Friday, December 22, 2017

Railroading 101...

Blogger Summer said...

Do trains run on diesel?

Andrew Replies...


Summer, yes they do. Some engines hold up to 5500 gallons at a time. (General Electric AC4400CW 4,400 hp locomotive)

Most people don't know this, though, that trains are electric vehicles much like my brother's Tesla electric car. The engine drives a generator (or alternator) which supplies electricity to traction motors at each axle. The traction motors are what moves the locomotive and the train behind it.

My favorite all-time locomotive is the Alco (American Locomotive Company) RS3...


2 comments:

Summer said...

Very interesting. So the diesel powers the alternator which supplies the electricity? How many miles to the gallon?

Andrew said...

Summer, trains can move a ton of freight over 470 miles on a single gallon of fuel. They are much more efficient than moving freight by trucks.