DRAFT by James H (ucsc student)

NAME: Locomotive

ALTERNATIVE NAME/S:

DETAILS/DESCRIPTION (approximately 600 words):

Describes any wheeled vehicle running on tracks capable of pulling cars behind it for transportation. Cars that each power themselves are referred to as “ multiple units ” and are a separate category of train. Trains may also contain multiple locomotives so as to reduce the strain on the couplings caused by the forces in a very long train.

  Locomotive transportation was experimented with soon after the invention of a reliable steam engine, during the early 19 th century, but it took until 1830 for an efficient and reliable design to come forth. “ Stephenson's Rocket, ” built by brothers George and Robert Stephenson, who had built many locomotives previously, was the design. Some of the innovations that made it a usable design included the use of multiple tubes within the boiler and the venting of exhaust steam up a chimney, separating it from the fresh air that kept the fire hot.

  Locomotives transformed the lives of many people. Besides assisting in economic development by transporting freight to distant places, they allowed an entirely new, travel-oriented lifestyle. People in the working class that wished to migrate to somewhere with more jobs now had an effective means of doing so, and people who wished to go on vacation could now do it in a weekend. Businessmen, too, could now make face-to-face meetings with distant partners. As cities grew bigger in the late 19 th century, light rail and subway services would allow passengers to commute from large distances and lessen the burden on individual neighborhoods, which had become catastrophically dense during industrialization.

  Locomotive technology has changed greatly over time, with the basic concept of wheels on track surviving through several ages of competitors and fantastic prototype designs. The steam locomotive was never very efficient, though its design was easy to understand. When electrified track and diesel engines came in the 20 th century, they took over the market as soon as it was economically feasible to use them. Electric engines proved to be ideal for achieving high speeds, and existing high speed trains such as the French TGV and German ICE always use electric power. Diesel engines, on the other hand, are preferable for long or time-insensitive trips such as those on US trains or freight lines. Unusual designs, such as the French Aerotrain, built to ride on a cush i on of air far quieter than any wheeled train, were tested during the 1960s and 70s, but were rejected in favor of traditional tracks for a number of reasons, cost and integration with existing networks being one major factor. Diesel and electric continue to be the engines for even today's newest trains.

  However, despite the improvements in speed and reliability from new technology, automobiles and planes quickly ate into the profit margins of major railroads. Cars were more comfortable and allowed people to make most short trips faster; planes were ideal for long trips, and even many shorter ones before congestion took over airports later in the century. By the 1960s, the situation was a crisis; in North America alone, the railroads were losing hundreds of millions of dollars yearly. But by then, the downsides to cars and planes were becoming apparent, and so governments all over the world kept their train systems alive, and began the quest that continues today: to once again make the locomotive a prestigious part of passenger transportation, but this time for medium distances that go at most city-to-city, rather than across continents, which planes would still be best suited for.

  The latest in locomotive technology, the “ maglev ” train, is the newest attempt to revolutionize the field. The tracks are built so as to be able to levitate the train just above the track by magnetic forces, enabling greater speeds with less noise. A working maglev line has already been built in Shanghai , but critics dismiss the technology as being unfeasible for widespread use. The track is still enormously costly to build and maintain, and the gains are arguably not great over existing high speed trains (both have top speeds of over 400 km/h, but existing ones never reach them in everyday service because of the fuel inefficency from air friction caused at high speeds). At present, however, most authorities are only considering the use of standard high-speed lines and changing existing trains to be “ tilting trains, ” which can take wide curves at higher speeds while maintaining passenger comfort by tilting slightly, shaving off some precious minutes. Imbued with new purpose, locomotives are now undergoing a renaissance.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:(don't worry about a particular format, just make sure

you have all the data for it, like dates, page numbers etc.)

Modern Trains & Splendid Stations : Art Institute of Chicago, Merrell Publishers Ltd., 2001

Encylopedia Britannica, entry Locomotive

NAME:

(copy from the first line of the bio)[i gotta check on what this means]

RESEARCHER:

James Hofmann (4 hours)

RESEARCH DATE:

1/04

JB's LINKS:

Ericsson John

Stephenson G

PROPOSED CONNECTIONS INCLUDED ON catlist.doc:

PROPOSED CONNECTIONS NOT ON catlist.doc:

Railroad

Steam Engine

AUDIO/VISUAL: