AEROTRAIN TESTS

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27920, 17 March 1956, Page 11

AEROTRAIN TESTS

Perfection Not Yet Reached

FURTHER RESEARCH IN UNITED STATES [By KENNETH FORD] NEW YORK. March 7.

United States railways, caught between the demands of economy and stiff airline competition, are experimenting with new long-slung, nigh speed “trains of tomorrow” to attract passengers and cut costs. Various “trains of tomorrow” have been shown to the American public in the last few years, but the newest is probably the most novel. Called the Aerotrain, it was designed and built by the General Motors Corporation in just 18 months. It is a 10-carriage train pulled by a diesel engine which combines low cost construction, less expensive operation, a low centre of gravity for high speed operation, increased passenger comfort, and lightness in weight for faster stops and starts as well as easing wear and tear on the railway tracks. To achieve these features, within the demands of mass production technique. General Motors engineers took a standard width railway carriage frame, put two wheel-bogies at each end instead of four, and put the body of a big General Motors bus on it. This gives Aerotrain its most novel feature—replaceable carriage bodies. In this, it differs greatly from the Talgo, the Spanish-designed “train of tomorrow,” which’ is being built in the United States by another company and is an “articulated” train, with only two wheel-bogies on each .coach, the other end of the coach resting on the front of the next support. Four Trains on Trial Two other types of low-slung trains are also being built. All four will be tested in passenger service in the United States during the coming spring and summer. The Aerotrain shown recently in the eastern United States has wide “picture” windows tinted green as protection against bright sunlight and the seats are the large reclining type used in airliners. The upholstery is in two-tone fabric and plastic like that in contemporary United States motorcars. A correspondent who went on a demonstration run of the Aerotrain said that above 60 miles an hour there was enough vibration to make it diffi- 1 cult to hold a newspaper steady while seated. “When the Aerotrain really starts rolling, the difference between it and the heavy, standard trains becomes most noticeable,” he wrote in the “New York Times.” “The two-wheel trucks click and clack loudly. The train dips into curves at high speeds and in the three or four forward cars there is a sensation of being hauled along smoothly and directly, even though the noise level is much higher than in the heavy coaches. However, the rearmost coach and its immediate neighbour sway and the wheels slap back and forth against the track. . . . It is here that the lack of weight is most evident.” The president of General Motors (Mr Harlow Curtice) is the first to admit that the present Aerotrain is far from perfect. “Engineering developments will continue,” he said. “Our objectives will be the lowering of the noise level, further weight reduction, and improvement of the ride.” Low Construction Cost He emphasised that the chief advantage of the Aerotrain is its low cost of construction. On a mass production basis, Mr Curtice estimates, it should be possible to produce it at a cost of somewhere between 1500 dollars and 1700 dollars (about £5OO-£600) a seat, compared with 2800 dollars (about £950) for conventional trains—an important consideration in view of the annual 700.000.000-dollar (about £240,000,000) loss made by the United States railways on passenger operations.

Another economy achieved by lightweight trains is in the cost pf train maintenance. Today’s heavy trains are held to 60 miles an hour because over that speed the wear and tear on the tracks rises sharply. The Aerotrain can run at 96 miles an hour.— Reuter.