Hmm. Suppose you were building a nuclear locomotive. (Setting aside, for the moment, whether this is a good idea.) Would nuke→turbine→electricity→motor be more efficient than just using the rotation of the turbine to move the train?

It can't be, right?

[–] Revan343@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Diesel engine > generator > motor is frequently used for trains nowadays. Transmissions can be super inefficient, especially with discrete gear ratios

[–] princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 month ago

This is only true for locomotives really. Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) often use hydraulic transmissions. Here's an example railcar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V/Line_VLocity

[–] HeurtisticAlgorithm9@feddit.uk 3 points 1 month ago

It's possible that controlling the rotation would be significantly more difficult without the extra conversion.