HMS Ark Royal
Established Member
Or some 20s
-
Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!
Nuclear powered trains
- Thread starter Big Mac
- Start date
- Status
Or some 20s
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R
RailUK Forums
Anything DRS, so 20/37/57/66. It won't be 47s, as their last active 47 has been put in the stored pool. It has once or twice been a 68 with another class. However it won't be 20s for a while, they've been on RHTT duties and are out of service at Barrow Hill, with the exception of 20304 (long term absentee at Carlisle Kingmoor) and 20312 (long term absentee at Gresty Bridge).
Usually though it's double headed 37s, however yesterday's 6V74/6M63 Bridgwater runs and today's 6V73/6M56 Berkeley runs were both 66s. Notably 6V74 was top and tailed, with it changing to double headed en route back to Crewe.
6K73 Sellafield - Crewe often sees more than two locos for positioning moves.
You can generate electricity using nuclear without the traditional heat, steam, turbine method http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/nuclear/radevents/2001RUS2.html and http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/nuclear/radevents/2001GEO1.html but the output is no where near that required to power a train!
Last edited:
DerekC
Established Member
Appreciate that threads are about having fun as well as serious railway stuff, so I won't suggest that this one is Upminster. If you want to know about past nuclear train projects try this link:
http://atomictoasters.com/2012/12/nuclear-rails/
http://atomictoasters.com/2012/12/nuclear-rails/
I did mean it as a figure of speech.
Could you imagine the health and safety on that though? "Here's this 100s of tonnes metal object with people in it doing many times the speed of light, and we have no idea whether or not it'll be on top of us within the next millisecond."
Bevan Price
Established Member
- Joined
- 22 Apr 2010
- Messages
- 8,321
If such a loco was feasible, the reactor would have to be shielded to prevent any escape of radiation, including high energy particles. So - no effects on electronic systems - just a need for several cm. thickness of shielding material. Various shielding materials are available, including lead - which is rather heavy and currently costs (prior to fabrication) over £1000 per ton. Added to the weight of reactor, steel containment, water, etc., I suspect the axle load might exceed the limit for much of Network Rail.....
If it were a train that ran from Earth to Neptune and started going past, you'd see it going past for 3 minutes, despite it travelling at Warp 5.
I suspect that the signaling systems would have issues at that speed.
HMS Ark Royal
Established Member
Somebody watching Star Trek: Enterprise recently? Thats almost a line from the pilot episode
HSTEd
Veteran Member
- Joined
- 14 Jul 2011
- Messages
- 20,281
There is only one season of Star Trek: Enterprise - and it doesn't contain the pilot.
[Its Season 4 btw]
HMS Ark Royal
Established Member
Fairly sure there are four of them
kevinwaltets
Member
- Joined
- 11 Apr 2012
- Messages
- 45
One thing has been forgotten here. With s submarine or power station. Vast amounts of sea water or fresh water is used to stop the reactor going into meltdown. How are you going to cool the reactor in the locomotive. What happens when all the water boils away after an accident !
Its not all that stupid when you find out they have already done it in a bus
They've already done it in a train too:
[youtube]gUERtAe73NI[/youtube]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertrain
An astoundingly bad show. There's a full episode on YouTube with a humorous commentary. Also this promo from NBC:
[youtube]yBMVAzIMl5A[/youtube]
There are many reactor designs that have no cooling water at all. There even more that are incapable of going into meltdown. I'd suggest a PWR or BWR is unlikely to be chosen for a train.
dcsprior
Member
edwin_m
Veteran Member
If they got too many passenger complaints would it be a critical mass?
You carry a large supply of water behind the loco in, let's think, a "tender", which can be replenished from regular "troughs". In the event of possible meltdown, the reactor is shut down, and the steam is used to power a relatively simple mechanical system that provides "last 350 miles" capability.
There's only one matrix movie though.
HMS Ark Royal
Established Member
Since when?
krus_aragon
Established Member
That's probably too long to wait. I say hold on for Mr Fusion. That's actually designed for transport uses!
- Status