The problem being that if you don’t invest in keeping up the existing plant, then investing in new technology often has an equally low priority. As a society, we’ve probably pushed the “cut until it hurts” philosophy of management about as far as it can go before things really start falling apart…
This case seems to be operator fatigue, though, perhaps due to to the operator having an irregular night-time schedule. Another way to save money, but also something where cutting too many corners invites disaster.
The operataor was not dead!
If the operator dies all muscels relax, hands come off the controls and the train stops. (Eventually)
If the operator is asleep, muscel tone remains, and the train keeps going. You can fall asleep with your hand on the deadman’s switch. Even on locomotives with alerters, you can keep pressing that button whaile you are effectively asleep.
LION has a teddy bear. Him cuddles the bear when him sleeps. Him parks the bear under his arm, and there the bear stays all night. He (almost) never falls out of bed. If I can hold on to bear, anybody could hold down deadman switch. [And I will wake up if the bear becomes missing!]
On railroad of LION LPPs run the trains, even into the terminal with no problem whatsoever. Only time him have accident is when a standing train is rear-ended by a second train. LION will add another relay to the interlocking system : Train cannot leave BOTANIC GARDEN station unless lever 3 is in NORMAL position. Lever 3 must be moved to the REVERSE position to display a clear signal to the train at DYCKMAN STREET and this (with addition of relay) will Lock out Botanic Garden until lever 3 is returned to the safe position.
According to LION : People cannot back up people. Both crew members came on duty at the same time, both can fall asleep at the same time. Machine cannot backup machine. Both draw power from the same source.
Man must back up machine, machine must back up man.
The ultimate ‘overran the bumper’ accident was the one in Paris in (IIRC) the 1880s. [EDIT - Montpernasse, 1895] Steam loco punched through the station wall three stories above and landed on the street nose down.
I used to have a photo, but lost it when my old hard drive died.
At the South Ferry station of the Moose Bay Transit Authority, the end of the line, there are two stub-end tracks. One of these days, I’ll install the old video camera (the one with a dead tape drive) so I can see what’s happening underground, but for now I have to either bend way over and look under the layout, or rely on the panel lights. I mounted small magnets under the subway cars and magnetic reed switches in the tracks, so a red LED comes on when the train needs to stop.
My “fail-safe” system is not a stairway beyond the bumpers, but rather a piece of foam rubber positioned to impact the car body, not the more fragile couplers or end gates.
CTA does not have air brakes. NYCT : Hit tripper, dump air, stop train. But it still takes distance to stop a train. That last trip that it hit was a static trip and is very close to the bumper. That is not the trip that is supposed to slow you.
In any event, Car, Truck or Train, the Brakes cannot work if your wheels are not on the ground (or track).
LION does this too, but for stub tracks goes one better. Him cuts a gap in the rail : No power beyond gap. Train must stop. Gap is bridged with a rectifyer. Revers the power and the train can leave the station.
One detail is that you must train-line your power pick up so that it will stop properly whichever end is forward.
But you can figure out how to make this happen on your railroad.
The rather clunky slow-to-stop circuit used in MZL is similar, but also has a speed reducing aspect at the expense of needing two diodes and a resistor for reverse-out. If used at an intermediate stop, clearing the start signal powers the dead rail. To work with non-train-lined multi-motored MU, or doubleheaded locomotives, a relay is added to kill the entire length of the platform track.
Since I mix and match DMU and EMU consists with wild abandon my powered cars are independent entities, not train lined. Not really a problem.
I leave achieving the same in DCC as an exercise for the student. Extra points if you can do it for less than $5.00 US per slow/stop location.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - analog DC, MZL, auto-stop)
I run DCC, and I don’t know which end of the train is going in first. I’ve got magnets on the first and last cars. I tested the foam stop with a train running at “space normal” and it was OK. I don’t run my subways at warp speed.
I also put a magnet in one of the other cars of my 4-car subway consists. It will be the second car if running forward, or the third car if running in reverse. I’ve got another reed switch positioned to light a green panel light if the train needs to move forward to leave the station.