Rhaetian Railway - Switzerland - World Record Passenger Train Length Attempt

[whole diary]

[RailCornwall]

This Autumn the Rhaetian Railway in Switzerland are to attempt to run a world record 1.9km long passenger service on it's network.

A 'rehearsal' was held earlier this month

https://www.suedostschweiz.ch/rhb-rekord?utm_campaign=so-auto&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social_page

Use Google Translate.

[RailCornwall]

Completed today

https://twitter.com/FlywheelMedia1/status/1586338247785205760

[broadgage]

Very impressive. Reported as 25 EMUs^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit) each of 4 cars, coupled together. Bit surprised that the OHLE could supply enough current for that lot, especially when considering that significant gradients were involved.

[grahame]

Very impressive. Reported as 25 EMUs^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit) each of 4 cars, coupled together. Bit surprised that the OHLE could supply enough current for that lot, especially when considering that significant gradients were involved.

Indeed -  though reading suggests that the regenerative braking system software was modified to avoid too much power being put back into the system on downhill sections!

[Red Squirrel]

Presumably there must have been times when some of the train was going uphill while other parts were going downhill… does that mean some units were consuming power while others were regenerating?

[RailCornwall]

BlickTV were the 'official' broadcaster of the event, their recorded livestream is currently online, Commentary in Schweizerdeutsch and Rumantsch

here -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjvz52iJafA

The line is predominately slightly 'uphill' (the direction of the attempt) but is conventional traction, there are no rack sections. From viewing the video I'd estimate only eight or nine of the units were pantograph up so the remainder were being pulled. The attempt couldn't have been in a more scenic area which has several overlapping twists and turns.

[stuving]

Several reports I've seen say this was a downhill run, working within an agreed limit of power sent to the  power grid. I saw part of a presentation by one of the railway's managers in which he was making a big thing of how many homes it was powering - odd, since this was only done for the RhB's benefit. An example from trains.com

The record-breaking, 100-car train was 1,910 meters (2,089 yards). It left Preda at 2:20 p.m. and shortly after 3:30 pm. crossed the Landwasser Viaduct. The 15.6 mile (24.93 kilometer) journey from Preda to Alvaneu, was downhill starting over a mile above sea level (Preda is at 1,788 meters, or 5,866 feet) and descending nearly half a mile to 1,000 meters, or 3,281 feet. During the descent, the train — which weighed 3,300 tons (or 2,900 metric tons) — was using electrical regenerative braking and generated 4000 kilowatt-hours of power. It travelled mostly at around 20 mph.