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Galaxy Express Train setting need help with

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Galaxy Express Train setting need help with
Post by lwhitehead   » Sun Sep 27, 2015 8:20 am

lwhitehead
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Hi first off I know there are other things named Galaxy Express,


Now first off my Steam Locomotive, I need a power source that will give me endless heat such as a Magnetic forcefield that holds matter Anti Matter to give off the heat. It would be small enough to fit in the firebox, all other sources of heat can't fit like a Netron Star it's the smallest,


What is the most Powerful in pulling strength Steam Locomotive in North America,

this idea was inpsired by Spider Roberson's Bar series,


LW
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Re: Galaxy Express Train setting need help with
Post by Weird Harold   » Sun Sep 27, 2015 9:09 am

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lwhitehead wrote:What is the most Powerful in pulling strength Steam Locomotive in North America,


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pacific_Big_Boy
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Re: Galaxy Express Train setting need help with
Post by HB of CJ   » Sun Sep 27, 2015 5:23 pm

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Some of the specifically built big "Mallies" that pulled the heavy coal trains actually had more starting horse power or draw bar starting capacity pull then the SP Big Boys.

But the boiler was too small to substain the power for more than 5 minutes. But ... they could start the big consists. This made the big articulated low speed locos very nice.

Since anti matter probably puts out lots of gamma radiation, how would the radiation shielding be designed to keep from cooking the loco crew? Just wondering. Great subject.
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Re: Galaxy Express Train setting need help with
Post by Weird Harold   » Sun Sep 27, 2015 8:47 pm

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HB of CJ wrote:Some of the specifically built big "Mallies" that pulled the heavy coal trains actually had more starting horse power or draw bar starting capacity pull then the SP Big Boys.


In any given category, there were engines that had better metrics than the Big Boys. There were no engines that bested them in ALL categories.

I'm sure that there were some triple expansion engines that would be more suitable as a basis for a Galaxy Express Train, but hauling 160 heavily loaded freight cars over the Wasatch Grade and maintaining 60 mph (designed for 80 MPH but seldom run that fast) across the Great Basin into the Sierra Nevada is not something that any other steamer could do alone.
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Re: Galaxy Express Train setting need help with
Post by Tenshinai   » Mon Sep 28, 2015 10:45 am

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What is the most Powerful in pulling strength Steam Locomotive in North America,


It´s hard to be sure but i think this one takes that number one spot:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2-10-10-2

Almost 10% more kN in force than the Big Boy linked above.
Nearly twice as much heating area in a 25% wider boiler, but with a much lower pressure in the boiler to keep weight down, ending up with a total weight well below the big boy.

Which is actually better is a very tricky question though.
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Re: Galaxy Express Train setting need help with
Post by Weird Harold   » Mon Sep 28, 2015 10:35 pm

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Tenshinai wrote:
What is the most Powerful in pulling strength Steam Locomotive in North America,


It´s hard to be sure but i think this one takes that number one spot:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2-10-10-2

Almost 10% more kN in force than the Big Boy linked above.
Nearly twice as much heating area in a 25% wider boiler, but with a much lower pressure in the boiler to keep weight down, ending up with a total weight well below the big boy.

Which is actually better is a very tricky question though.


As I said above, there were many designs that were better in one category or another. If you're going to judge purely on "tractive effort" the the Triplex Engines are probably "king."




I don't think "helper/pusher" engines are what lwhitehead is looking for. That "Low speed, over short distances" would seem incompatible with an "express" designation.

I'm sure that some experimental design can be found that exceeds the Big Boys in all categories, but I don't think any steam mainline engines in regular service can beat them. Partly that is because the Big Boys pushed the limits of what the rail infrastructure in the US could handle. They were almost, but not quite, too big for even the limited route they were designed for; only one turntable in the world was big enough to turn them around (at their home base in Green River Wyoming, IIRC.)

In more practical terms, the Big Boys are reasonably well known with a lot of research material available. That's probably very useful in world-building and probably not as true for any other contender.
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Re: Galaxy Express Train setting need help with
Post by Tenshinai   » Tue Sep 29, 2015 5:49 am

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Weird Harold wrote:As I said above, there were many designs that were better in one category or another.


Well, he asked for "most powerful".

Weird Harold wrote:I don't think "helper/pusher" engines are what lwhitehead is looking for. That "Low speed, over short distances" would seem incompatible with an "express" designation.


Well no, that´s why i tried finding the most extreme that was at least capable of sustained speed, even if it was on the seriously low side.
Those triplex engines could usually not produce enough steam to maintain any real speed over distance.

Anyway, part of my not exactly stated point was that if you´re gonna hotrod a steamengine, well if you start with the one i linked, and upgrade it to a high pressure boiler(using that nice little gadget mentioned for example), it´s going to produce one helluva lot of steam.

Weird Harold wrote:In more practical terms, the Big Boys are reasonably well known with a lot of research material available. That's probably very useful in world-building and probably not as true for any other contender.


Quite possible.
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Re: Galaxy Express Train setting need help with
Post by Weird Harold   » Tue Sep 29, 2015 8:44 am

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Tenshinai wrote:Well no, that´s why i tried finding the most extreme that was at least capable of sustained speed, even if it was on the seriously low side.
Those triplex engines could usually not produce enough steam to maintain any real speed over distance.

Anyway, part of my not exactly stated point was that if you´re gonna hotrod a steamengine, well if you start with the one i linked, and upgrade it to a high pressure boiler(using that nice little gadget mentioned for example), it´s going to produce one helluva lot of steam.


True, but the engines you linked already use Supper-heated high-pressure steam and "seriously low side" is wildly understating the case. Even Rocket, Robert Stevenson's first true railroad locomotive, was more than four times faster than 8 MPH!

[quote=2-10-10-2 Wiki]Unlike some other giant locomotives of the period, the immense boilers could generate enough steam to make them a success on the slow (8 mph or 13 km/h) coal trains for which they were built. They remained in service until the 1940s and could be called the ultimate drag era locomotive.[1][/quote]

Of course, if one were willing to expand the possible origins to world-wide, the Russians built a 2-14-14-2 for the trans-Siberian railroad that might be the monster desired. I don't know that for sure, because the only page I found on that engine is in Russian/Cyrillic. :(

ETA: even the pages I saw yesterday don't show up on a search today! Maybe they'll be back someday? :cry: :cry: :cry:
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Answers! I got lots of answers!

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Re: Galaxy Express Train setting need help with
Post by lwhitehead   » Wed Sep 30, 2015 5:57 am

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PRR T1 Duplex Drive 4-4-4-4, Raymond Loewy last Steam Engine he created, It's Streamlined, the most advanced Locomotive ever created and most difficult to drive.

Ok Firebox power source what could I put in the Steam Loco to have an endless fire,



LW
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Re: Galaxy Express Train setting need help with
Post by The E   » Wed Sep 30, 2015 7:10 am

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Have you considered nuclear reactors?
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