How much does a Canadian weigh?

[bellinghman]

Well, if it's the train, it appears to be

19 cars, at 50 tonnes per car (I assume the 'customary' weight.)
2 engines, at 118 tonnes per engine (EMD F40PH)

Total 1186 tonnes

OK, that's one heavy train.

Comments

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

poxy slow 130mph version we've got

That's nearly twice as fast as the Canadian, though, which has a track speed limit of 70mph.

It is a large number of cars: seeing it at some of the stations was a little like seeing a python trying to hide under a handkerchief. In contrast, the Shinkansens we saw in Japan topped out at 16 coaches. (And carried a lot more passengers, too.)

In terms of tons of mass set in motion per passenger, though, rail is generally no better than a big fat SUV.

It does have the advantage though of somewhat less frontal area per passenger than yon SUV, which drops the air resistance. The air resistance that you work against is proportional to the cube of your speed, so the actual mass doesn't matter too much for a fast train. And with electric trains, you can use nuclear or renewable energy instead of a horrible diesel burner.

[autopope.livejournal.com]

That's nearly twice as fast as the Canadian, though, which has a track speed limit of 70mph.

Feh! Real high speed rail should come with a mach number attached!

It does have the advantage though of somewhat less frontal area per passenger than yon SUV, which drops the air resistance.

And much less rolling resistance; who ever thought that squishy rubber on an abrasive surface was a good technology?

(Scratch that: standards of driving are such that having excellent traction is an essential prerequisite for publicly accessible road transportation. But if you can cope with steel wheel on steel track, you can cut the resistance a lot.)

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

should come with a mach number attached!

Do mach numbers apply in vacuo?

And much less rolling resistance

That's a very good point: deformation of all that tyre rubber isn't something I considered.

I found it interesting that the Montréal Métro uses rubber wheels, as per Paris, while the Vancouver SkyTrain uses steel wheels. For something passing over people's heads, the SkyTrain is remarkably quiet, lacking the screeching I'm so used to with the London Underground.