This could be a major problem, because if the remote engines on an ore train, which can weigh as much as 14,000 tons, stop pulling, the train could be stuck in the tunnel, blocking the railroad's main line. When the end of the train is past the midpoint, the door there closes while the eastern one opens. CPR started planning a new route through Rogers Pass in the 1980s. Construction began in 1982, required seven years, and cost $500 million. When the lead locomotive of a westbound train is stopped at the signal by the east portal of the Mount Macdonald Tunnel, the engineer may need to shut down any slave units still in the Mount Shaughnessy Tunnel as a precaution. Macdonald Tunnel was planned to serve westbound trains, while the. Since the eastern half has already been purged, another train can start into the tunnel before the western half has been completely cleansed. Meanwhile, fans in the western part of the airshaft operate to pull air in from the western opening. Mount Macdonald Tunnel is used predominantly for westbound traffic, while eastbound trains continue to use Connaught Tunnel. 4 of 43 Tunnelling Grad Class (2015) Dr. Erik Eberhardt AlpTransit Base Tunnels 3. On heavy ore trains, CP hooks three locomotives to the front and two or three more engines - called remotes - to the middle of the train. Closing the eastern door insures that air will be drawn from inside. Eastbound trains will use another tunnel. CP Rail's Mount Macdonald tunnel under the Selkirk Mountains is so long because of the tunnel's innovative ventilation system. The fans, which can move 900,000 cubic feet of air a minute at a velocity of 30 miles an hour, are less important than the movement of the train. The fan over the eastern gate is used to pull air toward the train while the fans above the eastern part of the midtunnel airshaft force it downward. CP Rail's Mount Macdonald tunnel under the Selkirk Mountains is so long because of the tunnel's innovative ventilation system. The Mount Macdonald Tunnel route opened for revenue traffic thirty years ago today. When a train enters the tunnel, the door at the tunnel's midpoint is closed. As the train enters the tunnel (1), the center gate is closed and the purge fan at the top of the central ventilation shaft and a cooling fan at the East Portal push air past the train. CPR turned to Parsons Brinckerhoff to design the, longest rail tunnel in the western hemisphere, with a ventilation system. It was the railroad’s most ambitious undertaking since completion of its original transcontinental rail line a century earlier. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. I think this violates the Terms of Service. The main tunnel was named the Mount Macdonald Tunnel. The track looped back and forth along mountain sides, crossed creeks and ravines on wooden trestles, and passed through 31 snowsheds. One of the most formidable obstacles faced by the Canadian Pacific Railway was the Selkirk mountain range in British Columbia. The stations included in the CRL Notice of Requirement (NoR) have been temporarily named Aotea Station, Karangahape Station, Newton Station. This project has reduced the westbound ruling grade to 1%, eliminating the need for pusher locomotives. The Mount, Macdonald Tunnel was planned to serve westbound trains, while the. CIRCULATING AIR IN A RAIL TUNNEL. You are currently viewing the SEO version of !text.It has a number of design and functionality limitations. 15198038_1 Statement of Evidence of 3 8. Moreover, the ventilation system, supplies the tunnel with enough fresh air to feed the locomotives, with oxygen and cool their engines. The Mount. According to Mr. Levy's calculations, each engine throws off almost 280,000 British thermal units of heat energy every minute. Experts in railroad construction say that CP Rail's new 9.1-mile tunnel under the mountains of British Columbia has proved that there are few limits to how long a railroad tunnel can be. But because CP Rail runs long ore and grain trains through the passage at Rogers Pass, each train with as many as six locomotives, engineers estimated it would take as long as an hour to clear the air for the next train. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. An overheating locomotive can suffer severe internal damage, so devices shift them into neutral if their intake air temperature reaches about 120 degrees, said Ron Tanaka, CP Rail's chief engineer for the Rogers Pass project. no abstract provided. Alberta, to Vancouver, on the west coast of British Columbia. ''So you need sufficient vehtilation to keep all the locomotives from overheating.''. The 14.7-kilometer (9.1-mile) tunnel passes through Mount Macdonald, and Mount Cheops in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia and, also passes under the Trans-Canada Highway and the Connaught, rail tunnel. formerly two-way Connaught Tunnel would serve eastbound trains. The lack of a forced ventilation system has caused occasional overheating of locomotives. And a 3,200-horsepower locomotive emits plenty of heat. Because of this emphasis, most of the trains through the tunnel are expected to be westbound, which is the uphill direction. The tunnel was inaugurated last week. Fans and gates are used to purge noxious diesel locomotive exhaust and cool the air as trains pass through the new Mount MacDonald tunnel in British Columbia. Because of this effect, more than twice the volume of air is used to purge the tunnel as to cool trains. This tunnel is the first installation in North America of a concrete roadbed called “Pact-Track” that eliminates wooden ties and rock ballast, greatly reducing maintenance costs. supplemental notes: s.s. levy illustrated american railway engineering association proceedings of the … We recommend viewing the Flash version or the basic HTML version of this publication. One contractor used conventional drill and blast to excavate the entire 40 ft. high by 20 ft. wide tunnel profile, working from the west portal. Although purging exhaust gases is important, the critical function for the ventilation system is to supply cool air to the locomotives, CP Rail engineers said. This project has reduced the westbound ruling grade to 1%, eliminating the need for pusher locomotives. Are you sure you wish to delete this message from the message archives of toytrains@groups.io? The Group moderators are responsible for maintaining their community and can address these issues. âYou need sufficient ventilation, to keep locomotives from overheatingâ in a 14.7-kilometer (9.1-mile), In the early 1980s, Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) sought to build, a tunnel in the Canadian Rocky Mountains for trains on its Calgary-, to-Vancouver line. Mount Macdonald Tunnel is used predominantly for westbound traffic, while eastbound trains continue to use. main ventilation building at the surface. The savings were particularly important for unit coal trains destined for Asian markets through the port of Vancouver. The crown jewel of CPR’s new line is Mount Macdonald Tunnel. The fans on the eastern half of the airshaft blow down into that section of the tunnel, purging exhaust out the east portal. At just over nine miles, it is the longest railway tunnel in the western hemisphere. Trains were often endangered by avalanches. Maintenance. ''Succeeding units are subject to a cascade effect,'' said Sam S. Levy, who was Parsons Brinkerhoff's chief designer on the project. In 1988 a second route with two tunnels and a viaduct were put into operation. of the Connaught Tunnel, completed in 1916, which had become a. bottleneck on CPR’s main line from Calgary, in the western province of . A conventional, ventilation system would have taken as long as an hour to purge, the tunnel of diesel exhaust created by one train before the tunnel, could receive another train, thus severely limiting traffic through the, tunnel. The tunnel was inaugurated last week. Dividing the motive power eases the strain on the couplings of the leading cars since they do not have to pull all 110 cars in the train. Other articles where Mount MacDonald Tunnel is discussed: Rogers Pass: 6-km-) long Mount MacDonald Tunnel (completed 1988), was built beneath the pass to reduce track grades for westbound trains; eastbound trains now use Connaught Tunnel. The project included 10.5 miles of new roadbed grade, six bridges totaling over a mile in length, and two tunnels. The gates are an important part of the cooling process, Mr. Levy said, because they increase the ''piston effect'' of the train in the tunnel. This would severely limit the capacity of the entire $500 million (Canadian) Rogers Pass project, which is intended to move increasing amounts of food and raw materials from western Canada to Asia. That is enough to heat 186 gallons of water from the freezing point to the boiling point. The firm developed an innovative ventilation system that, enabled the tunnel to accommodate twice the number of trains as a, The Mount Macdonald Tunnel was intended to expand the capacity, of the Connaught Tunnel, completed in 1916, which had become a, bottleneck on CPRâs main line from Calgary, in the western province of, Alberta, to Vancouver, on the west coast of British Columbia. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. As the lead locomotive nears the midpoint, the gate there opens, and the eastern one is closed. The Mount Macdonald Tunnel was intended to expand the capacity. It passes under Mount Macdonald and Cheops Mountain. Parsons Brinckerhoff was hired in 1981 to design the tunnelâs, ventilation system and was subsequently awarded a contract to, design the tunnel support system and liner, although it was the, design of the ventilation system that proved more challenging and, more crucial in achieving CPRâs goal of expanding capacity on the. CPR built its original main line through Rogers Pass in 1885.