Video: The Never-Ending Train

[Airspeed]

Thanks Mike,
Truly appreciate the link. Just registered.
Why anyone would want to hack a hobby site is beyond me.
I constantly impress on my grandsons that it is more challenging and rewarding to create than destroy.

[DaveB]

I constantly impress on my grandsons that it is more challenging and rewarding to create than destroy.

This always baffles me too Mike. Folk out there that do this sort of thing are obviously talented so why the hell are they so destructive with it Anyway.. lets not get 'off track'

ATB
DaveB

[Paul K]

I've never seen a train that long, and I've spent a lot of time in the US west.

A few months ago, Trains magazine had a short article about how distributed power (the sets of two locos within the train) serve to reduce friction when the train is going around a curve. It took a few minutes to refresh my fading memory of Physics 101 to figure out how, but it's a very clever concept (except if you have to sit at a crossing and watch one go by). Cut a foot or two length of cord or rope, and lay it out as a 90-degree segment of a circle. Then pull one end as though your "train" is now on a straight track. The rope will try to straighten out by pulling in toward the center of the circle. That's when the concept clicked -- the flanges of the inside wheels are being forced against the inside rail, increasing the friction on them. With distributed power, however, each set of engines pulls its load straight ahead. The success of this approach depends on placing the locos in the "right" place within the train. How to do that escapes me, but I really don't need to know that. My Trainz 2006 layout works fine despite my ignorance.

Art

The things you learn on this forum !