Community hub
Recent from talks
Contribute something to knowledge base
Content stats: 0 posts, 0 articles, 0 media, 0 notes
Members stats: 0 subscribers, 0 contributors, 0 moderators, 0 supporters
Subscribers
Supporters
Contributors
Moderators
Hub AI
Gravity railroad AI simulator
(@Gravity railroad_simulator)
Hub AI
Gravity railroad AI simulator
(@Gravity railroad_simulator)
Gravity railroad
A gravity railroad (American English) or gravity railway (British English) is a railroad on a slope that allows cars carrying minerals or passengers to coast down the slope by the force of gravity alone. The speed of the cars is controlled by a braking mechanism on one or more cars on the train. The cars are then hauled back up the slope using animal power, a locomotive or a stationary engine and a cable, a chain or one or more wide, flat iron bands. A much later example in California used 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge steam engines to pull gravity cars back to the summit of Mt. Tamalpais.
The typical amusement park roller coaster is designed from gravity railroad technology based on the looping track incorporated into the second railroad of the United States, the Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Railroad, which remained in operation for decades as a tourist ride after it was withdrawn from freight service hauling coal.
A variation is the railway gravity yard or hump yard. This is a goods yard incorporating a "hump" gradient: it allows a single goods train to be taken slowly over the hump, with the wagons sequentially detached and allowed to roll downhill into an array of different sidings: timely operation of the railway points chooses which siding each wagon ends up in. This allows a single train to be speedily disassembled and the wagons sorted into new goods trains, without the need of a shunting engine.
In a further variation, a slip car or slip coach was a section of coaches at the end of a train that had a different destination to the main train: these rear carriages could be uncoupled at speed, diverted onto a different set of tracks by operating the railway's points, and would then proceed to their separate destination, using a combination of gravity and momentum, without a locomotive, and controlled by the brakes operated by the guard in the rear guards van.
The term "switchback gravity railroad" is sometimes applied to gravity railroads that used special self-acting (momentum-driven) Y-shaped switches known as switchbacks to automatically reverse a car's direction at certain points as it descends; this essentially folds the incline across the slope in a characteristic "zig-zag" shape. (See diagram: car starts from point A, coasts through switch at B, and comes to a stop at C. Car then rolls through the switch again and proceeds to the switch at D, where the process is repeated.) A separate track was typically used to haul the empty cars back to the top.
The original implementation of this type of system is credited to the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway, which hauled coal and passengers from 1827 until 1933. This was very popular with tourists, and contributed to the development of the roller coaster.
The Modena-Sassuolo railway was opened on 1 April 1883, and was also known as the "trenèin dal còcc" in the Modenese dialect. Trains departing from Sassuolo ran down the shallow and even gradient to Modena, running at up to 30 km/h (19 mph) under gravity. They were hauled back to the summit by steam locomotives.
The Ffestiniog Railway in Gwynedd, northwest Wales, was built in 1832 to carry slate from quarries high in the hills to the sea at Porthmadog. The line was laid out for the wagons to descend by gravity, while horses were originally used to haul the empty wagons up the hill. On the downward journey, the horses were carried in a dandy waggon at the rear of the train. Later on, steam haulage was adopted. This narrow gauge railway is still operational but all passenger trains are now locomotive-hauled.
Gravity railroad
A gravity railroad (American English) or gravity railway (British English) is a railroad on a slope that allows cars carrying minerals or passengers to coast down the slope by the force of gravity alone. The speed of the cars is controlled by a braking mechanism on one or more cars on the train. The cars are then hauled back up the slope using animal power, a locomotive or a stationary engine and a cable, a chain or one or more wide, flat iron bands. A much later example in California used 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge steam engines to pull gravity cars back to the summit of Mt. Tamalpais.
The typical amusement park roller coaster is designed from gravity railroad technology based on the looping track incorporated into the second railroad of the United States, the Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Railroad, which remained in operation for decades as a tourist ride after it was withdrawn from freight service hauling coal.
A variation is the railway gravity yard or hump yard. This is a goods yard incorporating a "hump" gradient: it allows a single goods train to be taken slowly over the hump, with the wagons sequentially detached and allowed to roll downhill into an array of different sidings: timely operation of the railway points chooses which siding each wagon ends up in. This allows a single train to be speedily disassembled and the wagons sorted into new goods trains, without the need of a shunting engine.
In a further variation, a slip car or slip coach was a section of coaches at the end of a train that had a different destination to the main train: these rear carriages could be uncoupled at speed, diverted onto a different set of tracks by operating the railway's points, and would then proceed to their separate destination, using a combination of gravity and momentum, without a locomotive, and controlled by the brakes operated by the guard in the rear guards van.
The term "switchback gravity railroad" is sometimes applied to gravity railroads that used special self-acting (momentum-driven) Y-shaped switches known as switchbacks to automatically reverse a car's direction at certain points as it descends; this essentially folds the incline across the slope in a characteristic "zig-zag" shape. (See diagram: car starts from point A, coasts through switch at B, and comes to a stop at C. Car then rolls through the switch again and proceeds to the switch at D, where the process is repeated.) A separate track was typically used to haul the empty cars back to the top.
The original implementation of this type of system is credited to the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway, which hauled coal and passengers from 1827 until 1933. This was very popular with tourists, and contributed to the development of the roller coaster.
The Modena-Sassuolo railway was opened on 1 April 1883, and was also known as the "trenèin dal còcc" in the Modenese dialect. Trains departing from Sassuolo ran down the shallow and even gradient to Modena, running at up to 30 km/h (19 mph) under gravity. They were hauled back to the summit by steam locomotives.
The Ffestiniog Railway in Gwynedd, northwest Wales, was built in 1832 to carry slate from quarries high in the hills to the sea at Porthmadog. The line was laid out for the wagons to descend by gravity, while horses were originally used to haul the empty wagons up the hill. On the downward journey, the horses were carried in a dandy waggon at the rear of the train. Later on, steam haulage was adopted. This narrow gauge railway is still operational but all passenger trains are now locomotive-hauled.