Position of a train engine (Locomotive)

[Maor Hadad]

Hi,
I have a question about where's the most efficient place for a train engine -
Let's say a train has to do a some route back and forth, the route has curves and positive and negative slopes.
In real life - What's the best position for the enginge?

My intuition says it will be most efficient if it will always be in the front -
But when I wrote simple equations I found it doesn't matter -
Because I have neglected many things like compression and streching of the wagons, the air resistance, heat removal and so on.. I'm not sure about it.

Any Ideas?

Thanks/

 

[Borg]

Well, it does help to see where you're going. Hard to do from the middle or back.

 

[Jobrag]

Trains work well in tension but poorly in compression, keep the engine at the front.

 

[Maor Hadad]

Of course it does

But speaking in energetic terms - is the work (Force*Length [Joule]) will be the same,
no matter what's the configuration of the engine comparing to the wagons?

If so, why did the 'Push-Pull' train was invented?
Couldn't they just leave the engine in the rear part and add controles to the front?

Thanks

 

[Maor Hadad]

Trains work well in tension but poorly in compression, keep the engine at the front.

Thank you, Perhaps you can explain what's the 'physical principles' behind that?

 

[Jobrag]

Thank you, Perhaps you can explain what's the 'physical principles' behind that?

Think of a train as a length of chain if you pull it the links will follow, if you try to push it the links will bunch up and not control well.

 

[russ_watters]

If so, why did the 'Push-Pull' train was invented?
Couldn't they just leave the engine in the rear part and add controles to the front?

Those questions are largely answered in the article you linked...