Planes, trains, and automobiles... can you drive it?

[edit... are we evolving a separate "Myth" here, is Food responsible for Evolution or is evolution responsible for the food we eat....this is topic drift, not that I mind, its a good conversation... but should the thread be split two ways?....]


What is evolution?...
My answer, the more "Clever" and "Better designed" get the better food... I cite as one example the Giraffe, the animal evolved to get the greener tastier younger shoots at the top of the plant, a "Better" diet?....
Any animal with longer legs, Deer for example, the taller ones eat better?... and more...?..

Better diet is evolution, the 'Uman frame has evolved because we get a better diet and because we get a better diet the Human frame has evolved.
The two are mutual?...

Being a short ass myself, the problem isn't the height of the seat - I've never had a problem in that regards. The problem is usually that you have to stretch to push the clutch all the way in on some designs. (I think the worst two I encountered were the old Vauxhall Nova and the Mini Metro - ironically the smaller car was the worst of the two)

Not that height isn't sometimes an issue. I recall driving to an aunts house and being stunned to see what appeared to be a car driving along by itself. Closer inspection revealed a pair of hands on the wheel, and it wasn't until the car turned that I spotted the old lady the hands belonged to. She was so low down in the seat I have no idea how she could see anything smaller that a bus on the road.

To add Some info about what is involved in driving a steam locomotive. Attached are some pics of the controls of the steam locomotive of the Scenic Railroad I work with. This is a 1916 Baldwin locomotive. I can tell you what some of the various valves and levers do, but not all, and I couldn't even start to get into what all is needed to run it properly.

You can imagine someone with absolutely no idea what is involved in a steam locomotive be completely lost with this.

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Correct. It's not like in the movies where there are red zones on the meters with skull and crossbones symbols

You don't have any idea where the needles of the gauges need to point at. ALso there are a lot of gauges "camouflaged". There are parts which don't look like they are telling something important. And you need to know how keep some of the gauges operational. For example the gauge for the water level needs to be drained regularly or it might become "stuck". That's where the train engineers usually get their hot water to heat up their meals from.

Here are some pictures of a steam train engine which was retrofitted to run on heavy oils:

webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:L2wR3zjhO2wJ:www.drehscheibe-online.de/foren/read.php%3F3,3719284,3720368+&cd=1&hl=de&ct=clnk&gl=de&client=firefox-a

By the way, this is the steam engine of the train museum I once had worked with a very long time ago. I even operated this steam engine for a short while but that was pure micromanaging. Even if I spent hours watching how the crew worked the controls, I still would have no idea how to keep it running. I do know how to "fire it up" and maintain the fire while "parking". But I don't know how to properly generate steam for operation.
Stopping one at the station is very tricky. Braking harder and harder until wheelslip is easy, regulating the brake performance and prevent wheel slip is real hard. I've never mastered that task well (never tried it with the steam engine but with the diesels).

So "can you drive it?" - no, at least not for more than a "few minutes". But you can defiantly stop one, even faster than you might want.

Steam, the speed control, Get me [So Much}head of steam, we have a hill.....
The "accelerator" on a steam loco is much like a pedal on a car where it needs to be in different places to get the same result dependant on the terrain, there is no set "Do this and you will get that", the dials and gauges are there to tell you what you have, the amount of water in the boiler varies with the task, the PSI of stem varies, the fire is variable, its a living breathing monster just barely under control.

right. the original question was "can he get it to go, can he get it to stop" (most trains turn on their own but on other vehicles can he get it to turn)

The railroad I work with is a small line, so the signals are pretty simple. I have actually gotten a bit of time driving one of the diesels. Fun stuff and not too bad once it is explained to you.

The signals if you were to go up the transfer line and onto the CSX yard, that is a whole different world.

Oh, and stopping a train, very easy if you know what to look for. Once of the first diesel cab rides I took as a brakeman, the engineer told me to enjoy the ride, but not to rest my foot on one pipe with a red valve... The steam engine also has a similar valve that is in easy reach. Again, you have to be careful not to use it as a hand hold.

The GP30 I drove was built in the early 1960's, so I don't know how it compares to a modern setup. For the most part, once it is started, driving it is kind of similar to driving a car, without the pedals and steering wheel.

There are many different versions of "dead man's pedals" out there.
The first version was just a pedal. When not depressed, it activates the brakes. This was the standard in the US for a long time since safety was really relying on a 6-eye principle. A crew of 3 is used for each train. Two in the leading engine controlling the train and a conductor in the last car monitoring the progress of the train and doing the paperwork. The two men in the engine keep each other alert and both watch out for signals. The conductor in the rear of the train has a check list and asks for confirmation of the signals by telephone or radio. If something is wrong, anyone of them can activate the emergency brake.
This system has failed horrible several times when all of the men were very sleepy and dropped protocol for convenience.

A very good fully automatic system was invented in 1934 in Germany. The train engine has a set of electro magnets each connected to a different frequency (originally from a special generator, later electronically generated). There are electro magnets connected to an oscillator circuit on the tracks. When the frequency matches, the track magnet draws power when the train magnet runs over it and the extra power consumption of the train magnets activate relays. Signals ans switches can disable their magnets by short circuiting their oscillator so the frequency can't match. So running too fast over certain magnets or hitting a "stop" magnet can stop the train fully automatically.

The Swiss developed their own system which is far more simple but as powerful. They use one magnet in the middle of the track connected to another magnet at the side of the track. The position of the second magnet determines its function. There is a source magnet connected to AC in the middle of the train and receiver coils at the side of the train. When the magnets in the track are connected, the receiving coils receive energy. The signals can connect or disconnect the sets of electro magnets. Another nice feature is that you can attach permanent magnets to the track for construction sites. When the train is in motion, the permanent magnet causes an impulse when run over.

This isn't good enough for high speed trains since when they brake out of full speed, the train needs many miles to stop so it must know where red signals are far in advance. In Europe, most high speed train systems use a wire on the tracks. There are actually two forming a loop and switching sides every section of track. There is a high current in the wire clicking on and off with digital data. When the wires switch place, the polarity of the sensed field swaps and this is used to count the progressing distance highly accurate.
In the US they use a similar system for a few years now but this one uses a radio link and can't keep track of progress accurately. The reason is the vast distances in remote areas, there is no way to lay wire loops and supply them with power economically. The first US system had a serious design flaw since it couldn't tell the difference between "drive slow" and "stop". It just alerted the driver which had to decide and press a button to confirm that he is going to do the right thing.
Nowadays the system is very good and by including GPS, it is one of the safest safety systems in the world. It is a shame that it took dozens of very fatal incidents until it was developed and adopted.