NEW TRAINS

Taranaki Daily News, 8 September 1934, Page 21 (Supplement)

NEW TRAINS

WHAT CLEVER MEN HAVE DONE. AERO AND BALL-BEARING. Two clever Russian engineers have devised new trains. Waldner has invented what is called the Aero-Train and Yarmolchuk tM Ball-Bearing Train. Waldner’s aero-train runs on an elevated single-rail track and is designed in the form of Zeppelin-shaped cars linked together by a rigid steel frame and extending over both sides of the singlerail track. It has two engines of 1060 horsa-power and aeroplane propellers and will seat 300 passengers. The train has a single row of wheels between the cars. Equilibrium is maintained by an arrangement of runners fitting between the inner side of each car and the concrete framework supporting the rail. The first experimental line will be built in Turkmenistan in Central Asia, where the mountainous nature of some sections and th deserts make the operation of ordinary railways difficult. Aerolines, being independent of meteorological conditions, may play an important part in the development of transportation in these, regions. Yarmolchuk’s invention is also interesting. Just in the same way that a bicycle maintains equilibrium in a single line, so the ball-bearing train runs uprightly in a groove. The cars are streamlined in form, and run on motorised ball-bearings in a grooved concrete track. Each car rides on two large motorised balls 12ft. in diameter. On the axle of each ball is suspended a powerful but compact motor.

The motors remain stationary, but operate on the axle, thus revolving the balls, which propel the train with a minimum of lost power. The balls are almost as high as the cars in which they are placed, thus giving the train a low centre of gravity. Each unit of the train has its own means of propulsion. Each car is to be 120 ft. long and will accommodate 110 passengers.

When moving in the groove the cars are absolutely steady and maintain a stable equilibrium both when travelling in a straig. t line or taking curves. The trr' can attain a speed of more than 150 miles an hour with the same amount of current consumed by an ordinary electric traTn. Transport reform is clearly in its infancy. We ourselves invented the locomotive, but we do not appear to be maintaining the lead in locomotive matters.