On Thu, Jan 1, 2015 at 3:01 AM, Onno Meyer <[email protected]> wrote: > David replied to me: >> >> >>> As Johannes pointed out, it is a bad idea to tow a train of >>> contragrav-only >>> carriages by a single contragrav-and-thrust engine in front. >> >> Why? Point it the direction you're going, and go. Don't get in its >> way, or bad things happen. Suits a train pretty well! Would be >> suited for empty worlds where there's bulk cargo to move long >> distances. > > > The only way to brake would be to let it coast to a stop from air > resistance. Trains may be unable to dodge, but at least they have brakes. >
Why can't the locomotive use thrusters in reverse? Or possibly a second set of thrusters, if they're directional? That gives you a single vehicle with the motive engines, and cheap carriages to haul the goods, which is the feel of a train. You can couple a bunch of locomotives up, to increase the capacity, or if it's required, put one at the other end of the train. Trains with locomotives at both ends, or both ends and the middle, or one end and the middle, are very common in the US for big trains (They move more than 1/2 of all ton-miles, but make up a rather smaller fraction of the train consists.). A locomotive pulling and a locomotive pushing from the ends reduces the force on the couplers, which means longer, heavier, more efficient trains. -- David Scheidt [email protected] _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
