I am noticing that both CN and CP rail are starting to use mid train engines on some of their trains and i am wondering what is the benefit in ontario. I know they use this system in mountainous areas. I would also like to know how they control the mid engine, is it radio, satellite or by wire. all of these systems seem to be problematic and that if communication with the head end was lost that it would cause serious problems.
The CPR has been using Distributed Power(DP), or Robot Units to old timers like me, since about 1970(+/- a year). It uses a radio controlled system called Locotrol, and the kinks have been pretty much worked out. In mountainous areas they do use repeaters, but out where you are, line of sight transmission works fine.
You would have been seeing this the last few winters, as having a mid train unit greatly eases the air transmission problem through the length of the train. At -30°C, running trans more than 80 cars(joints) long becomes problematic with just head end power. DP also facilitates better train handling which in turn saves on total fuel costs.
TRAINS ran a feature on DP several years ago, but for my money, the definitive article on DP was written by Nichols Morant for the CPR staff magazine Spanner when the system first came out. It has been reprinted a couple of times, in CP Tracks magazine, as well as several other books. I was very disappointed when TRAINS didn’t rerun it verbatim when they did their DP issue. The matter of where to place a DP unit in a train has used up thousands of pixels of space on this forum, when the answer is spelled out in the Morant article. Once you have read the article, you can tell by reading railfan reports of trains, which RR’s understand DP, and which are doing it because the other RR is doing it.
Bruce
Bruce, I knew you people up north were different, but Idid not know that you displaced your power instead of distributing it as is done down here in the States.[:)]
There, now you would never know there was anything wrong.
If you hadn’t mentioned that I never would have picked up on it, even though I knew better. My head was just not in the game. Thanks, Johnny.
Bruce