What would win in a tug of war, A locomotive (ex.GE EVOLUTION) or a big dump truck (ex.CATERPILLAR 797)?

Answer 1

I would wager all I have on the locomotive. Though the big dump is also diesel electric, it comes down to tractive effort, where the four wheeled behemoth is totally out-classed. In this instance, it is not about the horse power.

The dump truck is designed to haul. The locomotive is designed to pull. When playing a game of tug of war the one with the most pull wins. Were it not so, you'd see two or three dump trucks pulling our trains around.

Simple, yes?

And, I'd love to see this on mythbusters.

Addendum: I could have gone back and changed my answer but it's better this way. It is a moot point.

Assuming the apparatus coupling them is equal to the test, no ones going ANYWHERE. The locomotive will burn through the rail and the dump truck will bury itself. IT'S A DRAW!!!!!

Answer 2

I think the GE Evo would win this contest. It has a nearly 2:1 advantage in horsepower, and has 12 wheels on the rails, vs. 4 rubber tires.

The General Electric model AC6000 is the world leader for freight locomotives. Its model 7HDL engine is a 15.7-liter 16-cylinder twin-turbocharged 6,250-hp diesel, generating the AC power to turn its electric traction motors.

The AC traction motors have wheel-slip control and pull a train with full throttle even down to about 1 or 2 mph. Plus it can automatically dump sand on the rails to provide even more traction.

The Cat 797
When a truck has a stairway that leads up the radiator to the cab—or should it be called the bridge?—and is built for a 360-ton payload, significant horsepower is under the hood. The Caterpillar model 797 is powered by Cat's 3508 turbo-charged diesel producing 3,400 hp. Even loaded with ore, it has a top speed of 40 mph. It's an awesome and unstoppable vehicle, a half-million-pound mountainside on wheels made for hauling mountainsides away. The 797 is the world's largest and most powerful off-road hauler.

It would be a cool experiment on Myth Busters.
>>> idea has been sent to MB. Let's see what happens.

Answer 3

The GEVO would win hands down...I'm rather astonished anyone could think a dump truck of any size could have a chance at winning such a duel more than a snowball's chance in hell.

Don't underestimate the tractive pulling effort of a train locomotive. Steel on steel is of little consequence when there is traction to back it up like there are on train locomotives.

Answer 4

Depending on the exact spec of locomotive, the Locomotive would almost definately win.

For instance, a UK spec Railway hopper weighs around 100tonnes (before you put anything in it). When they were evaluating the "Class 59" when it first arrived in the UK it managed to pull around 40 of these.
100tonnes x 40 = 4000tonnes
Tractive effort = 114,000lb's

Earlier UK Goods trains were capable of hauling heavy loads (1000-2000tons perhaps) at speeds of up to 75-80mph....... that used to be an awesome experience when I was a kid, walking along the footbridge at Lancaster station and feeling the ground shake as one of them came thundering through on the middle track :D (if only I had a digital camera back then like I have now).

Goods Trains in the US can pull even heavier loads (think at least 1/4mile long if I remember rightly), but don't go as fast as the UK Goods trains.

+ Locomotives are equipped with traction control (especially the newer diesels)..... in addition to an old trick where the drivers can stick the brakes on at about 10% to stop the wheels from spinning and gain extra traction.

Answer 5

The GE Evolution. In fact it would probably pull the CAT around like a toy. We routinely pull 20,000 ton coal trains with three regular (GE AC4400) locomotives. The AC4400 can deliver 180,000 lbs of pulling power each. The GE Evolution delivers slightly less pulling power of 166,000 lbs.

Many people question the traction capabilities of the locomotive. Light steel on steel can be fairly slick, however the 415,000 lbs of GE Evolution locomotive gets excellent traction.

Answer 6

Well, my first thought would be to the cat because, as they sit, the locomotive sits on iron wheels and rails. The 797 sits on rubber, and lots of it. The cat would have more traction. The train would be pulling, but slipping all the way. It's all about the traction and the gearing.

Answer 7

The GE EVO will kick the living shat out of that Dumptruck. Also, it will haul about oh, 10x as much dirt, rock, clay, etc as that dump truck?

As for a tug of war, the train is disadvantaged. Give it some serious sanding, or perhaps a set of geared wheels on geared rails and THEN it would be more fair.

Answer 8

With absolutely no background on such a topic, I am going to assume you are at least comparing vehicles with similar power...

In this case, my bet goes to the Cat 797. The loco has slick steel wheels on slick steel tracks... the Cat was made for traction on just about any surface. My bet says the loco will start spinning it's wheels as the Cat pulls it backwards. I think this is why trains start and stop so slowly. Not particularly good with traction!

Answer 9

As someone who runs the GE locomotives for a living, I would have to say that the Lomotive would win. If you think about it, if I have 3 of those engines I can move 20,000 tons (40,000,000 pounds!!). So, with one, I would be able to move approximately 6,330 tons (12.6 million tons). I too, would like to see the mythbusters try this one out, I wonder how I would go about suggesting it to them? I would even volunteer to run the locomotive!!!

Answer 10

The big dump truck. The train might have more power but it doesn't have no traction on the rail and about just derail once the tug of war began.