Talk:Variable gauge

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BRAVA[edit]

The CAF system was originally designed in 1968 by the Vevey Company (since absorbed by Bombardier Transportation ), a company located in the city of Vevey on the Leman Lake, Canton of Vaud, Switzerland and was originally called the "Vevey axle" [1]. The design was subsequently obtained and improved by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles.

About 1979 the late Dr. Ing. Ricardo Martin of CAF gave me a copy of Spanish language version of a drawing of the "Vevey axle". I still have it and I can assure you with 110% certainty that BRAVA is based on the "Vevey axle", but even the drawing in La Vie du Rail shows this. Peter Horn 00:21, 13 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Variety of Gauges[edit]

  1. Can VGA handle several gauges at once, or is it limited to just two?
  2. Can VGA handle pairs of gauges that are widely spaced? Or close together?
  3. Can VGA handle locomotives and their traction motors as well as wagons and carriages?
  4. What gauge combinations are already in use?
    • 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) & 1,524 mm (5 ft)
    • 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) & 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
  5. VGA seems capable of handing high speeds?
  6. How much does VGA cost, per bogie, and what do ordinary bogies cost for comparison?
  7. How much does the converter track cost?
  8. What speed does the converter track accommodate the VGA bogies? 15 kilometres per hour (4.2 m/s)?
  9. Is the convertor track bi-directional?
  10. What is extra weight of VGA bogie? ----MountVic127 (talk) 06:14, 6 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Tabletop (talk) 06:49, 15 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

  • 1 While the CAF BRAVA system says that it can "adapt to any gauge" it does not explicitly or unambiguously say that that this can be done on the same axles. No though train from narrow gauge Spain to Russia over 1000/1668/1435/1520 has be confirmed. It is noted that the narrower gauges have less room for the gauge change gear, the disc brakes and perhaps some traction motors. Tabletop (talk) 03:38, 9 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Time taken[edit]

There's an error in the section "time taken", concerning the speed. It states that 2 km/h = 5 m/s, which is not true. 2 km/h ~= 0.55 m/s. I'm not sure this is the right one, or if the correct speed is 5 m/s (= 18 km/h). A reference would clear this. - Nmnogueira (talk) 11:40, 19 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The DBAG/Rafil VGA freight bogie can go through the convertor at 10km/h (2.77m/s). [2]



Axle loads?[edit]

The existing VGA systems have axleloads of about 20T, but heavy haul trains have axleloads of upto 40T. Can VGA handle such heavier axleloads? Tabletop (talk) 00:26, 20 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Locomotives[edit]

Electric[edit]

  • 1435 - 1676 [3]

Diesel[edit]

Brands[edit]

Tabletop (talk) 04:10, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Multiple names[edit]

VGA is hard to find because it is called by many other names:

Tabletop (talk) 04:42, 2 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Mule[edit]

The "mule" is a non locomotive method of propelling a train at low speed in a controlled fashion.

It might consist of a powered capstan with a rope hooked to a "convenient place" on a wagon. It the case of an ATGCS mule, it only has to pull a 1800m train by three or four carriage lengths before the departure locomotive of the other gauge can couple.

Ah ha! If the capstan is located on the side of the other gauge, it can pull symetrically on the front coupling of the train being converted. The wire ought not be to heavy to manhandle, and even if it were a small capstan could pull the wire almost into place.

European couplers already have a hook for the wire. Other kinds of couplers such as the AAR and SA3 would need some kind of adapter.

There are other designs of mule.

Tabletop (talk) 06:49, 7 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Pictures[edit]

Patents[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ La Vie du Rail, No. 1415, 4 November 1973, ÉCARTEMENTS VARIABLES: L' "ESSIEU MIRACLE" EST-IL NÉ DANS LE CANTON DE VAUD? [1] in French or [2] in English)
  2. ^ http://www.virtualmarket.innotrans.de/index.php5?id=1022705&Action=showProduct&bmp=b82d2ef2e969a85992989927824914d1&locale=en_GB
  3. ^ http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/logistics/report-55551.html
  4. ^ SIRTS
  5. ^ Railway Gazette International December 2008 p944

Speed of change[edit]

There is nothing slow about the gauge changing process. See Talgo & BRAVA, even powered equipment (locos) change on the run and at a far clip at that, Locomotives and EMUs included [3] [4]. Peter Horn 03:48, 14 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(deleted duplicated section) -- BRAVA is quoting 3s/coach, so assuming 20m coaches that would be 6.66 metres per second (24.0 km/h) or 6.66 metres per second (14.9 mph). Edgepedia (talk) 15:53, 2 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Spanish translation[edit]

Why is a Spanish translation cambio de ancho given at the start of the article? I couldn't find any reason for it and it looks a little strange. The system is used in numerous countries and has many different names, so why was Spanish singled out? Tobyc75 (talk) 12:54, 5 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Gauge devices[edit]

Tabletop (talk) 05:11, 8 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Operation -- propulsion built into what?[edit]

The article says "built-in diesel propulsion system" but isn't clear as to what it is built into -- into the changing equipment or into the carriages? I suspect it's the former, except it seems likelier to me that that would be powered by grid electricity rather than diesel. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.105.202.169 (talk) 12:24, 26 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

 Done[5]; the gauge changers themselves are generally passive mechanical devices. —Sladen (talk) 15:37, 26 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Prosser[edit]

C. W. and C. R. Prosser are probably the same person [1] Tabletop (talk) 04:53, 23 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Switzerland[edit]

This articles section on Switzerland includes:

Variable gauge axles are going to be implemented on the Montreux–Gstaad–Zweisimmen–Spiez–Interlaken line. ... The problem of rack equipment has yet to be tackled.

There isn't any rack-equipped track between Montreux and Interlaken (at least by the route specified above), so it isn't obvious what problem with rack equipment there is to tackle. Removing sentence. If you can clarify what the problen is, feel free to replace. -- chris_j_wood (talk) 17:27, 8 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Blacklisted Links Found on the Main Page[edit]

Cyberbot II has detected that page contains external links that have either been globally or locally blacklisted. Links tend to be blacklisted because they have a history of being spammed, or are highly innappropriate for Wikipedia. This, however, doesn't necessarily mean it's spam, or not a good link. If the link is a good link, you may wish to request whitelisting by going to the request page for whitelisting. If you feel the link being caught by the blacklist is a false positive, or no longer needed on the blacklist, you may request the regex be removed or altered at the blacklist request page. If the link is blacklisted globally and you feel the above applies you may request to whitelist it using the before mentioned request page, or request its removal, or alteration, at the request page on meta. When requesting whitelisting, be sure to supply the link to be whitelisted and wrap the link in nowiki tags. The whitelisting process can take its time so once a request has been filled out, you may set the invisible parameter on the tag to true. Please be aware that the bot will replace removed tags, and will remove misplaced tags regularly.

Below is a list of links that were found on the main page:

  • http://www.railway-technology.com/contractors/diesel/voith/press59.html
    Triggered by \brailway-technology\.com\b on the local blacklist

If you would like me to provide more information on the talk page, contact User:Cyberpower678 and ask him to program me with more info.

From your friendly hard working bot.—cyberbot II NotifyOnline 10:48, 3 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Sources[edit]

  • Álvarez, Alberto García (September 2010). "Automatic track gauge changeover for trains in Spain" (PDF). FFE. Retrieved 25 May 2014. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

—Sladen (talk) 13:07, 25 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Brakes[edit]

I think clarification is needed for the bottom sentence. It claims that "A gauge adjustable truck complete with wheelsets weighs a total of about one ton/tonne more than a conventional truck " and normally must use disc brakes, which cool more slowly. I thought this was odd, since it goes against everything I have read about disc brakes, which usually are said to cool much better than drums, for obvious reasons. And of course, reading the article the sentence links too, it indeed says that disc brakes cool better than drums. Partway through the article, I find a link labelled "railway brakes", which leads to the article on "Slippery rail", dealing with leaves on the track. Halfway down the page, I find a single paragraph mentioning how one benefit to using brake shoes over discs is that the brake shoes act directly on the wheel, and help clean it off. I was not aware of this. I had taken the original statement to mean trains used to use drum brakes. I assume the fact that the entire wheel acts as a big heat sink and radiating area makes brake-shoes on trains cool quicker, but it seems like I had to jump through a lot of hoops just to figure that simple fact out. I would gladly make a quick explanation myself, but undoubtedly someone would simply come through and delete it because it "isn't referenced"..45Colt 10:36, 22 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 3 external links on Variable gauge. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add {{cbignore}} after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add {{nobots|deny=InternetArchiveBot}} to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 18 January 2022).

  • If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
  • If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—cyberbot IITalk to my owner:Online 02:11, 18 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 5 external links on Variable gauge. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add {{cbignore}} after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add {{nobots|deny=InternetArchiveBot}} to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at {{Sourcecheck}}).

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 18 January 2022).

  • If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
  • If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—cyberbot IITalk to my owner:Online 23:50, 29 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Need to clarify why they move the wheel instead of just have twice as many wheels[edit]

The lead says "the wheels are unlocked, moved closer together, or further apart, and are then re-locked."

The article should explain why they don't just make the axle/wheelset with twice as many wheels (or make the truck/bogie with twice as many axles), so that half the wheels are at the closer spacing, and half at the larger spacing, so that the train can operate on either track gauge, without needing a gauge changer or a gauge change facility.

I thought about trying to patent this and get rich, but decided it was so obvious that I can't be the first person to think of it...

47.139.47.239 (talk) 21:09, 22 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Four wheels on the same axle or four axles on the same bogie???? That would not work at switches and crossings! Give me a break! Peter Horn User talk 13:55, 23 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 5 external links on Variable gauge. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 18 January 2022).

  • If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
  • If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 06:48, 25 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 12 external links on Variable gauge. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 18 January 2022).

  • If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
  • If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 18:14, 18 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Weird article[edit]

a) This article completely ignores the common method for variable gauge traffic, namely changing the bogies.

b) And then it talks mostly about future or very old variable-gauge installations.

It seems written by a railway freak who never saw or studied the real thing ... --User:Haraldmmueller 11:48, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

  1. ^ http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/1524928?searchTerm=Prosser+gauge#pstart381234
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Variable_gauge&oldid=1199668172"