1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202 
Bladerunner
Page 62
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Never mind bothering with all those expensive rail wagons —why not equip you r truck and trailers with rail as well as road wheels and run them straight onto the railway network?
This is perfectly feasible, says Carl Henderson of Silvertip Design. His longterm vision is for road/rail trucks to run on tracks built alongside Britain's clogged motorways at a cost of around £500,000 a kilometre.They wiil also be given access to at least part of the existing rail network. "I reckon that could happen by 2020," says Henderson.
His concept involves fitting road vehicles with retractable rail axles. These would have road wheels with tyres suitable for road and rail use. The truck would be driven onto a slip lane with rails embedded in it, the rail axle would be
f. lowered, and the truck would be ready to join the railway network.
"I calculate that a truck returning tq 10mpg on the highway could return 20mpg or more when on rails," says Henderson.
A scale model of his vehicle, built with government funding, was exhibited at the British Commercial Vehicle Show in 2003. I've now put together a proposal to build a full-size vehicle, but I need to raise at least El m myself if I'm going to get oivivearnment support," he concludes.