Todays modern trains are 100% electric powered the diesel generator is there just to provide the power to the electric motors which there is 1 on every axle. Trains also don't have brakes, well they do but they are only used to keep the train from rolling, they do whats called dynamic braking where the electric current is reversed on the motor to apply a stopping force to its axle. The generator is the only fuel powered engine on the train. They just had a special on the Discovery channel the other day about them. As far as batteries go Voltage means jack in reality. Everything runs off of amperage. If you have a lower voltage you just have to have a higher amperage. The reverse is also true if you have a higher voltage you need less amperage. The only reason you cant take a device thats on 12v and put it on 300v or the other way around is the power regulation circuits cant handle the current change. In reality if you had a 1.5V battery that could supply enough amperage it would start a car but the regulator would probably soon go out in your alternator. Some of you are probably saying at this point wouldn't the ECU stop working. In truth it would most likely still work as most ICs can use anywhere between 3v up to 48v of course that number varies slightly with different designs and manufactures. Rotary engines are available in the US. A friend of mine has a Mazda rx7 with one and I think that the rx8 is available now as well. The rotary engines have a lot more power and torque than a cylindered engine. Technically a rotary is 4 stroke too, its got an intake, compression, combustion, and exhaust. They wear slower due to fewer parts. Of course liter for liter between a rotary and a cylinder engine they are less efficient, but 1.0-2.0 rotary has equal to greater power than the 4.0-5.0range. My friends Mazda is like a 1.3 or somewhere near there 3 rotor engine and I drive a Lincoln Mark VIII with a Ford 4.7 V8 which is pretty damn fast and the Mazda can blow the doors off of my Lincoln. Of course all of this still means JACK when it comes to fighting with traffic, lol. I find it quite funny that everyone seems to be stepping on everyones toes with DCS 08 just around the corner. Dave 6410 On Jan 10, 2008 7:57 PM, content22207 <brobertson@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Yes, I know all about multiple cell batteries. I even know about > wiring them in series to yield higher voltage. And yet that 1.5 volt > cell limit remains, no matter the battery. > > Railroad locomotives have eight humongous 8 cell batteries in series > (weigh more than 200 lbs apiece). Yield 64 volts. Helluva lot of > amperage, but the same cell voltage limitation. Interestingly, if > you crank a railroad locomotive without the engine starting, it will > kill its batteries faster than an automobile will (compression ratio > is something like 25:1 -- very heavy and hard to turn. The generator > itself is used as a starter motor). > > Did you read the end of my post? Even the greatest propulsion method > in the world won't solve problems of gridlock or sprawl. Europeans > are years ahead of America in that regard. > > That was a compliment.... > > Bill Robertson > #5939 To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:dmcnews-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx mailto:dmcnews-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/