Ideally, motor vehicles and roads should be engineered to fit one another like a glove. Railroads ensure that rail vehicles and train tracks fit one another precisely. My grandfather was a civil engineer by trade in the specialties of road construction and excavation and infrastructure has always fascinated me. This is why I dig Surveyor (the layout building feature in the Trainz railroad simulator that let's me construct my own virtual model railroad world) so much. I think I would be a civil engineer if I could start all over again. I made this short video of virtual model railroading and virtual model trucking as a demonstration of how roads and trucks should fit one another.
Who here has gotten their trucks or other vehicles stuck over railroad grade crossings and other places where vehicle and road did not fit one another perfectly from an engineering standpoint? Are the changes in grades on the hills of San Francisco so abrupt that a trailer truck could not feasibly negotiate them? I'm a firm believer in uniform standards in any human society.
Does your truck ever get hung up on an abrupt change of grade?
Discussion in 'Questions To Truckers From The General Public' started by Moose Holland, May 12, 2022.
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I haven't gotten hung up, yet...
It's most certainly something I need to be aware of being so low to the ground..I can air up the trailer from a switch on my dash, but that is going to raise it up so far.D.Tibbitt Thanks this. -
i think those cows have mad cow disease with the noises they are making
Cowboyrich and Tall Mike Thank this. -
D.Tibbitt Thanks this.
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Tall Mike Thanks this.
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I prefer road and vehicle SAFETY over CHARACTER any day. I find a circa-1970 W-925 Kenworth tractor about one of the prettiest commercial trucks my eyes have ever beheld. I'm constructing a 1/25 scale model of one right now in custom purple paint. The geeky new-model trucks' "aero-Euro-look" exterior designs certainly lack that classic 20th century bold, tough American character in style in the name of being pleasing to government bureaucracy, fuel economy, perhaps safety and being ecologically green. Today's OTR drivers might find the new geeky trucks to have more comfy features on board as well. Air conditioning could still be installed on a "spartan" 1970 W-925. The more classic-look trucks are favored in logging, heavy haul and construction as well as by some old-school O/O's. Most freight trucks in mega carriers have that modern geek style, winning no blue ribbons for looks, and they lack traditional style character.Last edited: May 13, 2022
D.Tibbitt Thanks this. -
Moved construction equipment using a Rodgers 'Croucher' lowbed.
The entrance to the company area dropped off the outside edge of a curve.
Never has a problem until I tried leaving with a cat trac loader and the trailer grabbed tight on that drop off.
Found out, for the first time, that day that I needed to go to the right instead of turning left leaving with the heavier equipment..
Thankfully the boss pulled up and explained the use of the funny little blocks laying inside the gooseneck.
Adding them to the bottom of the gooseneck locks raised the main rails a few extra inches and I was able to back up. -
I drove the forward control Mercedes 4850 pulling oversized heavy projects on multi axle trailers - and the torque and power band of that engine and ZF tranny were just amazing -
I thought your grandfather was a "union cat skinner", Tom.....
Oh, geeez......he's BAAAAA-aaaaaack! -
Rail design is a bit like interstate highway, in that it requires federal STANDARDS be met. Design is based on roadway type, but the gradient must not exceed 2% across 10m on most public crossings.
I'm super into cities skylines and like reading about highway design ####.
As for whether or not a vehicle is suitable for the road it's on, that's almost entirely the responsibility of the driver, afaik. I don't know #### about auto design but I assume engineers follow similar guidelines within their industry, as well as abide by government standards.
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