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Union Pacific unveils Arrowedge intermodal technology
Seen one on the zmqg4 the other morning and its placed right behind the locomotive consist
Head-wind induced drag, which apparently is what that thing, is supposed to diminish, ain’t nuthin’ compared to the drag caused by the space between cars/trailers/boxes (containers.)
Cut that distance to about 4 feet, you’ve got more mpg. Did anybody notice that TTX chopped length from container cars so that they scrunched up adjoining international (TEU) loads, but took them from the ubiquitous (20’ 40’ 48’ 54’) container pool?
A worse fuel economy enemy: all-mtys beet gons, unit coal, the old MUG trains which were bulkhead flats, doors-open mty box cars and flats for lumber loading.
On the Cal-P to deliver a rerouted MUG to the Northwestern Pacific, It, in the middle of the night, was a, beg pardon Snoopy, a dark and stormy night…rain blowing horizontally across the light cones from the head- and Mars-lights.
Four SD9’s, a hundred mtys, no alarm bells and 30 to 35 mph???
Very low grades, about 3 horsepower a ton, Run 8…35 mph?A quartering opposing strong wind, yes.
Engine trouble, no, I verified by going back thru the units at 20 mph out of Cordelia going to Napa Jct.
Between the cars, not ahead of them.
More fuel savings there.
Definitely not designed to haul anything. North American shippers demand a container with the same size and shape of a standard 53 foot dry van. Based on the photo, it appears to be more of an air foil device which gets placed on top of the first container in the first well and doesn’t haul anything.
If they really want to save fuel, reduce the space between all those containers on the train and eliminate all rib side containers which most likely create drag. Of course eliminating all rib side containers would wipe out 99% of the international containers and 90% of the domestic containers. Smooth side containers can be built. Wabash National and Hyundai have been building a few. Smooth side containers have one more advantage, repairs. Any trailer shop is able to quickly patch a hole on one of those while a rib side requires more labor and skill to fit the patch to the ribs.
Yet the engines ahead are big square hunks pushing through the air. Time to “streamline” freight locomotives? We did that years ago with EMD and Alco cab units.
From the photo it appears to be an aerodynamic fairing that would be the top level of a double stack line of well cars on the first load behind the locomotives. I would not carry a load, just be a streamlining device?
The description says that it is a container with a tapered body, not device at the front of the train. This could reduce drag wherever there is a gap between containers throughout the train. However, it reduces the volume of the container, some of the remaining volume won’t be useable if it is being loaded with square pallets.
A better example of a streamlined intermodal train is the Roadrailer, but it has disadvantages in that they can’t be stacked or mixed with conventional equipment. They still hold the advantage in certain markets, as NS has discovered.
Perhaps with their low wind resistance, Roadrailers traveling at passenger train speeds could introduce a premium level of service (and price) as Santa Fe tried to do with the Super C! Or Roadrailer container chassis could perform shorter haul drayage services taking containers to and from the large stack train terminals from smaller outlying places!
Soooo … it’s part of a container that weighs 14000 lbs … but doesn’t carry anything that generates revenue … and can only go in one place in the consist?
It better cut fuel consumption a metric bunch, 'cause it’s dead weight and a pain for the folks making up the trains!
Yes, and people laughed when they started putting fairings on the top of semi tractors and then again when they put them on the bottom and on the base of the trailer. Now just about every truck has one or the other or both, and some even have them on the back of the trailer. Pennies count and when you add enough of them up, their could be big savings…
Depending on what its stuffed with, it looks like it would have wasted space in it. I guess time will tell.
Even the heavy haul iron ore railroads of north west Australia have introduced smooth side hopper cars to improve wind resistance.
Regarding the idea about the distance between freight cars being the primary contributor to drag - note the original passenger streamliners had full diaphragms - not for aerodynamic efficiency - but for good looks!!!
It seems I am reliving 1934 when designers used wind tunnels and developed “streamlined trains” that cut through the air like a Pioneer Zephyr. One of the great things about todays freight railroading is with 100 car trains, reducing wind drag on all those cars could produce significant fuel savings.
As i have written many times before==You have to have a leader to present new ideas or technology…have you noticed every new idea have naysayers, just as some of letters posted here…To improve anything, keep trying over and over…where would we be today with out progress from new thoughts being put forth and proven…
As i have written many times before==You have to have a leader to present new ideas or technology…have you noticed every new idea have naysayers, just as some of letters posted here…To improve anything, keep trying over and over…where would we be today with out progress from new thoughts being put forth and proven…
How will these containers stack up (literally) with conventional containers on an ocean vessel?
How will these containers stack up (literally) with conventional containers on an ocean vessel?
Roadrailers are the closest thing to a streamlined intermodal train.