Skirts for trains

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Judah14
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Skirts for trains

Post by Judah14 »

Not only do people can look nice in a skirt, even trains can! In railroad terminology, a skirt is a cover fitted to the bottom of the train to hide stuff such as electrical equipment. An example of a train with a skirt is the Hong Kong MTR train in the picture below:
Image
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hoborob
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Re: Skirts for trains

Post by hoborob »

Skirting of trains, in particular passenger trains, does more than just covering up electrical and underbody equipment, it adds a streamlined aerodynamic effect that reduces the drag forces on the train allowing it to move along the tracks more efficiently as well. The very large drawback is that the skirting makes it much more difficult to get at the equipment underneath which makes maintenance much harder to perform when needed. So it a balancing act between performance on the road and ease of access to fix thing when they break.

I will admit though that it does look better but then again I like to see the mechanical parts in action too.
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Judah14
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Re: Skirts for trains

Post by Judah14 »

hoborob wrote:Skirting of trains, in particular passenger trains, does more than just covering up electrical and underbody equipment, it adds a streamlined aerodynamic effect that reduces the drag forces on the train allowing it to move along the tracks more efficiently as well. The very large drawback is that the skirting makes it much more difficult to get at the equipment underneath which makes maintenance much harder to perform when needed. So it a balancing act between performance on the road and ease of access to fix thing when they break.

I will admit though that it does look better but then again I like to see the mechanical parts in action too.
You are right about the access part, for example, Manila's LRT-1 light metro line had its first generation rolling stock with skirts (and no air conditioning), but when they were overhauled (with air conditioning added) the skirts were removed.
LRT-1 G1 rolling stock before:
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LRT-1 G1 rolling stock now:
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denimini
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Re: Skirts for trains

Post by denimini »

It seems that skirt is quite a generic term for covering up underbody equipment on trains, people, beds and even old Landrovers. I took mine off (the Landy) as even at only 3" (even I wouldn't wear that) it got crumpled in rough country and only covered the ends of some chassis members and brackets and I doubt that it did any streamlining, also I concur with
hoborob wrote:I will admit though that it does look better but then again I like to see the mechanical parts in action too.
Anthony, a denim miniskirt wearer in Outback Australia
skirtingtheissue
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Re: Skirts for trains

Post by skirtingtheissue »

Not to mention you can get a bra for your car -- a covering to protect the radiator, front grill, and front part of the hood.
When I heard about skirting, I jumped in with both feet!
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