For the record, the Phoebe Snow under Erie-Lackawanna ran for three years (63 to 66), via the Erie from Corning westward to Chicago Dearborn.
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I know. That's when I was riding her. And Phoebe's cameo portrait hung in the cars.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Wdlgln005 wrote: Between cities, some new ROW may need to be built to avoid going thru small towns where the speedster won't stop. I don't think i'd allow anyone to stand on the platform when a 100+mph train goes by.
In the UK, domestic trains travel at 125mph through stations, safe enough if adequate signs and yellow lines are displayed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTXve26RFHI
I stand corrected on the matter of GP-40-2 transition from series to parallel, but don't they have field shunting?
It is funny, but I never heard in the anyone in the Chicago area refer to an Erie Lackawanna train to Chicago as the Pheobe Snow, the locals persisted in calling the trains either the Erie Limited or the Lake Cities. I guess I was misled by home-town prejudice! But I did ride the Lake Cities just before the end of EL long-distance passenger service.
Further correction: With practical diesel engines, every locomotive has to have the equivalent of transition. Otherwise the prime mover will not be able to develop near full horsepower at low speeds, since the shaft of the prime mover is also the shaft of the alternator or generator, and the output voltage is proportional to speed of rotation assuming the same field current. However, with an alternator and modern electronics, it is possible to change the voltage-amperage ratio at the output of the alternator, also helped with solid state switching, by segmenting the various alternator coils. The transition can happen quickly, but it is still a transition, alternator output connection transition instead of motor input connection transition. This is further refined and continuously variable with ac traction motors. In any case, your original statement is correct for all types within each individual motor. Low speed means high current and low voltage and high speed means high voltage and relatively low current.
All rotating electrical devices have a maximum rotational speed. Above that speed, centrifugal forces can produce deformation. Also, the practical top speed of any electric or diesel-electric locomotive comes when the back electro-motive force (the voltage considering the motor as a generator) is almost equal to the maximum voltage that can be applied to the motors. This maximum track speed is higher for the passenger geared locomotive than for the freight, since the motors on the passenger locomotive rotate slower at a specific track speed than on the freight locomotive.
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