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> With adult eyes it seems over-engineered It surprised me to see they didn't simply use retractable railcar wheels like the railroad maintenance trucks, which
by newnewpdro 8y ago
> With adult eyes it seems over-engineered
It surprised me to see they didn't simply use retractable railcar wheels like the railroad maintenance trucks, which is apparently a fairly standard "road-rail vehicle":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road%E2%80%93rail_vehicle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road%E2%80%93rail_vehicle
- Doxin 8y agoThose don't go terribly fast, In addition to the tiny tiny wheels not having a lot of grip leading to slow acceleration and deceleration. Getting those to align with the track is an operation that you'll only want to be doing at standstill.
- newnewpdro 8y agoThey aren't the drive wheels so they have no impact on acceleration, the rubber tires are still used for traction. Alignment could be easily automated today, or a low-tech mechanical guide mechanism could be added for the bus. I'd expect the maximum comfortable speed to be substantially higher than the guide wheel approach. That guide wheel design seems better suited for aligning the rail wheels than continuous operation.