Just how noisy is the cab of a diesel locomotive? sitting in front a large locomotive engine can’t be too comfortable, do the crews wear ear protection? I can imagine that the sound level of a steam locomotive at full speed would not be that peaceful either.
I notice that the crews around here wear ear defenders, although I’m not sure if that’s the law or if they just do it on their own initiative. I would say its a good idea… Back in the early 80s I spent a lot of time riding CP trains between Kamloops, BC and North Bend, BC…I can tell you it was quite noisy. I noticed it most right after leaving the train…my ears would be ringing and for a few hours afterward you’d have to shout at me to make yourself understood. The newer locomotives are probably better sound insulated, although I would imagine it is still quite noisy. I believe there are noise restiction regs…90 decibels max…correct me if I’m wrong.
Our cabs, in and of themselves, aren’t bad, but many of our engineers do wear some form of ear protection. I probably should, too.
The bigger problem in our “ambient temperature” cabs (ie, no air conditioning, so we’ve got all the windows open) is actually the horn, especially in the F units. Our RS18u’s have the horn back on the long hood, so it’s not quite as bad.
Now, back in the engine area of an F is a different story…
85db…max continious sound level…I will look on my locomotives sound rating tag saturday and confirm…
Back in the days before noise level regulations…
125db in the engine room of a Metra F7 at full throttle with the Cummins engine also running at 1800rpm (E8s were a tad quieter at ‘only’ 120db (I think some of the sound from the twin 567’s cancelled each other out)).
100db in the cab of a CNW Crandall E8 (110 when horn sounded).
95db from the exhaust of a 24RL automatic brake valve.
115db going across a three-track diamond with the windows open.
115db while passing another freight train at a closing speed of 60mph with the windows open on jointed rail.
All measurements made with a calibrated sound pressure meter that I also used to use for adjusting home theater systems back when I had my audio recording studio in the late 1970s.
Back then I wore not only the foam in-the-ear plugs, but also the over-the-ear earmuff-type protection at the same time.
The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has maximum allowable noise level standards based on times of exposure.For example the maximum 8 hour continuous noise exposure is 90 dbA which is the maximum sound pressure level that can be endured without pain or permanent hearing damage
No personal knowledge so I’ll defer to those with the firsthand experience. But I just saw a repeat of a Modern Marvels episode about locomotives I believe is only a couple years old. At one point they visited EMD’s assemply shop and noted that newer locomotives are being built with isolated cabs to help reduce the noise levels. The testing engineeers commented during a test ride that is was possible in that cab to carry on a normal conversation and also not have to wear ear protection.
In Europe, Most diesel electrics are dual-cabs. In Norway, the locomotives are often turned before returning, with the alternator end forward.
Jan Arne Rodland, Oslo, Norway
An add-on: during the later years of the NOHAB-s, a dual-cab version, with 567C-prime movers, Norwegian engineers had a 15 minutes additional “on-duty time” for every hour at the controls.
Jan Arne Rodland, oslo, Norway
Wife works for an ear, nose and throat doctor. A large number of patients are rr employees with hearing problems.
So A K5LA over the engineer’s head would cause hearing problems?
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Never would’ve guessed.
Speak up a bit, would you?
That’s it for the newer stuff (circa 1990). There was no std before that. In the 1980s, Conrail pushed the manufacturers to lower cab noise levels to 80dB. It took a while to get there, but the SD60Is were below 80dB.
One of the things that helped was moving the horn from the cab roof to the long hood. As I recall, an SD40-2 with the horn sounding was in the mid 90s in the cab (windows closed). Conrail had some B23-7s where the horn was aimed right at the toilet compartment roof vent. 110dB+ would scare the ---- out of you! (maybe this is a “feature” not a defect?)
Afew years ago I had the pleasure of a cab ride between Dallas and Austin in Amtrak’s Texas Eagle. The cab was well sound insulated and a normal conversation could be carried on. Ear plugs were not needed. The horn was not a problem either. The cab was air conditioned which was welcome in the hot Texas summers.
BNSF provides hearing protection and eye goggles. AFIK, NYCT does so too.