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Old Posted Apr 15, 2012, 4:24 AM
denizen467 denizen467 is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Chicago
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Beta_Magellan View Post
plus there’s be the awful “electromagnetic radiation” canard.
Ugh. They'd throw that out there too probably.

I have a crazy question. Has anyone ever thought of storing electric power aboard trainsets so that overhead power lines can be omitted over certain stretches (whether just 100s of feet or over much longer stretches)? You could even have a separate "battery car" which would be 1 added railcar just as a diesel locomotive today is 1 additional railcar. The way battery technology is evolving due to the electric-car boom, maybe this could be become practicable before long. I can't think of a major impetus to invest in the technology other than deleting catenaries for urban aesthetics, though. But if we get to a point where somewhere needed electrification is forestalled for years and years by NIMBYs, maybe it could be a solution.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ardecila View Post
Because FRA compliance adds a ton of weight that has to be pushed using expensive energy.
So with energy prices rising and greenhouse emissions being debated, are we getting close to a world where avoiding this compliance is increasingly possible? Presumably sympathy for this would be at an all-time high under the current Transportation Department?
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