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[quote user="nbrodar"] As I have said before....the problem with the Front/Four runnings was NOT THE DRAWBARS.  The problem was the long rigid wheelbase of EACH INDIVIDUAL PLATFORM.    I had more operational problems with the single cars using standard couplers.[/quote] Yes, the rigid wheelbase was problem #1, but the way the drawbars on the Four Runners (and the couplers on the single cars) were designed may have contributed to tracking problems.  The drawbars ran from striker to striker, but there was about 7 feet between the striker and the truck center at the ends, so when negotiating a tight S curve, you'd get the problem of the lead car pulling the trailing car right off the tracks.  This problem is less apparent in cars using standard three piece trucks, but for single axle cars with the rigid wheelbase, it became more animated.  If the drawbars on the Four Runners (and for that matter the couplers on the single cars) could have been run from truck center to truck center instead of striker to striker, the pull would better follow the longitudinal forces.  But you still have the rigid wheelbase, which for 36' is rather long, and for that articulating AC and DB ends together with a standard three piece truck (leaving the CD drawbar connection in place) would alleviate the problem.  [quote] Traffic, even on the highway does not move at all the same speed.   Dave, you seem perfectly willing to discount passenger cars from your highway arguement.  Why? You say we're not talking about passenger traffic.  It doesn't matter.   Passengers are simply a commodity.  Just like gravel, coal, or anything else.   You can only put so much traffic in a given space, before speed suffers.  [/quote] The point of the analogy is that there is no implicit speed differential on highways et al based on commodity type, this seems to only happen on railroads. You will always be able to see a UPS truck and a logging truck travel at the same relative speed on highways.  Check any posted truck speed limit sign on any US highway, you will not see discrimination based on what that truck is hauling, it is all posted for the same speed. The reason we discount passengers from the example is that passenger trains are for the most part a non-existent anomoly on US railroads, so they do not provide a counter example to average railroad speeds. [quote] How long is your commute to work?  Does it take longer at Rush Hour?  I'll be it does.  My commute is 45 mintues, at Rush Hour, it's 1 hour 15 minutes or more. [/quote] Currently my commute is 15 minutes both ways.  A few months ago it was 1 hour 15 minutes both ways.  Remember, I live out here in the sticks.  It's a choice afforded by quasi self employment. Not sure what any of this has to do with the topic though. [quote] Are your highways dead flat and arrow straight?  Mine sure aren't.  Grade and curvature greatly effects speeds.  Traffic around here always bunches up around hills and curves. [/quote] The UPS truck can't take that curve any faster than the gravel truck or the tanker.   Only on the grades is there an apparent difference in commodity types as it relates to speed, and this is due to the relative hp/t ratios. On railroads, you would think the relatively unstable center of gravity would force the TOFC to slow down through curves more so than the unit train of coal gons.  But it seems to work the other way around, soley based on commodity type.
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