Original subtitles

- [Narrator] They're the power that delivers the goods

and the speed that pushes physics.

They connect oceans and move men

deep below the earth surface.

They're crashed for safety and built to last

powered by diesel, electricity or steam.

They come in all shapes and sizes.

Some even ride on air.

Now it's Locomotives Plus on Modern Marvels.

[upbeat music]

Witness the pride of France.

The Train à Grande Vitesse, or TGV.

Translated it means high speed train,

but as with all trains,

it's the locomotive that delivers the power.

And as it rips across its 1600 mile network,

the TGV shows why it holds the title

as the fastest locomotive on rails today.

- If you can figure out we are running now

at 300 kilometers per hour,

and it seems like a dream, it's very easy.

- [Narrator] 186 Miles per hour is the average speed

that grows much of the TGV network.

The high tension wires racing by

deliver the locomotives power.

From them 25,000 volts of electricity

is transformed into mechanical energy,

which is then sent to motors on the trains wheels.

Even at speeds like this inside the TGV

the ride is smooth and steady,

but if the engineer spots something on the track outside,

there's little he can do to avoid hitting it.

- [Engineer] If you see something,

then you will just knock it down.

Running at 300 kilometers,

you would need three kilometers to stop.

So if you can see something, obviously it's too late.

- [Narrator] In 1990, the TGV set the world speed record

when it raced to an astounding 320 miles per hour,

then in 2007, train officials wanted more.

- Go small.

- [Narrator] So after some modifications,

a TGV locomotive was teed up for another record attempt.

[upbeat music]

[engineer speaking in French]

To beat the existing 320 mile per hour record,

the TGV would have to exceed 516 kilometers per hour.

[dramatic music]

[engineer speaking in French]

[engineer speaking in French]

[engineer speaking in French]

[engineer speaking in French]

[engineer speaking in French]

[engineer speaking French]

[people clapping and cheering]

574 kilometers per hour equals 357 miles per hour,

and a new world record.

The remarkable one proved once again.

And when it comes to speed,

the TGV is king of the rails.

The TGV still holds the record

as the fastest locomotive on rails today.

But this is what high speed locomotives used to look like.

During the early 20th century,

locomotives rarely hit a hundred miles per hour.

But when it comes to looks,

most locomotive fans agree that none have been more smoking

than those powered by steam.

Like this beauty built in 1924,

the Baldwin company's number 90.

Still running on the Strasburg railway

in Strasburg, Pennsylvania.

Today, it's a tourist train.

It's still possible to climb on board

for a ride back when locomotives

like this helped pull America

full steam ahead into the 20th century.

- Now we're ready to depart.

Now I'm gonna release the brakes

and apply steam to the cylinders through the throttle.

Now it's my job not to spin the wheels.

So I want to just gradually apply power.

- [Narrator] Applying power requires teamwork

between the engineer and the man to his left

shoveling coal from the tender into the boiler.

The fireman.

- Now the fireman has to get his fire nice and hot.

By experience he knows when to shovel.

It's a coordinated effort, when I need the steam

he has to already have planned on producing.

- In the past

you'd burn about gosh...

A ton and a half of coal per hour.

A fireman would be on duty for 12 hours.

They could burn upwards of 12 to 15 tons of coal a day

if he's shoveling by hand from the tender.

- [Narrator] Igniting coal in the boiler

is the first step in producing power.

Since our camera would be fried

by the 2,500 degree temperature in there,

the best way to see how a steam engine works

is by squeezing into a typical locomotive boiler.

This one is under repair inside

the Strasburg Railroad mechanical shop.

- Fireman throws the coal through the hole in the rear,

lands in this box.

This box is called the firebox,

surrounding the firebox is water.

The water's all the way around here,

and it's normally carried up to here.

It always has to be above the top of the firebox.

If it's not above the top of the firebox,

the top of the firebox will melt.

So the heat from the fire can heat the firebox steel

boil the water,

create the steam that goes up into the steam space,

goes up into the steam dome.

- [Narrator] Within the steam dome is a throttle.

When the engineer engages the throttle lever

steam is released into a pipe where it

travels to the locomotive cylinders.

Inside the cylinders,

the steam pushes pistons back and forth.

The pistons drive piston rods

that in turn drive the locomotives wheels.

Regulating the steam pressure

inside the boiler is critical,

too little and the train loses momentum,

too much and the boiler could explode.

The steam boiler's design was inventive,

but because coal is fed from the rear

its form creates a problem for the engineer.

- I can't see very well past this huge boiler

I have to lean out so I can see the biggest perspective

ahead of the engine.

I am constantly looking for anything that might obstruct us,

including trees, including cattle

or anything else that might be problematic.

- [Narrator] That's why locomotive designers invented

the cow catcher.

[cow bellowing]

Okay, it doesn't exactly catch cows,

it kind of muscles them aside.

But the cow catcher can't shove aside the effects

of the inevitable wear and tear

that comes with a 100 ton locomotive

thrashing around on two inch wide rails.

Tires especially take a beating.

Like a car, a locomotive tire is attached to a wheel

except these tires are made of steel

and changing one takes some heat.

- The tire of the steam locomotive

is shrunk onto the wheel.

So in order to remove it, we put the fire ring on.

We heat the tire up probably to four or 500 degrees

as it gets hotter, it will expand.

And eventually there'll be a gap

between the tire and the wheel.

And that tire will be able to swing

and slip right off the wheel center.

- [Narrator] Add a fresh steel tire to the wheel

and it'll be ready to roll.

Easy enough inside the mechanical shop,

but in the old days,

when things broke down out of on the plains,

the engineer did double duty as the mechanic.

- The technology was constantly breaking down.

The engineer had to be aware of any problem arising

by both sound and vision.

- [Narrator] And when that vision spotted something

on the track, it's time to sound off.

Every time the toot of a steam locomotives whistle

fills the air,

it speaks in a unique yet universal language.

- Now every engineer does his whistling

a little bit differently.

You'll now are crossing signal,

two longs, a short and a long as we approach this crossing.

[train whistling]

- [Narrator] By the 1930s,

the sounds of the steam locomotive began to fade

as designers looked to new technologies.

In 1934, Electromotive launched a line

of diesel electric streamliner locomotives.

That were easier to maintain and cheaper to fuel

than the coal fed steamers.

Today. diesel electric locomotives

are still the industry standard.

But what exactly does it take to build

one of these 200 ton powerhouses?

[upbeat music]

For almost 100 years

the diesel locomotive has been the backbone

of passenger and commercial rail transportation.

Today, there are more than 26,000

in service around the world.

Companies like Electromotive Diesel in London, Ontario,

build hundreds of them every year

for the international market.

And everyone starts from the bottom up

with a single steel bed plate.

- What we see here is a domestic bed plate.

It's approximately one and three quarter inches thick,

70 feet long and six feet wide.

And it weighs approximately 30,000 pounds.

- [Narrator] The bed plate begins its journey upside down

so welders and grinders can add sills

and cross members to the underside.

The upside down under frame,

eventually lands in the assembly area.

Here some of the major components

are lowered into place.

- So what we see here is the compressed air tanks

that supply the compressed air for the locomotive,

as well as the rail cars.

And above us, what we see

is the loading of a 5,000 gallon fuel tank,

which is our domestic fuel tank.

- [Narrator] Tighten a few bolts,

and the underside of the locomotive

is just about locked down.

Meanwhile, workers are assembling

other parts throughout the plant

like this upside down wheel assembly.

A combination of wheels, gear, axle, and electric motor.

This is where the electric part

of the diesel electric locomotive comes in.

- We got a thousand pound wheel at a 43 inch diameter.

We got an 83 tooth gear that weighs approximately 500 pounds

with a nine and a quarter inch diameter axle sitting

on an electric traction motor.

- [Narrator] Put three wheel assemblies together

and you've got a bogie.

And this bogie is about to take its first spin

up and over until it's right side up.

Then it's off to final assembly

where the under frame is taking a twirl of its own.

Set the under frame on top of the set of wheels,

lower the cab into place

and all this loco needs is some motive.

Yep, this is the diesel part.

- What we see here is a diesel engine

that we use on one of our locomotives.

Compared to a normal car engine,

a car engine runs around four to six cylinders

roughly about this size

compared to the cylinders that we use here

and we use 16 of them.

When we talk about this engine,

it weighs approximately 40,000 pounds

compared to a local car engine,

which is much less than that obviously.

Also a local car engine would take around 200 horsepower

whereas this guy right here, our workhorse

runs around 4,300 horsepower.

From-- From here, we use the overhead cranes

to remove the engine off the stand

and deck it onto one of our units.

- [Narrator] On board, mechanics hook up the engine

to an eight ton alternator.

And the diesel electric locomotive is ready to rumble.

And when it does, here's how it'll work.

The diesel engine sends mechanical

power to the alternator.

The alternator transforms that power into electricity.

The electricity is then sent

to the electric traction motors on each wheel assembly.

The motors turn the wheels,

which apply power to the tracks.

In the locomotive business

power on the track is measured in tractive effort.

The more traction that can be applied

between wheel and rail,

the more pulling power on the locomotive.

Central detractive effort is managing friction.

And the secret lies in the simplest of substances.

- What we want here is, we wanna have good friction

on the surface of the wheel,

where it contacts the actual rail.

So how we increase the frictional force

between these two surfaces

is we use this nozzle

and we actually pour sand into this area.

What that does is it increases the frictional force,

thus allowing more tractive effort

to be placed on the rail.

- [Narrator] While the sand increases friction

to the bottom of the wheel,

just inches away the wheel flange gets a rub

with a clever little device that decreases friction.

- Here's the frictional force that we don't want

that's between this surface of the wheel

and the inner surface of the rail.

So what we've done to counteract that

is we have this flange lube dispenser

that has a graphite based lubricant

that makes contact with this surface.

What it does is it applies it as the wheel turns

and thus reduces the frictional force

between this surface of the wheel and the rail itself.

- [Narrator] After all the steel is secured,

the bogies are bolted and the engine and motors are mounted.

They make up one of the largest

great locomotives in the world.

- Here we are next to a completed domestic locomotive.

The locomotive is 75 feet long,

16 feet high and 10 feet wide.

The locomotive itself weighs 425,000 pounds.

It's really the workhorse out there in the industry.

- [Narrator] Before each of its workhorses is turned loose.

It gets ridden hard out on the test track.

- So there's full throttle eight.

You see the tractive effort build up

and I should get about around 4,500 horsepower.

This is good.

This is a good engine.

It'll pull like crazy.

- [Narrator] Crazy?

How's this for crazy?

Nothing like a header to find a locomotives weak spot.

This is TTCI.

The Technology Testing Center

outside Pueblo, Colorado.

The place where the Federal Railroad Administration

conducts research.

And locomotive manufacturers send technicians

to test their latest designs

by watching train wrecks

and studying the effects for safety and future development.

- One of the things that we do here at TTCI

is to conduct crash tests.

That's one of the abilities that we have

at an isolated site like that.

And we've done that right on the tracks right behind me.

- [Narrator] In the real world,

locomotive crashes like this are rare.

By studying crash test video

manufacturers like Electro Motive Diesel or EMD,

are able to develop ways to reduce the risks.

Even during the mother of all crashes,

a head-on between two locomotives.

- For head-on collisions,

we've developed an anti-climber.

This whole structure is the anti-climber.

It is designed to resist a strong

upward force here and here

and keep the coupler from coming up over

the main structure here

and the other car going into the cab.

- [Narrator] When two locomotives

without the anti-climber collide head-on

the locomotive with more momentum can slide straight up

and into the other's cab.

But if one locomotive has an anti-climber,

the coupler from other locomotive

catches underneath it.

Stopping upward motion and diverting the energy laterally.

The EMD anti-climber first used in 1989

is now the industry standard.

- The crash worthiness of the locomotives

used in North America is the best it's ever been

largely as a result of the kinds of tests that we do here,

the activities of people like EMD.

And applying that information into the design of their cab.

- [Narrator] Out on the TTCI test track,

EMD engineers are evaluating their newest design element.

What they call the isolated cab.

Their goal is to have the quietest cab in the business.

- We are trying to control the working environment

where the whole purposes to keep the noise down

inside the cab from the 4500 horsepower

that's just 20 feet behind us.

- [Narrator] EMD has tried to reduce the noise

and vibration inside the cab

by separating it from the engine compartment.

To record the decimal level,

technicians have hung microphones

at ear level throughout the cab.

The target is 80 decibels or less.

Then it's time to open up the throttle

to see if the isolated mounts work.

Even at full throttle,

the sound level barely exceeds 75 decibels.

About the same as a normal conversation

between two people and a victory for the EMD designers.

And while they're here,

the crew is also of collecting ride quality data

by testing the cab for vibration.

- The whole cab has a number of sensors all over in the cab.

One of which is right here,

where we measure the cab seat-based vibration

in all three directions,

up and down, fore and aft, side to side.

- [Narrator] Technicians record the data

in a test car behind the locomotive.

Later EMD will use the data to develop

even more ways to improve its locomotives

and keep its operating engineers safe.

In another area of the test facility,

TTCI offers locomotive makers a way to look through steel.

With its automated cracked wheel detection system.

The system uses sound waves

to take a snapshot of a locomotive's wheels

as they pass through an ultrasonic sensor.

- Right now,

this first wheel is gonna be picked up

by this inspection site.

It's gonna follow it all the way through,

once it follows it through, it's gonna reset itself,

set up for the next wheel that comes through.

It'll pick it up,

it'll send ultrasonic energy up through the wheel

and inspect the wheel for cracks.

And then that information will be transmitted

into our computer bungalow.

- [Narrator] Inside the bungalow

the results appear on a computer screen in real time.

Each rectangular box represents a wheel,

the lines reveal some type of flaw.

- Right here, you're showing

some thermal cracks in the locomotive wheel.

Here you're showing the horizontal crack.

So then it triggers the maintenance crew

on what they need to do in order to correct that.

- [Narrator] Whereas TTCI exists

to help find a locomotives flaws.

A network of service stations

across the United States stands ready to fix them.

One of the best is the CSX Maintenance Facility

in Waycross, Georgia.

CSX Transportation runs 20,000 miles

of track in the United States.

Every day, thousands of CSX locomotives

traverse the country hauling freight.

Keeping them operational is crucial to the bottom line.

- Time is money and these locomotives

cost about $2 million a piece.

And if they're sitting, we're not utilizing that asset.

We can service as many as 12 at one time.

This is simply a service station for locomotive.

- [Narrator] And this service station is built for speed.

It's kind of like a NASCAR pit stop for locomotives.

The moment a locomotive pulls in

a team of workers moves into place.

The aim is to get it in and out in under an hour.

- And this is where it starts here

at the Locomotive Services Center,

we'll service anywhere from 75 to a hundred locomotive

in this facility per day.

Here's where the sand will be going in.

It'll be coming in through a funnel that he'll put in.

Here, we have a gentleman that's gonna be changing

a flange lube stick,

to help with the flange wear.

We're going in the curves on the track.

Here, the gentleman's checking the oil and the water,

gonna make sure everything is in good running repair

with the diesel engine.

Here we are adding the fuel to the locomotive.

The locomotive fuel tank will hold anywhere

from about 1500 gallons up to 4500 gallons.

At this facility, we will pump

about a hundred thousand gallons of diesel fuel a day.

- [Narrator] As workers handled the basics from above,

others are busy in the service pit below.

- As they're working up above,

they're also gonna be changing brake shoes down below.

Warren is gonna be pulling this brake shoe out

and gonna be replacing it with the new brake shoe.

He has to remove the brake key,

take the old brake shoe out,

replace it with the new brake shoe

and then drop the brake key back in

that holds the brake shoe in place.

And it's ready to go.

Here we have a worn brake shoe

that is in need of being replaced.

Here we have a new brake shoe

that we will put in its place.

The new brake shoe should last

approximately three to four weeks,

depending on the amount of traffic

the locomotive is involved in.

- [Narrator] Of course there are times

when some heavy lifting is required.

For those cases,

locomotives make a trip to the back shop

where mechanics carry out everything

from cosmetic repair to complete engine rebuilds.

- We do lots of of accident damage

that could be crossing accidents

that happened out on the line of road.

We change main alternators

and we just do lots and lots of work.

More or less rebuild the locomotive in that area.

- [Narrator] Once most locomotives are clear

to return to action,

they get a final sprucing up

with a quick shower in the CSX wash.

- It gets a lot of the road trim off of 'em

because after all CSX,

that's what's on the side of the locomotives.

We're proud of our company

and we certainly wanna look good in the public's eye.

[upbeat music]

Unlike the little engine that thought it could,

these mini locomotives along the Panama canal

know they can.

Nearly 14,000 times a year,

they slowly and steadily guide ships

through the three locks

that connect the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Here size matters less than precision.

The locomotives measure just 13 feet high,

10 feet wide and 35 feet long.

But there's nothing small

about the economic stakes of their mission.

The toll that is charged depends on the size of the ship.

The average for cargo and container vessels

is about $450,000,

but some fees can go as high as one million.

At these prices,

the nearly 40 shipping companies

that send vessels through the canal every day

expect to do it safely and efficiently.

Like this 70,000 ton Panamanian cargo ship

coming in from the Pacific.

- The chamber is very small for--

For this ship and it's a slow operation.

And the locomotives are very critical

for handling a ship of this size.

- [Narrator] As the ship approaches the lock's mouth,

eight locomotives, four on the Starboard side,

four to the port, move into position.

The ship is 106 feet wide,

a lock chamber is just 110.

And for the next half mile,

the little locos will be guiding this ship

to the end of the lock.

The carefully choreographed journey

begins as canal ship personnel throw a line

to grab two steel cables attached to hydraulic winches

on the side of the locomotives.

- The idea is to get the cables

of the locomotives onto the ship.

As you can see, there are two locomotives

taking care of the bowel of this ship.

Then we gonna see two more taking care

of the back of the ship, the stern.

- [Narrator] All eight locomotives

are under the direction

of a especially trained pilot aboard the ship,

who works for the canal.

His first command to the locomotive operators

is to pull their cables tight

until the ship is securely tethered

in the center of the lock.

Then it ships, and locomotives ahoy

as the pilot gradually powers a ship forward

while directing the locomotives

to move in unison with it.

From here on it's all about keeping the sides of the ship

steel hull off the cement walls that line the lock.

- As you can see, the ship is very close to the wall.

The same thing is happening on the other side.

So they should be able to coordinate with the pilot

to keep the ship as most in the center as they can.

There's only two feet on each side.

Any little mistake you can rub the ship against the wall

and cause that damage.

- [Narrator] Top speed for these locomotives

is 10 miles per hour,

but with a ship this size and so little room for error,

they crawl along at about three miles per hour.

Even at this speed, mistakes are costly.

So to minimize any confusion between ship captain

and locomotive operator,

there are no conversations, just orders and action.

- The operator listens to the orders

from the pilot via radio.

And every time he hear a command has to ring the bell

to acknowledge that he received their order.

He operate a locomotive basically, two main functions.

Traction, with this hand he's moving the traction control

and on the left,

he has the controls for the cables-- Of two cables.

One control for each cable.

He's holding the ship in the center

together with his partner on the other side.

Asking number one center to coil.

They don't have to do anything here,

just keep the cables tight.

Keep moving ahead now a little bit.

- [Narrator] While the ship remains under its own power,

the locomotives are propelled with electricity

via a shoe that's connected to the rails.

The rails are energized with 480 volts,

in the middle of the track

a steel gear pulls the locomotive along.

The electricity comes from below

inside a specialty designed power station

that runs the length of the track.

- We are inside of the machinery tunnel,

right underneath of the locomotive tracks

that runs all along the lock walls.

And here is where the locomotive get the power from.

This is a transformer that brings the voltage down

from 2,400 volts down to 480.

The lo-- The power is required by the locomotive.

These are the main breakers for the power

that is fed to the locomotive above us.

- [Narrator] Up above the Panamanian ship

is now inside the lock chamber.

As the lock fills with water and the ship rises,

it's steady as she goes for the locomotive operators.

- During this time,

the locomotives just have to keep the ship

in the position with the cables tight.

That way we would avoid the hitting the walls

and we keep the ship safe.

- [Narrator] Keeping a 140 million pound ship

centered in the lock requires some tension.

Most of it is focused in the cables.

The cables are routinely tested to withstand twice

the amount of stress they'll ever need out on the lock.

For the locomotive engineers,

stress comes from the one thing they all fear,

a dip in the drink.

- The cables are very tight,

so the locomotives are pulling very strong.

To avoid the locomotive overturn into the water

we have the safety width.

That's what we use the safety width,

they're attached to this piece of track.

So the locomotives is always secure to the track,

no matter how much force they put on the cables,

they will always stay on the track.

- [Narrator] Of the hundreds of thousands of passages

during the canal's history,

just one locomotive has been pulled sideways into the canal,

and that was due to human error.

A closer look reveals the virtually accident proof

safeguarding system.

- Here we are underneath the locomotive

in the maintenance pit.

Here we can find the safety wheels,

these are the ones that prevent the locomotive

from tilting and going into the water.

- [Narrator] The gates of the lock are open.

Like countless ships before it,

the cargo carrier is about to leave

its tight squeeze here for the open waters

of the Pacific ocean.

- The ship is ready to get out of the locks.

We're reaching the end of the sidewalk.

[foreign language over intercom]

Just asked number threes to release the wires and cast up.

So he's gonna cast up the number three,

the guy's in front of us.

He just ask four side to cast up.

He's gonna release the wires and cast off.

He's giving the signals. [bell dinging]

So the deck hands can release the cable

from the bit on the ship.

They're gonna let go in time.

And here they go.

Okay, so we're off the ship.

- [Narrator] 45 Minutes after it entered the lock,

another vessel has completed safe passage.

For the little canal locomotives

a long line of customers is waiting at the locks entrance.

But if you enter one of these locomotives,

you'll need to take an elevator to get to it,

more than 1000 feet underground.

More than 1000 feet underground

inside the Bailey Mine in Southwestern, Pennsylvania.

A fleet of some of the most unusual locomotives

is busy ferrying miners and equipment

through a labyrinth of tunnels

that spans hundreds of miles.

For decades the fleet was powered

by three different sources,

external electrical, battery and diesel.

The electric locomotives were attached

to an overhead trolley line

and its obvious limitations.

- This is a very old battery trolley unit, it's powered--

It gets all its power from the overhead trolley line.

That technology's been used in the mines for decades.

The problem with the older technology is

he has to be underneath this to operate.

When he goes away from a trolley line, he's dead.

- [Narrator] Another drawback to the outdated trolley line

is the 300 volts hanging from above.

Just waiting to take a bite out of anyone

who accidentally touches it.

Power outages create yet another problem.

- If you have any power problems or anything drops out,

then that that piece of equipment that has no use.

I mean, any power problem in the mine,

or if you had to get out, you would have none.

- [Narrator] The mine's battery powered locomotives

eliminated the need for an overhead trolley line.

But locomotive batteries don't keep going and going.

- You have to actually take it

into a charging station and charge it.

So you're losing the use of your piece of equipment

while you're actually charging it.

- [Narrator] Everything considered the power source

that most miners prefer may surprise you.

Diesel.

- Diesel's much safer.

You no longer have the hazards of any short circuits

in your coal mine, and the potential for mine fires.

With diesel you're totally in control.

I expect to have Bailey Mine converted

entirely 100% to diesel,

because I do believe diesel is the future

for track mounted equipment in the coal mine.

- [Narrator] In fact, that's exactly what happened.

Today, the Bailey Mines fleet is run solely on diesel power.

Wondering how Bailey's Mines coexist deep underground

with a herd of diesel burning locomotives

spewing out exhaust?

Brookville equipment corporation

in Brookville, Pennsylvania

has been building underground diesel locomotives since 1980.

And they have the answer to the diesel question.

- A lot needs to go into the safety

and the health of the people working in that environment.

This is 170 horsepower diesel engine

it's MSHA approved for underground use.

The engine manufacturer has to take it through

a series of tests where they measure

the particulates and they give it a certification.

- [Narrator] Brookville has also installed

a state of the art filtering system.

Sure to keep miners breathing easy.

- To run the diesel engines underground in a coal mine,

you have to have an additional exhaust treatment system.

The exhaust comes out,

goes through a catalyst which breaks apart

the diesel particulate matter.

The exhaust gas comes up into this filter housing

where a replaceable paper filter element

is used to capture approximately 95% of the diesel soot

that is emitted it from the engine.

And that's why we don't smell diesel engine in here.

Diesel fuel.

You put it in the box that the new one comes in

and it's acceptable in any landfill.

- [Narrator] For a typical Brook build diesel locomotive,

nearly 2000 parts are cut, drilled, forged, and assembled.

While the dominiative frames get built separately.

- Engine sits in the front here,

transmission in the center.

You can see the two wheel wells and these are--

These are grids for airflow

and the operator compartment up front.

These are 23 ton locomotives.

- [Narrator] Down in the Bailey Mine,

Brookville diesel powered personnel carrier

is filling up for the morning commute.

- You can see the men in here

they're getting ready for their shift to begin.

You see the operator station,

this vehicle he has all the controls

that tell 'em full functions

of the engine to break and throttle.

These guys gotta go to work.

As they can go 10 to 12 miles an hour on good track,

a whole lot faster than walking.

- [Narrator] Every day,

80 different underground vehicles travel

throughout the mine.

But what happens if one of them derails?

Brookville's got that covered too.

Now operators can get things back on track

with the Rail Walker.

- The old way is using a hand jack

or a railroad jack,

very labor intensive and relatively dangerous.

The new way is hydraulically.

So what we did, we hydraulically lifted the locomotive

by putting a foot down on the ground,

raising the locomotive and moving it sideways,

position it back over the rail.

It's moving back into position.

The wheels being lowered gently in a controlled manner

back down on the rail.

- [Narrator] With innovations like the Rail Walker

and the clean burning diesel engine.

Miners can move around safely and efficiently

over a thousand feet underground.

Here's a game changer,

in July, 2021, Chinese engineers showcased

what could one day be

the world's fastest locomotive.

A bullet train that is designed

to reach speeds of almost 375 miles per hour.

It's only a prototype for now,

but the technology is called Maglev.

And it already powers one of the fastest trains

in the world.

A 19 mile long ride that connects the airport

in Shanghai, China to the city's Metro system.

Its speeds at 267 miles per hour.

But unlike France's fastest train the TGV,

this one isn't a traditional locomotive.

An engine doesn't power the Maglev

it's powered by the track.

Paradoxically,

the Maglev train never even comes in contact with it.

- It's basically riding on a cushion of air

it's propelled by invisible magnetic forces.

The locomotive, if you will, is magnetically levitated,

propelled and guided.

- [Narrator] On General Atomics test track

in San Diego, California.

Engineers built a prototype system

designed around the same basic law of physics

as the Maglev systems in Asia.

Take some magnets,

make a special track, apply power, and it's up, up and away.

The Maglev track or guide-way is lined

with a cluster of electric power cables,

called a linear synchronous motor or LSM.

The train carriage is joined with a set of magnets

that wrap around the track.

When the linear synchronous motor is energized,

it generates a moving magnetic field

creating a magnetic wave

that pulls the train carriage forward,

to increase speed more power is added to the LSM.

As the carriage moves forward,

the electricity shuts down behind it.

That leaves the issue of levitation.

- Let me tell you about how the levitation system works.

We get levitation by virtue of currents

that are induced in this track.

The magnets are, in this wraparound structure,

they're inside these cans

and we use a set of magnets for levitation.

- [Narrator] For the levitation to occur

the magnets are aligned in a formation

called the Halbach array.

- The way the levitation system here

is going to work is that

these arrows indicate the polarity of the magnets.

That basic configuration is nothing more

than each of these magnets is rotated by 45 degrees.

What it winds up doing is it produces a sign wave

that is focused on the track,

it goes in through here,

it returns off here.

It hugs the backside and comes out

and it tends to focus the magnetic field

on the track where you want it.

- [Narrator] In layman's terms,

what that means is that the wheels

are going to lift off the track.

All the magnets need is some forward motion.

On the track, the electric cables provide it,

and here the spinning wheel induces the power.

- And actually what you're seeing right now

is that basic principle of levitation

we're levitated to well over an inch

and the levitation force is maintained

as long as there's forward motion.

When we're coming into a station and we're slowing down,

then we're going to gradually get less and less

of an air gap until we're almost at the station here.

As we come in, we're just about now landing

on the wheels and we come to a stop.

- [Narrator] Build up enough speed

and it's time for the landing wheels to lift off.

- When the speed of the vehicle

reaches approximately 10 miles per hour,

enough current is induced in the track

that it produces levitation of the entire structure,

including the magnets, as well as the wheels here.

- [Narrator] By levitating the carriage above the track,

you've got a frictionless system.

That's the key to generating speeds

up to 350 miles per hour.

Like the Maglev's in Asia,

the proposed system would require its own dedicated track.

The separate track is also one of Maglev's advantages,

no rail crossings.

There's also no need for an engineer.

The system is completely automated,

run from a control room

where all operators have to do is program the motor

to induce the right amount of power ahead of the carriage.

But the General Atomics proposed system

has one major difference from the high speed Asian versions.

- We're focusing our technology on lower speed operation,

urban systems up to about hundred miles per hour.

We feel that there is a real market

for alleviating much of the congestion

that we find in many of our cities.

- [Narrator] As of today,

the United States has not yet built

any commercial Maglev trains,

but Japan may soon replace China

for the new world's record holder.

A Maglev train running 178 miles

between the cities of Tokyo and Nagoya

is planned to open in 2027.

Achieving maximum speeds of 314 miles per hour.

Magnets, they're the future of the locomotive.