On a video of Raton Pass I have, they mention that Amtrak turns the lights out on the passenger cars when they are going up the grade with a heavy train to give the locomotive more pulling power. Do they still do this? And are the lights turned out on any other Amtrak runs for a boost?
…I was thinking HEP was supplied by a separate engine/gen set…But really don’t know. Any answers out there.
HEP comes from the locomotive. The downside is that all power consumed by HEP is at the expense of traction power. The 3200 h.p. P32 locomotive and the 4000 h.p. Genesis-Series P40 locomotive reduce to 2900 and 3650 h.p., respectively, when in HEP mode. Therefore, when more HP is needed, such as in the mountains, they sometimes shut the lights off.
…Quick answer. Don’t know where my thought came from of hearing of separate power for HEP needs. I’m sure it makes a difference drawing that much current from the prime mover / gen set and it all counts with marginal extra cap. climbing that grade. Thanks.
You’re not off-base thinking that HEP sometimes comes from a separate generator. It’s just that in this particular situation that’s not the case.
Reminds me of an account about the original Tweetsie Railroad, their locomotive was laboring to get up the grade…down to a crawl, and a guest in the cab asked if he could blow the whistle…“can’t afford to…it’ll use up the steam!”
…Maybe he could have let him ring the bell…
I’m purdy sure F-40s had a seperate hep generator behind the main generator, but all driven by the same prime mover.
Adrianspeeder
The SDP-40F’s maybe, but the F-40’s HEP comes from the prime mover - hence the nickname “Thunderwagon” in reference to the engine running continuously at 900 RPM.
The F40PH-2 had a separate genarator for HEP first used a Cummins motor then switched to Cat powered.
Turning the lights out on a moonlit night in the mountains sounds wonderful!
a.s.
Well, what the Santa Fe did was add an extra F unit at La Junta. (That was going west, they probably took it off there going east.) Santa Fe kept the electric power on in the train.
AFAIK John Reed is still alive. He would have fired anyone who turned the lights out on his passengers on a regular basis.
I rode the Chief and El Cap to L.A. as a youngster to visit family in L.A. The engine addition at La Junta took 20 minutes, so I got off once and had a great conversation with an ATSF trainman working the train. I was 15.
Years latter, I took the SW Chief on Amtrak. I knew the train was going to be shifted off the old ATSF route from Chicago to Galesburg. I wanted to ride it before that happened. When they turned the lights out I just shook my head.
The WB, at least, goes over Raton in daylight.
It was a one way train trip. Return was TWA with a change in St. Louis. The plane was much nicer. But that was before 9/11.
In the video two units are pulling and right after they mention that the lights are sometimes turned off the second unit overheats and shuts down. They have to turn off both units and wait to start because of the way the computer control works. They said it happens a lot with the Genesis power on the grade.