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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by Hugh Jampton I was in the Loetschberg tunnel in April, and they said that freight trains would be able to operate at up to 160km/h (obviously not all freight trains can go at that speed), and passenger trains at up to 250km/h (again, not all passenger trains will go at that speed). I'm told it's similar for the Gotthard tunnel as well. [/quote] So on the Continent, speed does matter, both for freight and passengers. I believe that the axle loadings are less than the North American counterparts, and as far as I know clearances do not allow for double stacking ISO containers or swap bodies, but does that necessarily mean that gross load per wagon is also limited? What are the load limits in Europe, e.g. is it a max weight limit per axle or gross wagon weight? What I'm getting at is this notion that you can have either heavy loads or high speeds but not both for freight movement in the U.S. We've touched on this in other posts, but some of us have maintained that freight cars in the U.S. should be load limited by axle loadings only, not gross car weight. It is this combination of 71,000 lbs axle loadings and relatively high speeds (60 mph or more) that is causing the greatest amount of track damage in the U.S. It is possible for freight cars to handle 315k loads and at the same time limit axle loadings to 65,000 lbs. by doing what the truckers do, namely adding axles under the cars, either in the form of three axle trucks or the middle of the car sliding truck (same as the B-B-B locomotives described in yet another post). This would allow for higher track speeds without a corresponding increase in track wear, at least in theory. Higher freight speeds can have a positive impact on the bottom line, and not just in point to point delivery, but in keeping the mainlines more fluid (UP, are you taking note?) It will be interesting to watch and see if the Europeans will be able to increase rail's share of intercity freight with these incredible infrastructure improvements and the corrresponding increases in freight rail services.
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