SH Archive 1932 Russian Steel Balls Train

[KD Archive]

An electric train which travels on steel balls instead of wheels has been tested in Russia with remarkable success. The speedy train, which was designed by a young Soviet engineer named Yarmolshuk, resembles a giant reptile weaving about the countryside. The inventor declares his final design will have a running speed of 190 m. p. h.

Huge balls under each car roll on a single concave concrete track, greatly reducing rolling friction. Gyroscopes in each car keep the train balanced even on the sharpest curves, and curved guards along the track prevent the train from tipping.

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Google translation, "In the first version of the project, the author proposed the use of wagons of a completely new design. The car body must have a spherical shape and accommodate all the necessary units, including the power unit and the passenger cabin. The outer surface of the housing had to perform the functions of the supporting surface and contact the tray. With this design, the car could move around the tray at a high speed, while maintaining optimal roll due to a timely tilt at the entrance to the turns. To save space and achieve the maximum possible characteristics, it was proposed to equip the new transport with electric motors."

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The modified version of the balloon train, according to the calculations of the author, could develop a speed of about 300 km/h and transport up to 110 passengers. Thus, it was possible to get from Moscow to Leningrad in just a couple of hours, and the way from the capital to Irkutsk would take just over a day, not a week, as on existing trains. The updated version of the project had a significant advantage over the "classical" trains in speed and surpassed passenger aviation in terms of carrying capacity.

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However, the expectations of the press and citizens were not justified. At the end of 1934, the new station did not open its doors to passengers, and the new ball-and-electric trains did not take them to work. Moreover, the track and the station did not even begin to be built. Before the construction of the route and associated infrastructure, the specialists again checked the prospective project and came to the conclusions that led to its abandonment. The calculated speeds and capacity of the cars, as well as other advantages of the new transport, looked attractive, but in the proposed form it had a lot of shortcomings. First of all, it was the complexity of the construction of both the SHAL train itself and the tracks for it. For example, the use of a ferro-concrete trail-route made it possible to reduce metal costs, but complicated construction and required the deployment of additional production facilities. Serial construction of new trains also required appropriate efforts and costs.

The train moved on ball-shaped wheels with built-in electric motors, which were located in semicircular timber troughs. A 1/5th scale model of the train was built to test the concept, and traveled at speeds of up to 70 km/h. It was assumed that the full-scale design would reach speeds of up to 300 km/h, running on concrete tracks.

What?​

The combination of technical, technological, operational and economic difficulties and problems led to the closure of the project, which several months earlier was considered not only promising, but also capable of radically changing the face of transport. Construction of the first Moscow-Noginsk route was curtailed soon after the start, no later than the first weeks of 1934.

Russia's Giant Snake Train
Balloon Train
How the USSR tried to change the railways

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KD: Was this another failed attempt to recreate somebody else's technology?

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[Archive]

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Username: Juanchi
Date: 2018-09-03 12:33:53
Reaction Score: 1

1934....speachless...

 

[KD Archive]

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Username: KorbenDallas
Date: 2018-09-03 23:37:25
Reaction Score: 1

It just appears that at those times they were playing with multiple available technologies, and were able to make work only a few of those.

 

[Archive]

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Username: ISeenItFirst
Date: 2018-09-03 23:57:25
Reaction Score: 1

Steel on concrete seems an interesting choice...

 

[Archive]

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Username: tyler durden
Date: 2018-09-04 01:53:54
Reaction Score: 2

Maglev (derived from magnetic levitation) is a system of train transportation that uses two sets of magnets, one set to repel and push the train up off the track as in levitation (hence Maglev, Magnetic-levitation), then another set to move the 'floating train' ahead at great speed taking advantage of the lack of friction. Within certain "medium range" locations (usually between 200-400 miles) Maglev can compete favorably with high speed rail and airplanes.

With Maglev technology, there are no moving parts. The train travels along a guideway of magnets which control the train's stability and speed. Maglev trains are therefore quieter and smoother than conventional trains, and have the potential for much higher speeds.

Maglev vehicles have set several speed records and Maglev trains can accelerate and decelerate much faster than conventional trains; the only practical limitation is the safety and comfort of the passengers.

Despite over a century of research and development, maglev transport systems are in operation in just three countries (Japan, South Korea and China). The incremental benefits of maglev technology have often been hard to justify against cost and risk, especially where there is an existing or proposed conventional high speed train line with spare passenger carrying capacity, as in continental Europe, the UK and Japan.

First Maglev patent
High-speed transportation patents were granted to various inventors throughout the world. Early United States patents for a linear motor propelled train were awarded to German inventor Alfred Zehden. The inventor was awarded U.S. Patent 782,312 (14 February 1905) and U.S. Patent RE12,700 (21 August 1907). In 1907, another early electromagnetic transportation system was developed by F. S. Smith.

 

[KD Archive]

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Username: KorbenDallas
Date: 2018-09-04 03:14:03
Reaction Score: 0

Am I missing the point here? How is Maglev tech based trains related to this one running conventionally?

 

[Archive]

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Username: tyler durden
Date: 2018-09-04 04:06:16
Reaction Score: 0

I would go so far as to call this idea conventional, but I must admit I left it hanging a bit.
My point is the date on the patents - 1905 and 1907.
I'd argue the maglev tech is a bit more advanced than the supposedly Russian guy's approach.
it's no friction vs. less friction
1905-1907 vs. 1934

technology in being played down incrementally.
it's not evolution, it's the other way around

 

[igneous]

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Username: igneous
Date: 2020-05-26 12:35:55
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OK. So we have the architect who was a carpenter from the woods of Maine & who created the California State Capitol.

Then we have the Russian watchmaker who started out as a blacksmith and the Russian Leonardo Da Vinci who was the son of a flour merchant.

This guy (NG Yarmolchuk) worked as a fitter for the Kursk Railroad.

Then he is involved in the suppression of the Bolsheviks.

It must have gotten him noticed because next he studies at two of Moscow's most renown engineering/mechanical institutes. In 1935 he patents his final design: "Patent Number: 36929 Posted: 01/31/1935

(translation starts in the middle) "... ways, as well as for the implementation of the radial installation of the running wheels when the car moves on rounding. For these purposes, as well as for transferring traction and braking forces to the body, the axleboxes 1 g and b of the support structure do not tightly cover the axles of the axes d, and d 2, connected to the body of the rolling stock by means of forks e, and e. to the body with hinges O, and o; symmetrically located on the outside: the stumps of the sides of the spherical running wheels d, and b,. To ensure lateral stability of the rolling stock both at rest and during movement, the rolling stock is suspended from the axles of the . . . " (translation ends)

Source for this patent and other patents: Ярмольчук — Автор (note that there is a contemporary scientist with same name)

About a decade later he is in the Battle at Kursk - which is one of the battles that historians will tell you turned the tide of the war and got the Germans on the run.

Was there something going on or were circumstances such that certain talents would get you noticed, no matter your station?

Also - as I was researching this I started to get a lot of pings from other computers as well as notifications "we are detecting unusual activity from your computer" - but I'm sure it's fine, right? Gonna get a Russian VPN for safer future travels.