Does heat for passenger and/or commuter railcars come from resistance heat, heat pump, or from the traction motor and/or dynamic braking resistor banks?
So much heat is generated and I'm curious if any of this waste heat is used for passenger comfort in cold weather.
The PCC cars used heat from the accelerating and dynamic braking resistors for car heating. Modern transit cars with solid state control probably don't generate enough heat to be useful (braking energy is often returned to the overhead wire or third rail). I believe most locomotive hauled cars use resistance heating.
Off topic a little but I still can't believe locomotives used compressed air for windshield wipers instead of electric motors. Got to be a story behind that decision.
CMStPnPOff topic a little but I still can't believe locomotives used compressed air for windshield wipers instead of electric motors. Got to be a story behind that decision.
Without compressed air for their braking systems locomotives won't move. Air operated devices tend to be more robust, easier to troubleshoot and repair than electric.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACD CMStPnP Off topic a little but I still can't believe locomotives used compressed air for windshield wipers instead of electric motors. Got to be a story behind that decision. Without compressed air for their braking systems locomotives won't move. Air operated devices tend to be more robust, easier to troubleshoot and repair than electric.
CMStPnP Off topic a little but I still can't believe locomotives used compressed air for windshield wipers instead of electric motors. Got to be a story behind that decision.
Certainly find the air tools now available both more robust and easier to fix.
Years ago automobile windshield wipers for the most part were vacuum operated. Vacuum came from the intake of the carb. did not work too well going up a mountain with your foot almost all the way on the gas,
aegrotatioDoes heat for passenger and/or commuter railcars come from resistance heat, heat pump, or from the traction motor and/or dynamic braking resistor banks? So much heat is generated and I'm curious if any of this waste heat is used for passenger comfort in cold weather.
Resistance heaters. I'm unaware of anyone trying to augment that with a heat pump, although it should be possible.
Diesel locomotives used to use engine coolant heat exchangers (like a car), but the RRs ditched that for electric heat in the 1970s primarily for reliability reasons. Cab heaters froze fairly often, among other things.
It's pretty big waste of energy.... I am surprised no one has tried to bring back hot water heat using a closed loop of antifreeze and an electric pump.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
oltmannd aegrotatio Does heat for passenger and/or commuter railcars come from resistance heat, heat pump, or from the traction motor and/or dynamic braking resistor banks? So much heat is generated and I'm curious if any of this waste heat is used for passenger comfort in cold weather. Resistance heaters. I'm unaware of anyone trying to augment that with a heat pump, although it should be possible. Diesel locomotives used to use engine coolant heat exchangers (like a car), but the RRs ditched that for electric heat in the 1970s primarily for reliability reasons. Cab heaters froze fairly often, among other things. It's pretty big waste of energy.... I am surprised no one has tried to bring back hot water heat using a closed loop of antifreeze and an electric pump.
aegrotatio Does heat for passenger and/or commuter railcars come from resistance heat, heat pump, or from the traction motor and/or dynamic braking resistor banks? So much heat is generated and I'm curious if any of this waste heat is used for passenger comfort in cold weather.
Cooling water for locomotives is just that - WATER. No anti-freeze. A heater loop would have to be a separate circuit with anti-freeze to prevent freezing. Added complexity and therefore added cost.
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