magaine.
However, both the railroads and Feds isn't exactly embracing the idea.
As of now the Feds are fighting the railroads over one man road crews.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
CNSFDefinitely driverless, cabless locomotives
I sincerely doubt that. Driverless trains are only possible when the right of way is completely inaccessible to others, i.e. no grade crossings, no in-street running etc.
As I said earlier, don´t expect any major differences to what you see today; 12 years is not enough time for a technical revolution on rails.
Ya, if you went ahead 200 years you'd see a big difference - after the oil and coal are used up, it'll either be electric trains powered with electricity generated by atomic power plants or wind, solar, or tidal power...or small freight cars pulled by horses.