Saturday, June 18, 2016

Wow. Video about Brightline's locomotives: "Cummins diesel-electric locomotive. . . 42,000 pound powerplant’s 16-cylinder engine"

The video in this article by Wired is amazing. Can just imagine seeing one of these incredible machines rolling through Lake Worth for the first time. Below are two excepts and note the size of the engine and what it's engineered to do:

     The Siemens factory near Sacramento, California, is building some of the most modern, high tech, high speed trains to hit US rails. It takes 6,000 work hours to build just one coach from scratch, but a team of welders, electricians, painters and engineers is pumping them out at the rate of four per month. In a country hardly known for its trains, this rolling stock will deliver high-end, feature-packed comfort.
     The trains are the centerpiece of Brightline, a privately-funded venture in Florida that will connect Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Orlando starting this time next year.

[and. . .]

     The drivetrain is one of the latest available—a Cummins diesel-electric locomotive. The 42,000 pound powerplant’s 16-cylinder engine operates purely as a electric generator. 42 miles of cable feed electric motors for movement, as well as for the lights (and laptops) in the passenger carriages. This efficient configuration means the engine meets the Federal Railroad Administration’s tough Tier IV clean air standards.