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  • General discussion about locomotives, rolling stock, and equipment
General discussion about locomotives, rolling stock, and equipment

Moderator: John_Perkowski

 #1220662  by Stepper
 
Dear All,

I am trying to run a sanity check on the motor size of the following World War 2 military "turntable" rail system:
  • - A level, circular narrow-gauge track, with an outside diameter of 20 meters (65 ft).
    - The track is narrow gauge (80-90 cm; 30-35”).
    - 4 electric locomotives are distributed evenly around the track.
    - A weight of 100 metric tons (221000 lbs) rests on the 4 locos (i.e., the locos share the weight).
    - Each loco has 1 electric motor.
    - Each loco has 2 bogies.
    - Each bogie has 2 axles.
    - Each motor is down-geared and drives at least one axle of one bogie.
    - The diameter of the wheels on the inside rail is about 5% smaller than the outside wheels. The inside rail is raised 5 cm (2")
    - The axles may have been aligned so as to point at the center of the circular track.
    - Nominal speed of the locos: 8 km/h (5 mph)
Question: would 4x 13.5 hp have sufficed to “get the train going” and accelerate it to the nominal speed? How long might that have taken?

Thanks in advanced!

-- Fred