# intresting rail car idea (not sure if it would work but a great model idea)



## dana (Jan 7, 2008)

im/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/unsure.gifif this would work in real life but would be a great model to build

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/02/07/new-rail-car-runs-on-air-electric-perpetual-drive/

enjoy


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Hmm. 

Cute, but there's no way it would work.

Ralph would like it's non workability, but it doesn't look vile enough for him.


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## Pufftmd (Jan 25, 2008)

Who cares if it would work.. hahahhahah... sure would make a great model... 


Rick Brown
Pine Needle & Stump Pile Railroad
Port Orchard, WA


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## ralphbrades (Jan 3, 2008)

No, I have to agree that there is no way that it could be made to work. 
But it is definately one for my collection!!! 

Thankyou very much Dana! 

regards 

ralph


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Now that's strange! Jerry


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

It could/work..., only it wouldn't be perpetual motion and the initial charge would burn off rendering it motionless somewhere along the line.

The energy attained by the driven wheels would be equal to the energy produced by the driving wheels.  But then you have inefficiency of the motors, heat, friction, etc., all of which make any perpetual motion machine a dream rather than a reality.  (Superconductors and near absolute zero operating conditions help though.)


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## Tom Lapointe (Jan 2, 2008)

*ANOTHER "perpetual motion" lunacy!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/hehe.gif  

-OR, it could be a potential "stock scam"/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/ermm.gif for unway investors, such as the "Holman Horror"/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/crazy.gif shown here:

[url="http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/holman/holman.htm"]http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/holman/holman.htm[/url][/url]

                                                                                                                                                   /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif   Tom
*


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## dana (Jan 7, 2008)

speaking of perpetual motion heres an artical denouncing perpetual motion http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/11/06/can-trains-be-run-by-perpetual-motion/


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## afinegan (Jan 2, 2008)

That design would work great.........going downhill  /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/hehe.gif

Remember perpetual motion only works downhill

Andrew..


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## steamboatmodel (Jan 2, 2008)

I took a engineering course once, and someone came up with a perpetual motion idea. The instructor wrote one word on the blackboard *TANSTAAFL* He then handed out an assignment having us prove or disprove perpetual motion.
Regards,
Gerald
PS *TANSTAAFL* is an acronym for the adage "*There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch,*" popularized by science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein in his 1966 novel _The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress_,[1][2]


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Hmmm...one of the things that gets posted to the oil board now and again is a car being developed in India which runs off of compressed air and features a small air compressor to keep it going. Supposedly the prototype (not all that big, with not much in the way of a cargo capacity) can go twenty or thirty miles before the compressor has to kick in.


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## Havoc (Jan 2, 2008)

Actually the indian air car runs on compressed air only. It can be charged by an external air supply or it can use the inbuild compressor to charge it *when connected to electricity* when no external supply is available.


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## dana (Jan 7, 2008)

if you look at it as a practical point its the pasts idea of  hybrid technology ( todays green goat would be similar but more practical ) . im sureif it had recived enough intrest and  more practical tweaks here and there( solar etc ) then we'd have different typesof greangoats running today . im sure the first critics of longislands ingersolrand loco  1000 luaghed and saidit had no practical reason and would never work or replace steam , events and technology made the deisel locos what they are today . we will never know. im sure it wouldnt work but i wonder whattodayslocos wouldhavelookedlike if this proved practical.


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## ralphbrades (Jan 3, 2008)

"The Railways up on Cannis" by Colin Kapp might give you some idea... 

regards 

ralph


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## dana (Jan 7, 2008)

hmm i wonder if i can find a used copy on amazon or simmler sites . thanks ralph for the authour


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By steamboatmodel on 03/19/2008 11:51 AM
I took a engineering course once, and someone came up with a perpetual motion idea. The instructor wrote one word on the blackboard *TANSTAAFL* He then handed out an assignment having us prove or disprove perpetual motion.

Regards,

Gerald

PS *TANSTAAFL* is an acronym for the adage "*There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch,*" popularized by science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein in his 1966 novel _The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress_,[1][2] 




That book would make SUCH a great movie. I wish more Heinlein would get made into flicks, I figure what the heck, it will happen one day, they'll eventually run out of Phillip K. Dick novels to produce right? /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif


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## Paradise (Jan 9, 2008)

What do you mean 'It won't work'. 
It works really well... all the way to the bottom of the hill. 
I invented it when I was 8.


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## Paradise (Jan 9, 2008)

While we are on the subject of perpetual motion, here is another brainburst. 

Link


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

That's pretty cool. 

I've always wanted to build a sterling engine. There was a guy who made them out of coffee cans and take them to the Stephen County Antique Engine show. He'd hold a blow torch to one can and it would be clanking and squeaking at 60 rpm or so. 

Yes, I've seen the kit you can build that sets on a coffee cup. http://www.stirlingengine.com/


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## ohioriverrailway (Jan 2, 2008)

Calling Rube Goldberg!!


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## dana (Jan 7, 2008)

while this may not be a pertetual motion idea , this still could be a neat idea to build for a rail roads revenue http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/09/17/mobile-power-plant/


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## wchasr (Jan 2, 2008)

I seem to remember photos from a few years back, maybe 10 or so, when an ice storm travelled upt eh East coast and hit canada particularly hard. A locla mayor without pwoer for days called on former co-workers at CP and they de-railed a loco ran it down main street without rails and parked it next to the city building wired it in and provided power for the building which allowed Emergancy services to operate and shelter with heat for folks. I think it was in Northeast Rails or some such magazine?

Chas


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

That has been done more than once, though usually without the need to move "off rail".


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

We did that years ago on the RR using a Electromatic Tamper gen system to power the signal system in commuter territory . Worked great and I made lots of over time as I had to keep it fueled.







Later RJD


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