Alejandro Goicoechea facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alejandro Goicoechea Omar
|
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
Portrait of Alejandro Goicoechea Omar. Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology, Eulogia Merle. 2011
|
|
| Born |
Alejandro Goicoechea Omar
23 March 1895 |
| Died | 30 January 1984 (aged 88) |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Known for | founding Talgo, a Spanish manufacturer of trains. |
Alejandro Goicoechea Omar (born March 23, 1895 – died January 30, 1984) was a clever Spanish engineer. He is best known for helping to create the famous Talgo trains.
Contents
A Life of Engineering and Innovation
Early Work with Trains
Alejandro Goicoechea was an engineer who loved trains. He worked for a special railway line called La Robla in Spain. This railway was used to carry coal and was the longest narrow-gauge line in Western Europe. While working there, he designed new parts for train cars, like stronger welded steel carriages and better systems for how the train moves and stops. In 1936, he had an idea for a lighter, more flexible train, but his bosses didn't approve it at the time.
The Iron Belt
During the Spanish Civil War, Goicoechea helped design a defense system called the Iron Belt to protect the city of Bilbao. This was a series of trenches and bunkers. However, before the system was fully finished, Bilbao was taken over by another side in the war on June 12, 1937.
Inventing the Talgo Train
Goicoechea's biggest ideas were about trains. In 1938, he imagined a new kind of train. It would be made of connected triangular parts with wheels that could move on their own. This design would allow the train to go very fast, up to 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph).
Testing the First Designs
In 1941, a small test train was built to try out his ideas. It had triangular frames and special wheels. This test train successfully reached speeds of 75 kilometres per hour (47 mph) when pulled by a steam locomotive. This showed that his ideas could work!
Building Talgo I
In 1942, Goicoechea worked with a company called Hijos de Juan de Garay to build a bigger test train. This train had seven short cars, each only about 4.44 metres (4.44 m) long. The cars were low to the ground and had a rounded shape.
In the same year, he teamed up with José Luis de Oriol y Urigüen. They started a company called Patentes Talgo. They named their first test train Talgo I. The name "Talgo" stands for Tren Articulado Ligero Goicoechea Oriol, which means "Articulated Light Train Goicoechea Oriol." The Talgo I was tested until 1945. It was later damaged and taken apart in the early 1950s.
Working on Talgo II
In 1944, Goicoechea started working with an American company, the American Car and Foundry Company, to design the Talgo II. However, he left the company in 1945 before this train was finished.
Other Ideas
Later in his life, Alejandro Goicoechea had another big idea. He suggested building a railway tunnel to connect Spain and Morocco under the Strait of Gibraltar. This idea, however, never became a reality.
Alejandro Goicoechea passed away in 1984 when he was 89 years old. He left behind a legacy of innovative engineering, especially with his groundbreaking work on the Talgo trains.
See also
In Spanish: Alejandro Goicoechea para niños
