Electric Trains...

[awalker1829]

I just got home last week from a railway preservation conference in the Chicago area. This year, our host museum was the Illinois Railway Museum. We had plenty of seminars on various topics, but we also had time for fun. I got to drive several electric trains under supervision of a pilot motorman (for safety and insurance reasons). I suppose the most fun was running on the main line at 40 mph with two 45,000 pound Chicago "El" cars! I had never run a car with that style of controller, but got used to it quickly. Watching for signals, observing speed restrictions and keeping train orders straight while operating an unfamiliar car on an unfamiliar railroad is taxing.

Of course, it helped that I have 20+ years of experience working on the railroad, ten of which have been running electric trains.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Sounds like a lot of fun, no pictures???

[entropy]

.029. HO. or N gauge?

[Longcolt44]

Wow, I always thought that trains just had a go and stop lever. They are on tracks so how can you make a wrong turn? Do you have the gray and black striped hat, Big Ben overalls and a big red hankie hanging off the rear pocket?

[awalker1829]

Sounds like a lot of fun, no pictures???

Not until I upload them.

[awalker1829]

.029. HO. or N gauge?

In this case, 12" to the foot scale-a.k.a. the real thing. Power source is a 600 volt DC trolley wire.

[awalker1829]

Wow, I always thought that trains just had a go and stop lever. They are on tracks so how can you make a wrong turn? Do you have the gray and black striped hat, Big Ben overalls and a big red hankie hanging off the rear pocket?

Some do have a single handle, like Chicago's El cars. Depress the handle and turn it one way and the train goes. Depress it and turn it the other way and the train stops. Lift up on the handle while the train is moving and the brakes will go into emergency application-deadman feature. Steam, diesel and electric locomotives usually have four levers for basic operation: reverser-determines which way you go; throttle; independent air brake-controls the brake on the locomotive only; train brake-controls brakes on locomotive and train.


I used to have the striped cap and overalls. However, many engineers preferred the polka dotted Kromer caps.

As for making a wrong turn, it can be done if the switch isn't lined for your move. On main line tracks, the position of a switch is usually indicated by signal indication-important as most switches have speed restrictions when moving from one track to another.

[entropy]

Sounds like a lot of fun. I was just joshing about the scale.

[Junk Yard Dog]

I watched that train disaster movie Unstoppable, I thought trains were supposed to have some sort of a deadman switch.....they do right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM-0Ywc7wNY

[RudyN]

I used to have a "N" guage set up in my garage, but life sort of got in the way (and guns) so I took it down. I still have the rolling stock though if I ever want to start again.

[awalker1829]

I watched that train disaster movie Unstoppable, I thought trains were supposed to have some sort of a deadman switch.....they do right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM-0Ywc7wNY

Not all locomotives have a deadman switch. The deadman switch was a requirement of the Interstate Commerce Commission, as was Automatic Train Control on all lines where the maximum authorized speed exceeded 79 miles per hour. Not all railroads were subject to ICC regulation-specifically the railroads operated by branches of the United States Department of Defense. On an electric train or diesel electric locomotive, the deadman switch does two operations-it opens the circuit that supplies the traction motors with power and it applies the brakes to stop the train. On modern electric trains, the train goes into braking mode and uses the motors to slow the train until the speed is five miles per hour. At thar point, the friction brakes apply to bring the train to a final stop. That feature is also present on many newer diesel electric locomotives.

Steam locomotives never had a deadman switch for a couple of reasons. One is that they generally require two men to operate and the other is that there was no practical way to automatically shut steam off.

The road that I ran on had four diesel electric locomotives in regular service, none of which had a deadman switch. Those locomotives were all built for the United States Army Transportation Corps between 1943 and 1952 and were not subject to ICC regulations. They were transferred to other government operatations and eventually excessed and acquired by our road. Even though we use them in passenger service, the locomotives are not required by the Federal Railroad Administration to have modern safety appliances such as event recorders (black boxes), deadman controls or other safety equipment that was not required at the time the locomotive was built. The reason is that those locomotives are classified as "historic equipment" by the FRA. The locomotives were two American Locomotive Company RSD-1s and two Electro Motive Division GP-7Ls. The RSD-1s were military design variants of the RS-1 that had three axel trucks and European dimension cabs for foreign operations and were used in Europe and Africa during the war. The GP-7L was a variant of the GP-7 that had switcher trucks instead of road trucks and could be operated in two different electric modes: one for switching and one for road service. Switching mode delivered more torque with the traction motors but made for rough handling. The only buyers for the GP-7L were the US Army and the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Around here we have the LIRR, Amtrak, and Metro North. I know a guy who is an electrician for metro North, after that well publicized incident were the train failed to negotiate a turn at high speed he was on the repair crew. He showed me a picture of the side of a passenger car with a huge red/.brown stain all along the outside, one of the deceased passengers made it. The guy either fell asleep at the switch, or zoned out, he wasn't on drugs, and didn't slow the train for the hard turn. That was what made me think of deadman switches, if he had been sleeping his hand or foot would have come off the switch, what a mess. We haven't had a freight running RR here since 1971 when they closed the last one, the tracks ran right behind our shop and we shipped scrap iron by rail back then. That was the New York Central RR.

[Mike]

Nice!

I have N, HO and OO, I don't have a layout built right now but will in our next house. I'm actually trimming the HO collection now to concentrate more on OO.

[BuckeyeSgt]

My kid loves trains. He has 5-6 of the electric Lego trains and 3-4 Lionel types. Trains everywhere. He is 11 and wants to go to some train school in Atlanta.

[bunkysdad]

This is very interesting awalker, and if you get a chance to post some of your pictures they should be well received here. I could have enjoyed a lifetime of being a railroad man.

[MadisonAV]

I'm currently working on a HOn3 layout (HO narrow gauge 3' between tracks) layout in my basement. My grandfather, step-grandfather, and great-grandfather all worked for the Chicago and Northwestern RR in Green Bay, WI. My biggest fantasy is to go back to 1939 when the Milwaukee Road was running their Hiawatha passenger service from Chicago, to Milwaukee, to Saint Paul at over 100 mph through the Wisconsin countryside. Being an engineer on one of their 4-8-4 steam powered Hudsons with 84" driver wheels would have been the thrill of a lifetime. That engine had an estimated top speed of over 130 mph. That thrill would have been right up there with my NASCAR Experience last summer where I drove a retired NASCAR car on Chicago International Speedway at a top lap of 148 mph.

[SA1911a1]

I learned something about trains last week: Never park your backhoe in front of a train moving at 106 mph... Train 1- Backhoe 0. I feel bad for the families of the two workers who were killed.

[Rongo]

Sounds like a lot of fun. I was just joshing about the scale.

Hey, I had a nice HO set as a kid. Pops & I built a nice table 4'x8' in size, laid all the track & grass... Good times.

[Rongo]

Sounds like a lot of fun, no pictures???

[bunkysdad]

Wow I had no idea those incredible old steam locomotives had that kind of speed. That is very interesting.