Electrical traction. Across the world, almost all locomotives are actually electric
- Power. Obviously, locomotives come factory-equipped with lots of power. Sometimes, the numbers just don’t do it justice, so allow me to demonstrate.
The Cummins X15. This is an engine you might find under the hood of a typical American tractor-trailer setup. This thing is huge! Powerful, robust, impressive, right?
HA! that thing is a toy!
Now this, my friend, is an engine!
This is (I think, since it wasn’t identified) an EMD 20–645 E engine. You would see one of these in an EMD SD-series locomotive. In this picture, it appears to be for stationary power generation. Its not an exaggeration to say that this could make enough electricity for a good sized town. It could also provide enough electricity to pull a 5,000 ton (yes, I said 5 THOUSAND TON) train across the countryside, which brings me to my next point.
2) Electrical traction. Across the world, almost all locomotives are actually electric. But wait… didn’t you just show me a huge diesel engine? Yes, I said locomotives are electric. Diesel locomotives are really electric locomotives that just so happen to bring a power plant along with them for the ride, rather that drawing the power from wires. One of the main benefits of electric traction is that you have nearly full pulling power, right from 0 miles per hour, right through to full speed, without ever having to worry about being in the right gear. Of course, I’m exaggerating a bit, but compared with trucks, which have gear ratios and power bands to deal with, a train can put power to the wheels more effectively.
3) Locomotives are vastly underpowered compared to trucks. I know, this seems to go against everything else I’m saying, but hear me out. Locomotives are underpowered because being on a railroad *allows* them to be underpowered. Trucks have to negotiate tight turns, steep hills, driveways, highway onramps, city traffic, dirt roads, potholes, and sharing the road with Vespa motor scooters. Trains don’t have to deal with any of these. Railroads are flat, like REALLY flat. a 2% grade is considered very steep for a train. Freight trains aren’t expected to accelerate quickly, stop quickly, or turn quickly… well… they’re not expected to turn at all, actually.
In all, locomotives can pull very impressive loads because they’re huge, but also because we don’t need them to navigate the road system, the rails keep things moving smoothly.
