In Linden, NJ there is a small yard operated by what remians of Conrail. It services the GM assembly plant there, along with a number of various industries.
For the past few weeks, there has been a yellow Conrail work truck parked there that has, what appears to me, an actual jet engine mounted on the rear of the truck. The truck has railroad wheels so it can hop up onto the tracks and cruise down the rails.
The rear nozzle of the engine is pointing approx 45 degrees up from horizontal. I couldn’t really see if the mounting of the engine allowed it to move (up and down / back and forth) at all. There were “Warning - Jet Blast” warning stickers applied to the truck.
Its Snow Dragon, the jet swivles down, turns into a super snow blower and
de-icer.
If you ever see one running, stay away, they can throw large pieces of ballast quite a long way.
Before I came into this thread I was reading the title. I was thinking about Adrian and what a “speeder” this would make. [;)]
If he got a hold of it I guess we could call him “Adrian Super Speeder” Not sure if he would want to ride that one to the mall though. [:D] Now about that multimeter. [;)]
They do pack quite a wallop. Good at melting snow, or anything else in its way. ONce in a while one gets away and there is all sorts of scrmbling to shut it off… Nothing like having a jet without wings zipping around your yard…
This thread reminded me of the picture of the new York Central jet train. There’s a pick of it in the march 2004 issue of Model Railroader on page 95. I would love to see a jet truck flying down the mainline.
Andrew Miller
Your assignment is to look up the following words and therein find your answer.
Venturi
Bernoulli (Daniel)
Airfoil (wing)
Lift
Hint – It is not necessary for air to pass through an enclosed tube for Bernoulli’s Principle to apply. A surface that alters airflow causes a venturi effect. A majority of “lift” is created by the result of the decreased pressure above the wing rather than the increased pressure below it. The remaining “lift” is provided by the wing’s lower surface as air striking the underside is deflected downward. The air that is deflected downward produces an upward “lifting” reaction (Newton’s Third Law Of Motion).
To put it all in very simple terms, no airfoil, no lift, no flight. [;)] [8D] [:)]
It might fly “down” the track, but it won’t fly “over” them. [:p] [:D]
Good sceince lesson jim. I think what he meant was how do they keep the jet from lifting the truck off the tracks. ie. is it weighted or the angle of the thrust is so that the pressure is stopped by brakes. the nature of the truck, flat bottom curve top, in theory might make it possible to lift it off the ground if it was fast enough. Not enough for any real flight but it might lift of the rails a little. Maybe even go “back to the future” he he. I’m a philosophy major so this is just an educated guess from what I know about the Bernoulli principle.
Andrew
Your assuming that they would run one of these things full throttle…
I doubt they ever need to,
In fact, it would surprise me to find them not having some type of governing device on them to prevent the engine from hitting its top rpm.
Yes, I have seen one of these way cool beasts. It has been talked about on the diesel truck forum i also belong to (for everything you wanted to know about ford diesels visit www.thedieselstop.com). It has been determined that the jet could be an assistance to beat any sports car. Keep in mind these trucks are heavy. Heck, mine is just a 3/4 ton pickup and it weighs over 7000 lbs. And thats a ‘little’ truck. It might go fast, but not airborne.
Ok, I wasn’t going to share this because if you try it and kill yourself, I would feel bad. Buddy and me wanted to build something that would melt ice and snow quickly. Electric would be too slow, so fire was the answer. Ripped the blower out of an old dryer, along with the pilot light thingie from an old water heater. These were attached to a piece of steel pipe at opposite ends. Three or four coleman propane bottles were attached to the pilot light via garden hose and placed in a bookbag. A battery and a grill igniter were installed at the pilot light end to get things fired up.
Really, all we did was make a flame thrower. Worked really good till the blower shut down. (should of had a longer cord) and more fire came out next to my head then next to the ice. It was decommissioned and scrapped on the spot. We named it the ‘doohickey from hell’ but i think you can come up with a better name.
That would make on heck of a service truck. I can see it now…
CONRAIL, Quick Service is Our Business
Traveling at such velocity might cause the truck to wreck if it hit any imperfection in the track. That would point out where faulty rails are, so another jet powered rail service vehicle can ru***o the scene. [:D]
Along with being a snowblower, these rascals get used periodically to blow loess (fine dirt), grain, engine sand (for when the guy looking in the mirror does not turn the sanders off while sitting still [X-)]), grain, powdered lading, etc. out of the track structure. Air quality management people don’t like it (dust), but it is effective in helping ballast be effective for a while longer and stave off the undercutter.
I found some pics of simmilar machines when I searched for snow jet on railpictures.net. Should look great on my layout, I’m just affraid it will melt my ties.