While in Temple watching trains the other day, a number of questions came to mind as I watched the large freight trains (100+ cars) roll by.
On the BNSF the line curves just south of the Temple Amtrak Station. If the train has 100+ cars, how does the engineer know when the last car has cleared the curve and, therefore, the train’s speed can be increased to that authorized for straight track?
If the train has to be stopped on a slight down grade, how is the slack controlled? On the other hand, if the train has to be stopped on a slight up grade, how is the slack controlled?
One of the trains that I observed had three locomotives on the front end and one on the back end. If the second locomotive fails, can the engineer still run the train by using the power from the first, third and back locomotives?
Are the cabs of most modern locomotives air conditioned?
Are most conductors also trains to operate the locomotive in case the engineer takes sick or is otherwise unable to perform his or her duties?
LION will let the engineers answer most of your questions, but him knows the answer here. The engineer has a variety of brakes available to him to control the train. He has the engine brakes, and he has the train brakes, and through a rear locomotive, or if he has a smart FRED on the rear he can also control the brakes from the back of the train. But of course, he has to be a good engineer, and have a real feel for his motors and his loads, and how a particular train is behaving. Brakes present more of a problem in the winter time. But as you have observed, anybody can move a train, the skill comes in controlling and stopping the train.
When there is a rear locomotive these days, it is called “Distributed Power” and it is controlled from the engineer in the front of the train. If a prime mover dies, the controls in the front locomotive are (or should be) still operative. Sometimes they must remove to the second locomotive to control the train, on the railroad they will switch the engines around at the first chance they get. On the subways, they will dump the passengers at the first station along the line, and then move the consist into the first empty pocket to wait for the car knockers.
Yes and No. Some are and some are not. Crews will try to put the beast with the working A/C in the front, but sometimes they cannot have their way, or there is simply not A/C beast on that train (or maybe even on that railroad!)
The only BNSF conductor I know is also a licensed engineer. They can control the train while the engineer visits the nose.
On the subways if the motorman asks for a “comfort”. that
Most locomotives are equipped with a distance meter that measures how far the train has traveled since the Engineer activates the meter. Normally at the start of a run the Engineer dials in the length of a train from the printout he receives. Then when the locomotive is clear of the speed restriction he activates the meter and when the count hits zero he can increase his speed.
On an upgrade the slack will normally be stretched, if the train does not have helper or DPU locomotives and the Engineer wants some slack in the front portion of the train he can push into the train with his locomotives while leaving the train brakes set. Conversely on a downgrade the slack will be bunched unless the Engineer pulls against the train while the brakes are set. Doing either of these is going to cause tricky train handling situations when the Engineer releases the train brakes to begin moving again. Normally the Engineer does not want the slack moving in or out anymore than it has to. When he is pulling he wants the slack stretched behind the front power, of necessity it will be bunched ahead of the DPU locomotives if on the rear. In braking the slack is bunched against the locomotives. The tricky part is gathering the slack when transitioning from power to braking, as not only can you damage lading and equipment, you can also get hurt if the
While in Temple watching trains the other day, a number of questions came to mind as I watched the large freight trains (100+ cars) roll by.
On the BNSF the line curves just south of the Temple Amtrak Station. If the train has 100+ cars, how does the engineer know when the last car has cleared the curve and, therefore, the train’s speed can be increased to that authorized for straight track?
There are a couple different ways to tell when the rear end clears a certain spot, like a speed restriction or crossing. Most locomotives have a counter, either integrated into the computer screens or on the EOT head end device. (The ones on the computer screen can usually be used either to count up from 0 or count down to 0 from a preset number.) You will always know at least how many cars are on the train, if not the footage itself.
A second method, one I usually use because many times the counter may be off, especially if it’s on a EOTHD, is to convert the train length from miles to miles and tenths. Then just figure the mile post location of what you are clearing and watch the mile posts. (Many lines have the mile, 1/4, 1/2,and 3/4 mile points marked.) Example, the train I had last night was listed as 7512 feet. 1.4 miles is 7392’ and 1.5 is 7920’. I use the 1.5 mile figure since it’s longer than my train’s length, which gives me a safety factor since mile posts aren’t always 5280’ apart. If the restriction ends at 221.25, when the head end is at 222.75 the rear end should be clear.
If the train has to be stopped on a slight down grade, how is the slack controlled? On the other hand, if the train has to be stopped on a slight up grade, how is the slack controlled?
Thanks for the input. Now I know a lot more than I knew before I asked the questions. The UP line between Hutto, TX, and Taylor, TX, has a siding about half way between the two communities. UP freights frequently have to take the siding, which depending on the direction they are traveling, is a slight up hill or down hill grade.
Here is a follow-up question or two:
When the right-of-way engineers layout the track, including sidings, do they take into consideration the start (giddy-up) and stop (whoa) characteristics of a typical train when they decide where to place the siding?
Are most of the engineers that work on designing or upgrading railroad rights-of-way civil engineers? Is maintenance of way engineer a better title?
Note: Answers true, may be some comic relief here, though…
At a usual max of some 4-5 cars (maybe 8 during the fall), we can usually see the end of the train. Regardless, a member of the crew on the consist will often call the cab on the radio and tell the engineer they are clear of the restriction.
Given that a) we usually only have four or five locomotive running on the railroad and b)I think I’ve see three locomotive MU’d on our line about twice, I’d have to say that while the engineer could still run the train, that almost 2% grade up Purgatory Hill would present a significant challenge if we assembled a train that required that much power and one unit failed.
I’m sure they are, but given that our “newest” locomotive is fifty years old, “air conditioning” consists of the cab heaters (which usually work) and windows (which don’t always do the job).
[quote]
Are most conductors also trained to operate the locomotive in case the engineer take
Yes as far as possible they do, however many older sidings were much shorter originally and during an extension they may not be able to keep the whole siding level, since they may need to keep the adjacent main track in operation and if serious cutting or filling is required it may cause interference with the main track.
The Engineering Field they work in is called Civil Engineering, however their actual job titles are like Assistant Division Engineer, Division Engineer, Senior Bridge Engineer, Vice President of Engineering Services, and similar.
Jeff; – You have the right idea. As a pilot the co-pilots we got at least had some experience in flying and could demonstrate their ability. There is no place other than loco simulators for new conductors to learn the dynamics of operating a locomotive. Everyone I ever flew for had the policy of the co-pilot taking every other flight leg to learn the ropes unless the Captain thought otherwise. All the time as Captain only had to take away a landing twice due to very abnormal conditions. Both times the co-pilot observed and learned valuable lessons. Plus if their were times of difficulty would have the co-pilot take my landing.
When the Captain took away a landing you bet the co-pilot knew that there were things to learn.
There is a big difference in the skill set that co-pilots and railroad conductors bring to the table as new hires. I believe (though I may be mistaken) co-pilots must at least have a private pilots license. The primary skill that new hire railroad conductors bring to the job is that they can [sarcasam] walk, breathe, tell
IIRC from various readings, back in the day the fireman (at least those who’d been around for a bit) did know how to run, and might even take the seat from time to time, if they had a friendly engineer who wanted a break.
Might have even been true of the head end brakeman.
There is a big difference in the skill set that co-pilots and railroad conductors bring to the table as new hires. I believe (though I may be mistaken) co-pilots must at least have a private pilots license. The primary skill that new hire railroad conductors bring to the job is that
Where I work, most of the promoted guys are currently running. A few have taken voluntary flow-back to conductor. They have the option to do this as long as all available engineer positions are filled and do so to hold better jobs than their engineer seniority allows. Used to be that we would let non-promoted guys get the feel of things after we felt comfortable with them. As a new brakeman back in the late 70’s, one engineer I worked with would turn it over to me for 35 miles on a night local. His instruction sounded mostly like snoring! In today’s railroad environment, everything is a federal crime. I pick my places to visit the rest facility, mostly on long up grades, free of road crossings and absolute signals and my conductor satisfies the alerter, even though I know he is a capable non-promoted man.
As for train handling, in addition to dynamic braking and stretch braking, throttle modulation is a great train handling tool. When a locomotive engineer is qualified on a territory, he should be intimately familiar with the grade profile of said territory and what effects it will have on train speed, given the rolling characteristics of the train he is handling. Rolling characteristics of a loaded unit coal train, as opposed to a long mixed freight or a solid intermodal train can vary greatly. Take this information and use it as template for running your train. I know, for instance, that with a solid intermodal train (mostly loads) I can shut off at 50mph, drift down grade and hit the bottom near the legal 60 and allow the following uphill drop me back to 40 for a permanent speed restriction. This is 5+ miles in idle, letting gravity do the work. On a typical 253 mile trip, I coast a train at least 50 miles. It’s fun!
Mr. Lion mentioned train braking via “FRED”. Not a good idea, as all you can do with freddy is dump the train.
Are the engineer and conductor in the case of a freight train locomotive, or the engineer in the case of an Amtrak locomotive, permitted to smoke in the cab whilst they are on duty?
The Texas Eagle has just the engineer in the cab of the locomotive. If he or she becomes incapacitated whilst the train is underway, how soon will the auto controls recognize it and apply the brakes? Also, how strongly are the brakes applies?
Is it true that the engineer has to touch a metal surface every minute or he gets a warning to do so, and if he does not do so, the auto control system automatically applies the brakes?
LION cannot speak of freight lines, but engineers on LIRR, MNCR and NJT are not allowed to smoke in the cabs, In New York State it is not permitted to smoke in any location where there are employees. An owner can smoke in his own shop, but if he hires someone, he may not. In North Dakota it is not permitted to smoke in any building open to the public. Each Railroad probably has its own rules, but in general, I would suspect not.
TRAINS must have an Engineer and a Conductor. On passenger trains the conductor will usually be found in the passenger cars and not on the locomotive. I do not know what scheme they use to assure his alertness, but modern locomotives have alerters on them. They must be reset every few minutes depending on the speed of the train, This can be done by an adjustment of Throttle, Brake, horn or bell, or can simply be reset by pressing the button. On some installations touching the metal will suffice, but it has to be a new touch in response to the alerter, and not just resting a hand on the console. In my royal opinion it does not work all that well, as you can press that alerter button in your sleep.
There is a big difference in the skill set that co-pilots and railroad conductors bring to the table as new hires. I believe (though I may be mistaken) co-pilots must at least have a private pilots license. The primary skill that new hire railroad conductors bring to the job is that
Are the engineer and conductor in the case of a freight train locomotive, or the engineer in the case of an Amtrak locomotive, permitted to smoke in the cab whilst they are on duty? It would depend on the individual railroad’s rules and policies. I would say in this day and age, the answer would be no almost everywhere.
The Texas Eagle has just the engineer in the cab of the locomotive. If he or she becomes incapacitated whilst the train is underway, how soon will the auto controls recognize it and apply the brakes? Also, how strongly are the brakes applies? It depends on how the timing is set up on the alerter system. Even the same system on different engines sometimes seem to be programmed a little different. Generally, every 1 to 2 minutes if the engineer doesn’t manipulate some of the controls (I’ve found on our engines it’s throttle, brake valve handles, horn or bell control) the system starts counting down. The count is 20 to 25 seconds and gives a visual (flashing light) and audible tone. If it times out and takes the air, the brake pipe drops (applying the brakes) at a service rate (not emergency) until the train line is down to atmosphere and it will reduce power to idle. You can acknowledge the count down by either pressing a button (some railroads use a metal spring “whisker” instead of a button type control) or manipulating one of the mentioned controls.