Alejandro Goicoechea

Alejandro Goicoechea Omar (his first surname is also spelled Goikoetxea) (Elorrio, Biscay, March 23, 1895 - Madrid, January 30, 1984[1]) was a Spanish engineer.

Biography

Goicoechea worked for the narrow gauge railway of La Robla which today is operated by FEVE, developing a welded steel carriage and various elements of suspension, brakes and traction. In 1936 he suggested a lightweight articulated meter gauge trainset which however was not approved by the management.[2]

Goicoechea authored the Iron Belt to protect Bilbao during the Spanish Civil War. But soon before finishing it he defected to the Nationalist side, and this was decisive in the Nationalists conquering Bilbao on June 12, 1937.

In 1938 he described a train composed of articulated triangular structures with independent wheels, capable of 100 km/h commercial speeds. In 1941 a test unit composed of triangular chassis and truck wheels with carriage rims welded on was built and tested successfully up to 75 km/h behind a steam locomotive.

In 1942 Goicoechea worked with the company Hijos de Juan de Garay in Oñate and other companies to build a first test train consisting of seven low-slung cars of only 4.44 m length, of a roughly semi-circular cross-section, pulled by a power unit based on a powered bogie from Ganz Works. In the same year he teamed up with José Luis de Oriol y Urigüen, founding the Patentes Talgo company and baptizing the test train Talgo I (Tren Articulado Ligero Goicoechea Oriol). The Talgo I was tested until 1945, then damaged during a test run and scrapped in the early 1950s.

In 1944 Goicoechea started working with the American Car and Foundry Company to design the Talgo II but left the company in 1945 before the train was completed.

Later he suggested a connection between Spain and Morocco by rail tunnel in Gibraltar, which did not become reality.[3]

He died in 1984, aged 89.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Biography at euskomedia.org
  2. ↑ Manuel Galán Eruste, Miguel Cano López-Luzzatti: 1942-Talgo-2010 - From a dream to high speed, Patentes Talgo 2011, ISBN 978-84-938608-1-3
  3. ↑ Euskomedia: Alejandro Goicoechea Omar
  4. ↑ "Alejandro Goicoechea, creador del tren articulado Talgo, falleció ayer en Madrid a los 89 años de edad"

External links

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