Can anyone tell me what the practice is on VIA Rail for the rear light on passenger cars. Do they use a FRED or is it a steady red light or two.
Many thanks in advance
Colin Cambridge U.K.
No Fred device on Via Rail trains. Just the two red lights on the side of the doors.
Modern passenger cars have their own marker lights.
And on board service crews are in the passenger cars, and the cars all have HEP electrical connections so the sensing and braking capabilities of a separate EOT unit aren’t needed.
Passenger cars also have a valve in them to dump the train if needed.
I think they may also have an air gauge for the trainline as well. If not, somebody (conductor or carman) needs to hang a gauge when making the airtest, and to ensure brakepipe continuity when cars are added or subtracted, or power is changed. Passenger trains are usually short, so doing this isn’t as big of a deal as it would be on a 2-mile long freight train.