Re: Tugs & Firing Arcs

>On Thu, 11 Nov 1999, What else is on this list of things you're not
>supposed to tell me? wrote:
>> Terrestial trains can be miles long, why couldn't tugs tow
kilometer-long
>> strings of barges?
>
>Terrestrial trains have rails to keep them together. They also have
>airbrakes taht activate all along the train length in addition to the
>Dynamic Braking system in the Locos.
>
>Terrestrial Tugs may tow a set of barges all lashed together, but
usually
>they will push those from the rear where they can use vectored thrust
>(the rudder) to steer them through the water. Space doesn't have the
>hydrodynamic properties of water (a long thin object is happy moving
>sideways as well as straight) so that rear ended unit isn't as
effective
>in steerage. Think of the physics.
>
>Lash a bunch of castored plates (castors on all four wheels) together
end
>to end with play. Then pull them along. Now slow down suddenly. Good
luck
>getting them all to stop. The Tug is going to have to have a Hard
>connection to those items. Any flexible connection will be a pain in
the ass.

Put a drive unit at both ends of the pod train. The front module does
the
main drive (engines on long outriggers?), and the rear one has
forward-facing outrigger drives for the "retroes". Pull from the front
to
go, pull backwards from the rear to stop! Dunno how you'd steer,
however..... :-)
Note this isn't a game solution, but a thought on how it might be wmade
to
work in "reality".....
(Anyone else here seen Space Truckers...?) ;-)

Jon (GZG)
>
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>- Ryan Montieth Gill	   NRA / DoD# 0780 (Smug #1) / AMA / SOHC -
>- ryan.gill@turner.com      I speak not for CNN, nor they for me -
>- rmgill@mindspring.com	      www.mindspring.com/~rmgill/ -
>- '85 Honda CB700S  -	'72 Honda CB750K  - '76 Chevy MonteCarlo  -
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