[:)][:D][8][^][xx(][:o)]hi, i was going to model the defect detector or hotbox detector in the july issue of MR , but i lost the issue. Help?[:o)][8][}:)][:D]
There are a couple of photos of detectors on this topic.
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19268
I saw the photos and this one is the most modern type…SP used to use a digital read out type…the train would pass the detector and a digital read out screen would start counting axles…if there was a hotbox ,bright white lights above the digital read out would light up and an axle number was given on the screen, the train would stop and 10 axles before and after the hotbox number were checked for hotboxes when the train crew got the lights and axle number…the dispatcher was usually in charge of either, proceeding, proceeding at a slower speed, or setting the car off at the nearest siding…hotboxes are dangerous…they’ve caused derailments or huge grass fires from the sparks they produce if not dealt with right away…hotboxes are rare though…usually a stuck air brake is the culprit …Chuck[:D]