A turbojet train is a

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, a ...

engines. Like a

jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines. Whereas the engines in propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower speeds and altitudes, jet ...

, but unlike a

gas turbine locomotive A gas turbine locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a gas turbine. Several types of gas turbine locomotive have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving w ...

, the train is propelled by the jet thrust of the engines, rather than by its wheels. Only a handful of jet-powered trains have been built, for experimental research in

high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...

. Turbojet engines have been built with the engine incorporated into a

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a dri ...

combining both propulsion and passenger accommodation rather than as separate locomotives hauling passenger coaches. As turbojet engines are most efficient at high speeds, the experimental research has focused in applications for high-speed passenger services, rather than the heavier trains (with more frequent stops) used for freight services.

M-497

The first attempt to use turbojet engines on a railroad was made in 1966 by the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mi ...

(NYCR), a company with operations throughout the

Great Lakes region The Great Lakes region of North America is a binational Canadian–American region that includes portions of the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin along with the Canadian p ...

. They streamlined a

Budd Rail Diesel Car The Budd Rail Diesel Car, RDC, Budd car or Buddliner is a self-propelled diesel multiple unit (DMU) railcar. Between 1949 and 1962, 398 RDCs were built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The cars were primarily ad ...

, added two General Electric J47-19

jet engine A jet engine is a type of reaction engine discharging a fast-moving jet (fluid), jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition can include Rocket engine, rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and ...

s, and nicknamed it the M-497 Black Beetle. Testing was performed on a length of the normal NYCR system – a virtually arrow-straight layout of regular existing track between

Butler, Indiana Butler is a city in DeKalb County, Indiana, United States. The population was 2,684 at the 2010 census. History Butler was platted in 1856 when the railroad was extended to that point. It was likely named for David Butler, a pioneer. Butler was ...

, and

Stryker, Ohio Stryker is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Williams County, Ohio, Williams County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,335 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History Stryker was platted in 1853. The village was named ...

. On July 23, 1966, the train reached a speed of .

LIMRV

In the early 1970s, the U.S.

Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail sa ...

developed the Linear Induction Motor Research Vehicle (LIMRV), meant to test the use of

linear induction motor A linear induction motor (LIM) is an alternating current (AC), asynchronous linear motor that works by the same general principles as other induction motors but is typically designed to directly produce motion in a straight line. Characteristica ...

s. The LIMRV was a specialized wheeled vehicle, running on standard-gauge railroad track. Speed was limited due to the length of the track and vehicle acceleration rates. One stage of research saw the addition of two

Pratt & Whitney J52 The Pratt & Whitney J52 (company designation JT8A) is an axial-flow dual-spool turbojet engine originally designed for the United States Navy, in the 40 kN (9,000 lbf) class. It powered the A-6 Intruder and the AGM-28 Hound Dog cruise ...

jet engines to propel the LIMRV. Once the LIMRV had accelerated to desired velocity, the engines were throttled back so that the thrust equaled their drag. On 14 August 1974, using the jet engines, the LIMRV achieved a world record speed of for vehicles on conventional rail.

SVL

In 1970, researchers in the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...

developed the High-speed Laboratory Railcar (SVL) turbojet train. The SVL was able to reach a speed of . The researchers placed jet engines on an ER22 railcar, normally part of an electric-powered multiple unit train. The SVL had a mass of 54.4 tonnes (including 7.4 tonnes of fuel) and was long. If the research had been successful, there was a plan to use the turbojet powered vehicle to pull a "Russian troika" express service. As of 2014 the train still exists in a dilapidated and unmaintained state, while the research project has been honoured with a monument made from the front of the railcar, outside a railcar factory in

Tver Tver ( rus, Тверь, p=tvʲerʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is northwest of Moscow. Population: Tver was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in the Russi ...

, a city in western

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

Notes

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External links

A collection of photographs of the ER22 turbojet locomotive
Gas turbine multiple units Jet engines Railcars of Russia High-speed trains of Russia Experimental locomotives {{locomotive-stub

M-497

LIMRV

SVL

See also

Notes

References

External links