Railroad - Revision history

Michel Lamontagne: /* Breaking trains */

2025-02-19T22:13:19Z

Breaking trains

Michel Lamontagne at 22:13, 19 February 2025

2025-02-19T22:13:00Z

Michel Lamontagne: /* Railway Ties and Support */

2025-02-19T22:11:37Z

Railway Ties and Support

RichardWSmith: /* Rolling friction */ Added couple words to make sentence clearer.

2024-10-11T04:13:22Z

Rolling friction: Added couple words to make sentence clearer.

RichardWSmith: /* Rolling friction */

2024-10-08T09:40:09Z

Rolling friction

RichardWSmith: /* Rolling friction */ Dust will increase rolling resistance.

2024-10-08T04:46:11Z

Rolling friction: Dust will increase rolling resistance.

Michel Lamontagne: /* Breaking trains */

2023-08-30T21:04:24Z

Breaking trains

Michel Lamontagne: /* Railway Ties and Support */

2023-08-30T21:01:27Z

Railway Ties and Support

RichardWSmith: Added a few thoughts here and there. Railway ties are likely to be more expensive than on Earth.

2021-05-21T16:27:24Z

Added a few thoughts here and there. Railway ties are likely to be more expensive than on Earth.

RichardWSmith: fixed grammar

2021-05-21T16:13:17Z

fixed grammar

@@ Line 78: / Line 78: @@
 ======Breaking trains======
-Convective cooling of break pads on Mars is unlikely.  Electric breaking with energy recovery should be possible, with adequate design of the energy storage, either in the vehicles on in the power system of an electrified rail system..
+Convective cooling of break pads on Mars is unlikely.  Electric breaking with energy recovery should be possible, with adequate design of the energy storage, either in the vehicles on in the power system of an electrified rail system.
 ==References==
 [[Category:Surface Transportation Networks]]
 <references />

@@ Line 78: / Line 78: @@
 ======Breaking trains======
-Convective cooling of break pads on Mars is unlikely.  Electric breaking with energy recovery might be possible, if the electrical network can withstand it.
+Convective cooling of break pads on Mars is unlikely.  Electric breaking with energy recovery should be possible, with adequate design of the energy storage, either in the vehicles on in the power system of an electrified rail system..
 ==References==
 [[Category:Surface Transportation Networks]]
 <references />

@@ Line 72: / Line 72: @@
 == Railway Ties and Support ==
-Until terraforming happens, and trees are growing in large numbers on Mars, railway ties are likely to be formed of hard plastic or, more likely, using reinforced concrete analogs.  Since there are no hydrocarbon deposits on Mars, plastics would have to be slowly created from simpler resources, ideally some form of waste product.  The Ties will likely be as small and thin as possible, on well prepared beds of gravel or brick.  Alternately, it is probably cheaper to make ties out of concrete and set these in a gravel bed.  Sulfur concrete ties with steel reinforcement might be good solution
+Until terraforming happens, and trees are growing in large numbers on Mars, railway ties are likely to be formed of hard plastic or, more likely, using reinforced concrete analogs.  Since there are no hydrocarbon deposits on Mars, plastics would have to be slowly created from simpler resources, ideally some form of waste product.  The Ties will likely be as small and thin as possible, on well prepared beds of gravel or brick.  Alternately, it is probably cheaper to make ties out of concrete and set these in a gravel bed.  Sulfur concrete ties with steel reinforcement might be good solution.
 == Railway Gage ==

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 As on Earth, the rolling friction of a train  should be significantly lower than the rolling friction of a truck.  A significant amount of energy is also lost in truck tire walls as they flex and roll, which is less important for steel wheels.  The average relationship found in reference tables puts the rolling friction of trains as about one tenth of the rolling friction of trucks.
-One problem unique to Mars is the [[Dust]] on the metal rails.  This will increase rolling resistance. (Mars has far more dust than Earth, and rain washes dust off rails.)
+One problem unique to Mars is the [[Dust]] on the metal rails.  This will increase rolling resistance. (Mars has far more dust than Earth, and on Earth rain washes dust off rails.)
 ===Inertia of the train===

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 As on Earth, the rolling friction of a train  should be significantly lower than the rolling friction of a truck.  A significant amount of energy is also lost in truck tire walls as they flex and roll, which is less important for steel wheels.  The average relationship found in reference tables puts the rolling friction of trains as about one tenth of the rolling friction of trucks.
-One problem unique to Mars is the [[Dust]] on the metal rails.  This will increase rolling resistance.
+One problem unique to Mars is the [[Dust]] on the metal rails.  This will increase rolling resistance. (Mars has far more dust than Earth, and rain washes dust off rails.)
 ===Inertia of the train===

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 ===Inertia of the train===
 The inertia of the train remains the same on Earth as on Mars.  So the kinetic energy of the train, for the same velocity, will not be changed by the lower gravity.  However, for electrical trains, regenerative braking could be used, returning to the grid when the train is stopped the energy that was required to accelerate the train up to speed.   Regenerative braking may also be used to return to the grid the energy required to climb grades on Mars.
 ===Construction energy===
@@ Line 47: / Line 49: @@
 ===The transport of a maintenance team===
 Peripheral parts of a Martian settlement might be several kilometers away from the [[house|living quarters]]. [[Energy]] generating stations (e.g. [[solar panel]]s, [[wind turbine]]s) are spread over a large area and have fixed positions. A lightweight railroad system might reduce the maintenance costs on the long run.
 ===Transportation in tunnels===
@@ Line 65: / Line 69: @@
 For the same mass, the weight on Mars will be less than on Earth, so the strain on the infrastructure should be less.  Ballast might be less extensive, or the trains might be larger for the same quality of track and bed as on Earth.
-=== Railway ties and support ===
+== Railway Ties and Support ==
-=== Railway gage ===
+== Railway Gage ==
-=== Breaking trains ===
+======Breaking trains======
 ==References==
 [[Category:Surface Transportation Networks]]
 <references />

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:13, 21 May 2021
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−	'''Railroads''' are a commonly used [[transportation]] system on [[Earth]], and they can be used on [[Mars]] as well. [[Iron]] ,the main construction material, is abundant on the Martian surface. Compared with most other transportation systems, the railroad is basically [[hi-tech versus lo-tech\|lo-tech]] and can, therefore, be maintained with lower effort. Compared with [[rover]]s or roads a railroad system is rather inflexible, but it can have an advantage for frequently used ways. On the long run it allows energy optimized transport. No batteries or fuels are necessary if electrical engines and power lines are used. Especially for driver-less material transport, it can be a central part of the [[settlement]]'s infrastructure.	+	'''Railroads''' are a commonly used [[transportation]] system on [[Earth]], and they can be used on [[Mars]] as well. [[Iron]], the main construction material, is abundant on the Martian surface. Compared with most other transportation systems, the railroad is basically [[hi-tech versus lo-tech\|lo-tech]] and can, therefore, be maintained with lower effort. Compared with [[rover]]s or roads a railroad system is rather inflexible, but it can have an advantage for frequently used ways. On the long run it allows energy optimized transport. No batteries or fuels are necessary if electrical engines and power lines are used. Especially for driver-less material transport, it can be a central part of the [[settlement]]'s infrastructure.

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