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Once upon a time, Larry Pieniazek <lpien@ctp.IWANTNOSPAM.com> wrote:
> What I like better, though, are rack railways. Rode one last summer in
> Houghton MI, it was brand new. Very cool. Think of all the 1x4 rack
> tiles you'd need to build one, though..
A) What's a rack railway?
B) What're the details on the one in Houghton? Did they run it up the
side of the MEEM? Nah, then the ROTC's wouldn't have anything to
rappel...
Steve
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Steve Bliss wrote:
> A) What's a rack railway?
Well, duh. It's a railway with a rack. Seriously. :-)
More detail... these are sometimes also called "cog" railways. They are
so called because in addition to the two weight bearing rails there is a
central rack (linear toothed) that a powered cog on the power car
engages. When the limits of adhesion are reached during the ascent
(typically around 5% grade or so) the cog engages the rack and the cog
powers the ascent. Similarly on descent, the cog takes the primary
braking load
> B) What're the details on the one in Houghton? Did they run it up the
> side of the MEEM? Nah, then the ROTC's wouldn't have anything to
> rappel...
It's actually in Hancock, and it goes from the top of Quincy Hill down
towards the Portage. It terminates several hundred feet lower (but not
all the way down) at the lateral opening to the mine that the mining
students use. I rode it as part of a mine tour.
--
Larry Pieniazek http://my.voyager.net/lar
For me: No voyager e-mail please. All snail-mail to Ada, please.
- Posting Binaries to RTL causes flamage... Don't do it, please.
- Stick to the facts when posting about others, please.
- This is a family newsgroup, thanks.
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Once upon a time, Larry Pieniazek <lpien@ctp.IWANTNOSPAM.com> wrote:
> Steve Bliss wrote:
>
> > A) What's a rack railway?
>
> Well, duh. It's a railway with a rack. Seriously. :-)
:p
> More detail... these are sometimes also called "cog" railways. They are
> so called because in addition to the two weight bearing rails there is a
> central rack (linear toothed) that a powered cog on the power car
> engages. When the limits of adhesion are reached during the ascent
> (typically around 5% grade or so) the cog engages the rack and the cog
> powers the ascent. Similarly on descent, the cog takes the primary
> braking load
OK, 'cog railway' is a term I know. Thanks for straightening me out.
Seems like someone has done this in LEGO. Maybe if I followed trains
more closely, I'd remember who.
> > B) What're the details on the one in Houghton? Did they run it up the
> > side of the MEEM? Nah, then the ROTC's wouldn't have anything to
> > rappel...
>
> It's actually in Hancock, and it goes from the top of Quincy Hill down
> towards the Portage. It terminates several hundred feet lower (but not
> all the way down) at the lateral opening to the mine that the mining
> students use. I rode it as part of a mine tour.
Cool. Sounds like a "the yesterday that never was" sort of thing.
Steve
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