What is it for? I have seen it in the cab. Thanks!
Karn[:)]
to make the engineer mad by going off at the stupidest times. ( like while doing a switching move .) its use is for stopping the train if the engineer goes to sleep ,dies, falls out the window saving the conductor.
The official purpose of an alerter is to act as a safety device to prevent the Engineer from falling asleep or dozing of and not paying attention, thus it’s name “Alerter”. Unofficially, as Wabash correctly points out they are often a useless pain in the ***. They are supposed to reset automatically when you use the brakes(independent, automatic or dynamic) or the throttle. Often they don’t. Also, there is a manual reset “whisker” that is on the control stand so you can hit that and reset.
LC
This reset, is it like the snooze button I keep hitting on my alarm clock?
Sounds like a good explanation, but with one important difference. Snooze is supposed to let you sleep, the alerter is supposed keep you up.
How often does an engineer need to reset it? What does it sound like?
Karn[:)]
Do you need a sledge hammer? Or any kind of hammer to solve this problem?
BNSFrailfan.
I believe it’s called percussive maintenance
Walt says he always thought it was called “the dead man’s peddle or throttle.”
Think they could have used one of those in “Runaway Train”?! But if they had,
the movie wouldn’t have been as good.
a dead man peddle is the old fashon way…most engins have that removed for the electrocic aleter system…
the dean man peddle is a peddle on the floor that hooks into the controll stand…the engineer had to keep his foot on it at all times while the trains is moving… if he takes his foot off of it…it makes a very load ear screeching sound…and will start to put the brakes on the train…
the alerter isnt too much differnt in theroy behind what it dose… it uses a sencer that detects controll movements…such as the horn bell… any movement of the brake handles…throttle or dynmaic brake…when you move any of the above mentiond things on the controll stand…it starts a timer ticking…at the end of the time limet…(and each alearter unit seems to be differnt…along with differnces in manufacters on the time limets)… it makes a noise and also starts a light flashing… if you dont do something to annule …(you have about 25 seconds or so) and it will put what is know as a penelity application of the brakes on your train… basicly what it dose is put all the air on…at a service application rate…it brings your train to a nice controlled stop…unlike an emergancy brake application…once you hvae a penelity application…you have to rest the air brakes by moveing the automatic brake handle to the supprestion possition…and waite a few mins…after that…you knock it back to releace…and pump up and go…
it is a safty device that can not be disabled exect by permistion of the train dispatcher…and if so disabled…the locomotive is a FRA shop then…and cant be used in service as a leader untill the next calander day inspection is due…or to a repair location where the engin can be fixed…which ever one comes first …
so hitting it what a hammer to make it shut up…is a big no no…lol…
hope this helps…
csx engineer
What?
Oh sorry, thats YOUR name in your signature.
The “engineer falls out the window saving the conductor” comment got a laugh out of me. How often does that happen?
Adrianspeeder