3 ms·
None of them are in regular use anymore and also you can't build a long enough train to exceed the limit.
by rmoriz 10y ago
None of them are in regular use anymore and also you can't build a long enough train to exceed the limit.
- masklinn 10y ago> you can't build a long enough train to exceed the limit. You can definitely build long enough trains to blow past the limit several times, coal and ore trains are routinely 100+ cars long (with each car having at least 4 axles), the record is a BHP Billiton Iron Ore train of 682 cars and 8 locomotives.
- jacquesm 10y agoI remember being stuck on a crossing with an ore train like that passing. It was going quite slow and it took forever to pass. 100's of cars.
- rmoriz 10y agoIt was about a German car. Not BHP.
- _nalply 10y agoIn Switzerland the freight trains are not this long, perhaps at most 40 cars. They need three engines [0] to climb the gradient of 28‰ of the Gotthard mountain line (now being replaced by the Gotthard base tunnel). [0]: http://bazonline.ch/schweiz/standard/Zwei-Haende-bremsen-den-1800TonnenZug/story/17383753?track http://bazonline.ch/schweiz/standard/Zwei-Haende-bremsen-den... (German)
- pm24601 10y agoThat is probably the best point -- Swiss trains have to be short, so this 2^8 constraint isn't really an issue.
- rmoriz 10y agoYes and no. The limit until 2010 was 670m in nearly all parts of western europe. Block signals, crossroads, stations… need to be made sufficient long enough. With ETCS [1] there are no "fixed" physical block segements anymore. They are simulated in software and allow a much higher densitiy of trains and also longer trains. While SBB is highly motivated to roll out and migrate their legacy signalling systems, it's still a long way. The new Gotthard Base Tunnel is already built ETCS-only. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Train_Control_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Train_Control_System