It is unclear but they probably constructed them to use less metal for lighter weight. I can't really imagine the bolsters ever to be completely solid but you never know. Doug
Fifty years later, I wonder if modern engineering applications could have discovered the problem in the design phase or have provided the proper solution? It'd make an interesting study to see what conclusion modern analysis yields.
I'd be curious to see a modern mechanical engineer, armed with some design drawings and some simulation software, do some computer modeling, finite element analysis, etc. and see what we might find now that we might not have seen then. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
It's interesting but computer simulations and models are often off or wrong because the simulation/model is completely dependent on the data fed in and if the wrong or incomplete data is used...bzzzzzt! I believe real life physical experimentation is required for a definitive conclusion, although that's fraught with human error too and probably why they never definitively reach a consensus. Certain things are almost always overlooked. Hence, driverless cars crashing. Doug
I agree that simulations have limits, but they do allow you to do things that physical testing can't. You don't want to crash test antiques, and the computer can run tens of thousands of combinations and permutations that simply wouldn't be possible or affordable in real life. And, with the right expertise, a model railroading mechanical engineer could run those experiments at no cost in his (or her) free time. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
Feature the bigger issue was that they WERE NOT clean sheet of paper designs. They were 'quick & dirty' adaptations of existing designs slapped together to be sold to Amtrak basically sight unseen. Modifying a existing design can lead to a multitude of issues. Amtrak found out the hard way.
Just a simple camera and a light system in the water tanks would show exactly what was happening. One of the poster's on that board was saying that a 1/2 tank of water, going into a curve at 79mph, was 70 tons of force moving to one side of the loco-that would seriously throw that locomotive off balance! And especially if two were back to back, I could see that being a BIG issue.
There were pretty sophisticated methods available back in the seventies to determine what was going on. I mean, it wasn't like we were still living in caves, or anything. We had graduated past using square wheels. Methinks politics wormed its way into the whole thing. Politics and liability. Doug
In June of 2016, the old Sunset Route bridge over the Brazos River in Richmond, Texas was closed due to high water damaging the piers. UP was busy repairing the bridge so the Amtrak Sunset Limited had to detour around it to get in and out of Houston. At Rosenberg, the #2 had to make a reverse move in order to line itself to head south on the BNSF Galveston Sub to Alvin before entering Houston from the south. Here it is on the 14th of June moving forward again as it is about to cross the Sunset Route at the old Tower 17 location. On the BNSF heading for Alvin.
July 1991. Waiting for the Cardinal with the wife and kids to ride back to Chicago after visiting my in-laws in Roanoke.
Ah yes, those were the days. Is it wrong to say I kind of miss those F40PHs now? They were everywhere at one time. Kind of like when I was growing up and seeing SO many F units in the former CGW Bell Avenue Yard in Des Moines. Did I take photos? No. I missed out on that, to my regret.
I miss them too. Even after 30 years I still find the P42's unattractive, with Amtrak's poverty silver/blue paint making them even more non-descript. Even with a dented nose sill, the 275 looks good leading the eastbound Pennsylvanian at Bennington, PA on the (then) four track main. [July 1980] Fun Fact: This is the steepest portion on the east slope at 2.36%. After the wreck of the PRR's Red Arrow here in 1947, the PRR installed overspeed warning equipment, including a klaxon horn and a torpedo placing machine.
Sad Amtrak story from the National Scout Jamboree. It was well known that one reason that Amtrak decided not to close the station near the New River Gorge National Park was that every four years the Jamboree would bring a great many scouts to the area and rail travel has long been popular with Scouts. So, today, I was talking to two Scoutmasters. One had come by rail but only had 30 scouts. The other had wanted to bring their entire contingent of 300, but Amtrak said that there was no way they could accommodate that many. Seems to me that with 300 guaranteed sales, Amtrak could almost have run a special just for them. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
Six Boy Scout jamboree special trains in depot yard at the Grand Canyon. July 1953. Grand Canyon National Park Museum Collection.
