Autoblog

Some cars to be as clean as electric train travel by 2020

Jonathon Ramsey — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 16:02:00 EST

Ex-Ford engineer Richard Parry-Jones is now chairman-designate of the UK's Network Rail. Having looked into the futures of both car and train development, he believes that by the end of this decade the most Earth-friendly internal-combustion engine cars will be about as polluting, on a per-passenger basis, as high-speed electric trains.

Parry-Jones says carmakers are targeting 40g/km of CO2 tailpipe emissions by 2020. If the "average" occupancy of 1.6 people-per-vehicle stays the same in eight years, that would equal 25 gm per person per kilometer and put such cars in the same environmental category as the cleanest mass transit.

Since the emissions of electric cars and trains is usually given as zero, we're assuming he means diesel-electric high-speed trains; life-cycle emissions wouldn't be a valid comparison since those aren't factored into a car's tailpipe number. According to The Guardian's table of emission numbers by transport, right now you'd have to load four folks in a small diesel topped up with ultra-low sulphur fuel to get down to 42 grams per passenger per kilometer (gpkm), which would put you right with one of Virgin's Voyager class diesel-electric trains at 75-percent capacity. If you want to go all the way low, though, you'll need a 50cc two-stroke and a passenger: at that point you're rocking just 19.5 gpkm. Slowly.

Some cars to be as clean as electric train travel by 2020 originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 28 Apr 2012 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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REPORT: Thieves derail James May's bid for toy train record

Chris Shunk — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:40:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Toys/Games, UK, Celebrities

Railroad enthusiasts are a pretty passionate bunch. They're not auto enthusiast crazy, but they're close. Top Gear presenter James May fed off that steam-powered energy by working with 400 volunteers to build the longest ever toy train track for his new BBC series James May's Toy Stories. The track was to travel 10 miles from Barnstaple to Bideford, North Devon in the UK, and the Guinness book of World Records was on hand to record the feat for prosperity in the event that it succeeded.

As the Telegraph tells it, the ambitious toy track likely would have been a record setting effort were it not for some vandals who decided to sabotage the attempt. Sections of the track - which were laid with assistance from the British version of the Boy Scouts - were stolen, and two pence coins were dropped on the track to disrupt power and blow the train's battery. The cowardly acts of a few idiots ultimately resulted in James May and his gang of volunteers missing the opportunity to be added to the Guinness Book of World Records, but organizers decided to stay positive and call the event a success due to the fact that all 10 miles of the track were linked at one point.

We're guessing May will get another shot at Guinness with planned stunts like building a life-size Lego house or a life-size Meccano bridge, but it would have been nice if a few jerks didn't ruin the fun of hundreds of toy train ~~geeks~~ aficionados.

[Source: Telegraph | Image: Dave Hogan/Getty]

REPORT: Thieves derail James May's bid for toy train record originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Corners like it's on rails: Unimog dual-mode road-railer

Eric Bryant — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 09:32:00 EST

Filed under: Gadgets, Etc., Work, Mercedes-Benz

We here at Autoblog love the Mercedes Unimog, despite its decidedly low-speed nature. It has to do with all that versatility - whether it's running a front-mounted snowblower, spinning a mower deck, or hoisting a lift platform, the 'mog has a way to get the job done. It's like a four-wheeled version of the Leatherman multi-purpose tool. And now, it can get all of those jobs done on railroad tracks as well, as DCX has announced a production version of the Unimog Road-Railer at the Innotrans show in Berlin.

Thanks mainly to deep ratios in the eight-speed transmission (all accessible in forward or reverse), three-differential locking AWD system, and a torque converter with a stall torque ratio (STR) of 2.5:1, this Unimog can move railcar loads up to 1000 tons. For hooking and unhooking with a single operator, the Road-Railer also has a radio control system that allows the operator to run the vehicle forward and backward from outside the cab. A buffer frame allows hits from 300 ton objects at up to 5 km/h without damage, and also gives the ability to move liquid-filled tanker cars. Hydraulic lifting cylinders, plenty of tool storage, and an optional three-phase generator are said to combine with the Unimog's renowned all-terrain capabilities to make it ideal for accessing derailed train cars and getting them back on the tracks.

We don't know what we'd do with one of these, but we still want one.

[Source: Gizmag]

Corners like it's on rails: Unimog dual-mode road-railer originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 21 Sep 2006 09:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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