bellinghman (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bellinghman) wrote2009-12-23 03:49 pm
bellinghman) wrote2009-12-23 03:49 pm
Old tech saves the day
As seen here: Passengers rescued by Tornado.
It's rather wonderful in its way that when the electric-driven trains were being disabled by ice and snow, a good old-fashioned A1 Pacific steam loco could carry the stranded passengers to London.
He said: "It was a nice way to finish for Christmas, though I think some of the rescued passengers didn't realise they'd even been travelling on a steam train until they got off."
Hmm. I wonder what they thought the plume flowing back along the train from the front was, then.
(Steam trains are wondrous things, but I wouldn't really want them back in bulk. Electrics can run in almost any weather, as the Swiss can demonstrate, and they don't have to run on hydrocarbons.)
It's rather wonderful in its way that when the electric-driven trains were being disabled by ice and snow, a good old-fashioned A1 Pacific steam loco could carry the stranded passengers to London.
He said: "It was a nice way to finish for Christmas, though I think some of the rescued passengers didn't realise they'd even been travelling on a steam train until they got off."
Hmm. I wonder what they thought the plume flowing back along the train from the front was, then.
(Steam trains are wondrous things, but I wouldn't really want them back in bulk. Electrics can run in almost any weather, as the Swiss can demonstrate, and they don't have to run on hydrocarbons.)
no subject
Yes, the electrics don't have to lug along a generator and fuel tanks. And yes, the power stations get economy of scale that a mobile generator can't achieve.
On the other hand, long miles of cabling can lose quite a bit of juice due to cable resistance.
no subject
- Wikipedia says transmission losses in the US were estimated at 7.2% in 1995
- Wikipedia says fossil fuel power plants with steam turbines can be up to 60% efficient
- A very modern piston diesel engine can be 35% efficient. Googling for train diesel engine efficiencies seems to suggest 30%.
Sadly, I lack one piece of the puzzle, and that's an estimate of the losses in the overhead wire. The UK operates (according, again, to Wikipedia) at 25kV AC, but I can't find exact numbers for efficiencies just now. However, I doubt it's enough to make up the difference.