Posted on 08/23/2014 4:25:33 AM PDT by WhiskeyX
On a clear July day in 1966, New York Central Railroad engineer Don Wetzel and his team boarded a specially modified Buddliner railcar. Bolted to the roof above them were two GE J47-19 jet engines. Wetzel throttled the engines up and tore down a length of track from Butler, Indiana, to Stryker, Ohio, at almost 184 mph, piloting the experimental vehicle into the record books as the world’s fastest jet-powered train.
(Excerpt) Read more at txchnologist.com ...
Wow, that guy has held up GREAT over the years...fun video to watch.
Thanks.
That was back when we thought we could do ANYTHING and so we tried it.
Not so, today.
196 mph in a train filled with jet fuel and two jet engines strapped to the roof? Don’t worry Ma, I’ll be wearing a crash helmet...
Speaking of... "they" say cows along the right of way were so traumatized by the roar that they stopping giving milk.
Having seen footage of the run, there is a comical vignette where they show this guy in the cab before he starts the run and just shakes his head like this is the craziest thing he's ever done... probably was.
It would have been a record but the train had to make 5 stops along the way.
There was one very important take away from the video - the fact that all of the railroad crossings were closed during the one time run. Something about the crossing gates cycle being too slow.
IMHO this is/will be the greatest problem for any high speed rail spur/system built in the US - you can not have railroad crossings that actually touch like today’s crossings. First, the high speed train would have to slow down for each such crossing - think of the resulting law suits when, not if, an accident happens. Second, the high speed train tracks would divide cities, counties, and private property; the crossing issue above. This will result in either massive property buys or wholesale seizure of private property a la Kellogg in New haven, CN.
Never the less an interesting piece of American history that has never been taught before!
Great story! Thanks for posting.
And because we tried, we did...
But...but... Hey, man. I can surf the web here at Starbucks, and listen to 10000 commercial radio stations...
We all so advanced here in the future... Too bad I can't spell my name...
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