What makes trains work?
When you are thinking of different types of transportation locomotive is not the first type to come to mind. Carrying heavy loads across the country, it was said to be that trains built America. Currently the cheapest way to haul large objects is by the railway. I will be breaking down the EMD GP 60, made by General Motors. I will explain how the engine and other features come together to operate the train. The 270,000 pound train is made to tow passenger train cars. The diesel engine can produce up to 3,800 horsepower, resulting the train to move over a 100 miles per hour. The main engine is also made by General Motors, the model is EMD 710 series. The twelve cylinders are turbo charged and has a displacement of 710 cubic inches resulting in its name. Intentionally making the engine two stroke instead of four it gives the locomotive engine a longer lifespan than a car engine. Weighing over 30,000 pounds the engine has a lower rotate per minute than a car but to make up for the speed the locomotive has more gears. Also in the EMD 710 engine has a much smaller speed range, its idle
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Trains are hybrid engines because it eliminates the need for mechanical transmissions. The generator sends electrical power to a traction motor at each axle, which powers the wheels. The traction motors can produce adequate torque at any speed, from a full stop to 110 miles per hour, without needing to change gears. The generator can turn this into almost 4,700 amps of electrical current. The four drive motors use this electricity to generate over 64,000 pounds of thrust. There is a completely separate V-12 engine and generator to provide electrical power for the rest of the train. This generator is called the head-end power unit. The generator weighs 17,700 pounds and the model on this train can make over 560 kilowatts (kW) of electrical