slow axle speed

train [tʀɛ̃]

1. masculine noun

   a. train

• train omnibus/express/rapide slow/express/fast train

• train direct direct train

• train à vapeur/électrique steam/electric train

• train de marchandises/voyageurs goods/passenger train

• train auto-couchettes car-sleeper train

• le train de Paris the Paris train

• train à grande vitesse high-speed train

• les trains de neige the winter-sports trains

• il est dans ce train he's on this train

• mettre qn dans le train or au train (inf) to see sb off at the station

• prendre le train to travel by train

• monter dans or prendre le train en marche to get on the moving train ; (figurative) to jump on the bandwagon

   b. ( = allure) ralentir/accélérer le train to slow down/speed up

• aller bon train to make good progress

• les langues des commères allaient bon train the old wives' tongues were wagging away

• il allait à un train d'enfer he was going flat out (inf)

• au train où il travaille at the rate he's working

• au train où vont les choses

• à ce train-là the rate things are going

   c. ( = série) [de mesures, réformes] batch

   d. ( = partie) train avant/arrière front/rear wheel-axle unit

• train de devant [d'animal] forequarters

• train de derrière [d'animal] hindquarters

   e. (locutions)

► en train

• mettre qn en train ( = l'égayer) to put sb in good spirits

• je suis long à me mettre en train le matin it takes me a long time to get going (inf) in the morning

• mise en train [de travail] starting up

• aller bon train [rumeurs] to be rife► en train de faire qch

• être en train de faire qch to be doing sth

• être en train de regarder la télévision to be watching television

• j'étais juste en train de manger I was eating

• on l'a pris en train de voler he was caught stealing

2. compounds

► train d'atterrissage undercarriage

► train express régional regional fast train

► train fantôme ghost train

► train postal mail train

► train routier road train

► train de vie lifestyle

* * *

nom masculin

1) Chemin de Fer train

2) ( convoi) train

3) ( série) series (+ v sg)

4) ( enchaînement) train

5) ( allure) pace

6) Zoologie

7) (colloq) ( de personne) backside (colloq)

8) Armée

en train locution

1) ( en forme)

2) ( en marche)

3) ( en cours)

•

- train d'atterrissage

- train électrique

- train de vie

* * *

1)

2) CHEMINS DE FER train

3) (= allure) pace

4) (= ensemble) set

5) (autres locutions)

* * *

train

A nm

1 Rail train; prendre le train de 21 heures to take the 9 pm train; monter/être dans le train to get/to be on the train; descendre du train to get off the train; mettre qn dans le train to put sb on the train; accompagner qn au train to see sb off at the station; par le or en train [voyager, transporter] by train; préférer le train à l'avion to prefer train travel to flying; ⇒ marche, vache;

2 ( convoi) train; train de péniches train of barges;

3 ( série) series; train de mesures/d'économies series of measures/of economies;

4 ( enchaînement) train; le train des événements the train of events;

5 ( allure) pace; accélérer/ralentir le train to speed up/to slow down; aller bon or grand train ( marcher vite) to walk briskly; aller bon train [rumeurs] to be flying around; [ventes, affaires] to be going well; [conversation] to flow easily; [équipage, voiture] to be going quite fast; au train où l'on va/vont les choses (at) the rate we're going/things are going; aller son train [affaire] to be getting on all right; aller son petit train [personne, affaire, négociations] to go peacefully along; à fond de train○ at top speed; ⇒ mener;

6 Zool train de derrière hindquarters; train de devant forequarters;

7 ○( de personne) backside○;

8 Mil le train corps of transport GB, transportation corps US.

B en train loc

1 ( en forme) être en train to be full of energy; ne pas être en train not to have much energy;

2 ( en marche) mettre qch en train to get [sth] started ou going [processus, travail]; se mettre en train gén to get going; Sport to warm up; j'ai du mal à me mettre en train le matin I have a hard job getting going in the morning; mise en train Sport warm-up; la mise en train d'un projet getting a project under way;

3 ( en cours) être en train de faire to be doing; j'étais en train de dormir/lire I was sleeping/reading.

train arrière Aut back axle assembly; train d'atterrissage undercarriage; sortir le or son train d'atterrissage to lower the undercarriage; train avant Aut front axle assembly; Aviat nose (landing) gear; train baladeur Aut sliding gear; train de bois raft; train électrique ( jouet simple) toy train; ( modèle réduit) model train; ( jeu avec accessoires) train set; train d'engrenages Mécan train of gears, gear train; train fantôme ghost train; train de laminoirs Tech mill train; train de neige Transp train to ski resorts; train d'ondes Phys wave train; train de pneus Aut set of tyres GB ou tires US; train roulant Aut running gear; train de rouleaux Ind roller path; train de roulement Aut undercarriage; train routier Transp articulated lorry GB, tractor-trailer US; train sanitaire hospital train; train de sénateur hum stately pace; aller son train de sénateur to go at a stately pace; train spatial linked-up spacecraft (+ v pl); train de tiges ( pour forage) string; train de vie lifestyle; réduire son train de vie to live more modestly.

faire le petit train to do the conga; un train peut en cacher un autre fig be on your guard.

[trɛ̃] nom masculin

1. [convoi] train

2. [moyen de transport]

3. [voyageurs] train

4. [file de véhicules] line (of cars)

5. [ensemble, série] set, batch

10. INFORMATIQUE [de travaux] stream

1. [allure] pace

a. [marcheur, animal] to quicken the pace

b. [véhicule] to speed up

aller bon train [en marchant] to walk at a brisk pace

a. [marcher] to jog along

b. [agir posément] to do things at one's own pace

2. [manière de vivre]

3. SPORT [dans une course - de personnes, de chevaux] pacemaker

2. (familier) [fesses] backside

a. [le suivre partout] to stick to somebody like glue

b. [le prendre en filature] to tail ou to shadow somebody

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en train locution adjectivale

1. [en cours]

être en train [ouvrage, travaux] to be under way

2. [personne]

a. [plein d'allant] to be full of energy

b. [de bonne humeur] to be in good spirits ou in a good mood

je ne me sens pas vraiment en train en ce moment I don't feel my usual perky self, I am not feeling especially perky at the moment

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en train locution adverbiale

1. [en route]

2. [en forme]

le repas m'avait mis en train the meal had put me in good spirits

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en train de locution prépositionnelle

l'opinion publique est en train d'évoluer public opinion is changing

SUBJECT AREA: Land transport, Railways and locomotives, Steam and internal combustion engines

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Orphaned as a child, Hamilton went to work for Southern Pacific Railroad in his teens, and then worked for several other companies. In his spare time he learned mathematics and physics from a retired professor. In 1911 he joined the White Motor Company, makers of road motor vehicles in Denver, Colorado, where he had gone to recuperate from malaria. He remained there until 1922, apart from an eighteenth-month break for war service.

Upon his return from war service, Hamilton found White selling petrol-engined railbuses with mechanical transmission, based on road vehicles, to railways. He noted that they were not robust enough and that the success of petrol railcars with electric transmission, built by General Electric since 1906, was limited as they were complex to drive and maintain. In 1922 Hamilton formed, and became President of, the Electro- Motive Engineering Corporation (later Electro-Motive Corporation) to design and produce petrol-electric rail cars. Needing an engine larger than those used in road vehicles, yet lighter and faster than marine engines, he approached the Win ton Engine Company to develop a suitable engine; in addition, General Electric provided electric transmission with a simplified control system. Using these components, Hamilton arranged for his petrol-electric railcars to be built by the St Louis Car Company, with the first being completed in 1924. It was the beginning of a highly successful series. Fuel costs were lower than for steam trains and initial costs were kept down by using standardized vehicles instead of designing for individual railways. Maintenance costs were minimized because Electro-Motive kept stocks of spare parts and supplied replacement units when necessary. As more powerful, 800 hp (600 kW) railcars were produced, railways tended to use them to haul trailer vehicles, although that practice reduced the fuel saving. By the end of the decade Electro-Motive needed engines more powerful still and therefore had to use cheap fuel. Diesel engines of the period, such as those that Winton had made for some years, were too heavy in relation to their power, and too slow and sluggish for rail use. Their fuel-injection system was erratic and insufficiently robust and Hamilton concluded that a separate injector was needed for each cylinder.

In 1930 Electro-Motive Corporation and Winton were acquired by General Motors in pursuance of their aim to develop a diesel engine suitable for rail traction, with the use of unit fuel injectors; Hamilton retained his position as President. At this time, industrial depression had combined with road and air competition to undermine railway-passenger business, and Ralph Budd, President of the Chicago, Burlington \& Quincy Railroad, thought that traffic could be recovered by way of high-speed, luxury motor trains; hence the Pioneer Zephyr was built for the Burlington. This comprised a 600 hp (450 kW), lightweight, two-stroke, diesel engine developed by General Motors (model 201 A), with electric transmission, that powered a streamlined train of three articulated coaches. This train demonstrated its powers on 26 May 1934 by running non-stop from Denver to Chicago, a distance of 1,015 miles (1,635 km), in 13 hours and 6 minutes, when the fastest steam schedule was 26 hours. Hamilton and Budd were among those on board the train, and it ushered in an era of high-speed diesel trains in the USA. By then Hamilton, with General Motors backing, was planning to use the lightweight engine to power diesel-electric locomotives. Their layout was derived not from steam locomotives, but from the standard American boxcar. The power plant was mounted within the body and powered the bogies, and driver's cabs were at each end. Two 900 hp (670 kW) engines were mounted in a single car to become an 1,800 hp (l,340 kW) locomotive, which could be operated in multiple by a single driver to form a 3,600 hp (2,680 kW) locomotive. To keep costs down, standard locomotives could be mass-produced rather than needing individual designs for each railway, as with steam locomotives. Two units of this type were completed in 1935 and sent on trial throughout much of the USA. They were able to match steam locomotive performance, with considerable economies: fuel costs alone were halved and there was much less wear on the track. In the same year, Electro-Motive began manufacturing diesel-electrie locomotives at La Grange, Illinois, with design modifications: the driver was placed high up above a projecting nose, which improved visibility and provided protection in the event of collision on unguarded level crossings; six-wheeled bogies were introduced, to reduce axle loading and improve stability. The first production passenger locomotives emerged from La Grange in 1937, and by early 1939 seventy units were in service. Meanwhile, improved engines had been developed and were being made at La Grange, and late in 1939 a prototype, four-unit, 5,400 hp (4,000 kW) diesel-electric locomotive for freight trains was produced and sent out on test from coast to coast; production versions appeared late in 1940. After an interval from 1941 to 1943, when Electro-Motive produced diesel engines for military and naval use, locomotive production resumed in quantity in 1944, and within a few years diesel power replaced steam on most railways in the USA.

Hal Hamilton remained President of Electro-Motive Corporation until 1942, when it became a division of General Motors, of which he became Vice-President.

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