Silvertip Design

Economics of branch lines of the railways could be quickly transformed for the better with a dualmode vehicle being developed by an engineering design company near Darlington Stephenson rail pioneering country. The innovative vehicle will run on road as well as rail. It is as applicable to freight as to passenger transport. Branch-line infrastructu... re costs could be at least halved because signalling and points could be largely, if not totally, made redundant. Leading the project is Carl Henderson, who runs engineering consultancy Silvertip Design in the village of Skeeby, Richmond, North Yorkshire. His dualmode project is being backed by freight trailer and body builder Don Bur, Stoke-on-Trent, and the government's Department of Trade and Industry. Although its load carrying portion can be either a lorry or a bus the dualmode vehicle resembles a familiar articulated truck up to 16.5 metres long under present regulations. The fundamental departure is that both the powered front section and the bogie of the trailed vehicle have retractable flanged wheels for travelling on railway or tram tracks. This has been done before but has been heavy, complicated and expensive because of attempts to drive the rail wheels. The Silvertip dual mode does not do this. The driving and braking power comes from the road-mode tyres still contacting the rails. Weight sharing between rail and road wheels is automatically varied according to the power transmission needs. Only light rubber-tyre contact is needed for normal motion because the rolling resistance on rail is a fifth of that on road much less power needed, so there is also less consumption of fuel. For acceleration or braking more weight is transferred to the tyres. That speeds scheduling, as less time is spent accelerating from stops. Moreover, regular stopping distance is more than halved because of the enhanced grip. Emergency stopping distance could be cut by about 75 per cent, representing a veritable leap in ability to avoid rail collision. By being able to change ...Read More