In NJ I am used to seeing the Atlantic City train run backwards from Philly to AC but now I notice Amtrak trains running backwards as well on the NEC. Is this new? Which ones do this and why?
Many rail passenger operators operate their equipment in push-pull fashion. The ‘rear’ car is known as a ‘cab car’. That car has proper operating control for the locomotive engineer to use - all necessary control functions of the locomotive are trainlined through the train so the locomotive engineer can use them to operate the locomotive.
Such train sets don’t require being turned at their destinations - the locomotive engineer just secures the controls of the unit they are operating and walks to the other control unit and configures the controls for operation of that unit.
The Trinity Railway Express (TRE) between Dallas and Fort Worth is a push/pull operation. From Dallas to Fort Worth the locomotive pulls the train; from Fort Worth to Dallas it pushes it.
Last week I rode the train from Fort Worth to Dallas. I was in the car just in front of the locomotive. When the engineer blew the horn for the grade crossings, the horn on the locomotive sounded.
Is it not possible to turn off the locomotive horn when it is at the back of the train and pushing it?
Metra, and its predecessors, have operated push-pull service for many, many years, on the C&NW starting in 1960. The horn is turned off in the pushing engine or trailing cab car.
All of Metra’s diesel-powered trains are push-pulls, with the locomotive leading on the outbound runs. This has the effect of keeping the locomotive away from the passengers boarding or alighting at the various downtown terminals.
New Jersey Transit operates quite a few “push-pull” trains as well. I read an interview with an NJ Transit engineer where he was asked what it was like running a train from the control car and not the locomotive…
“Uhhhh, it DOE’S take a bit of getting used to! At first, it just doesn’t ‘feel’ right, after a while it’s OK.”
For a doctrinaire railfan like myself it just doesn’t look right, so when I run the Jersey Transit set on the layout the locomotive’s up front pulling the consist, like it’s “supposed” to be! [swg]
Even so, carbon and other emissions were very high, as the Tribune exposed a few years ago. Perhaps in part a function of very old engines?
For railfans and others who enjoy seeing what is ahead, the view is ideal. A few years ago, Carl and I rode from Chicago to Antioch and back; on the return we saw pretty much what the engineer saw.
My first such experience came in 1970 when I rode the morning Metroliner from Washington to New York, stnading in the vestibule most of way.
I don’t know enough about how trains operate to comment.
Is there any difference in starting and stopping when pushing as opposed to pulling? Any slack between cars cause a difference? Other issues?
Back when the CNW part of Metra was still using the F7 and E8’s, those locomotives would sit at idle while awaiting departure; they also had an auxillary Cummins (and briefly a few had Detroit) HEP engines in the rear. Those engines, even though they operated at a high RPM, were nasty, smelly, and oily. So between the low-revving prime mover and the awful HEP motors, it’s not too surprising that the air quality was terrible.
When the train stops, the slack will adjust itself, so when departing the condition of the slack needs to be considered (just like a freight train).
The old Metra (CNW) bilevel cars not only had a terrible “parking brake” which was incredibly loud when released and only kept the brakes on one truck, they had a lot of slack–it was quite easy to “spill the coffee” when starting if the power was either a F7 or E8, both of which were equipped with the load regulator in ‘max field’ continuously, so when you opened the throttle 1500 amps immediately went to work. When operating from the locomotive, one could mitigate the initial power surge by holding the independent brake on full, and then slowly releasing it.
From the cabcar there is no way to control the brakes on the locomotive except with the trainline; so when stopped, we’d keep the train brakes set while stopped at the station. Which was fine, except when you first started moving after releasing the brakes, the trainline would not be fully charged, so for a brief period you had less-effective brakes. But as the stations were at least two minutes apart, the brakes would be ok for the next station stop.
The Amtrak trains that run with cab cars are Keystone Service trains that operate between Harrisburg, Philadelphia and New York. They run push-pull on the Philadelphia-Harrisburg section. Trains serving New York change direction in Philadelphia, where 30th St. is south of the connection between the Corridor and the line to Harrisburg.
The San Jose/Oakland-Sacramento trains run push=pull as I recall.
zardoz, thanks for the info. I appreciate people like you on this forum who have experience and are willing to share it with someone like me.
York1, that is a great part of these forums–those who know are always glad to share their knowledge with other train/railroad lovers, whether we work/worked for a railroad or have always had other employment.
And, when we have erred in a post, most of us willingly accept correction.
The Keystone Service trains make sense but the Amtraks I have seen going backwards are definitely running north between PHL 30th St. and NYP. I actually dont think they can turn a train around in Philly or they would have been turning the Atlantic City Trains frontward for all these years.
The NC Piedmont trains are running pull-pull, but being converted to push-pull as additional de-motered locomotoves arrive to serve as control cabs.
That is probably wise because of the many grade crossing in NC and the many crossing accidents that have occurred!
Also, it may be looking ahead to the possibility of moving the Charlotte station almost back to its old place on Trade. As well as I can tell to run with power forward would then necessitate a long backup move in Charlotte whereas it is now a short distance to a wye.
As a fan/bystander, I still liked those Es and Fs better than anything since. Heck, I even liked the old Geeps and the rare SD7.
The Trib article was just a few years ago and referred to the current engines - F40PHs.