locomotives idle for days, why is it OK?

[illflem]

You guys sure about all this stuff? I asked a 40 year working on the railroad retired neighbor about the idling today. He said besides the freezing coolant the only reason they idle them is that they're too lazy to restart them.

 

[EMDDIESEL]

I would agree its laziness for the most part. I have only been doing this for 9 years and i am sometimes too lazy to walk back and start my units.

 

[Doc Tinker]

Every time I see a train go by, the Engineer is sleeping in the upright position, so maybe laziness does have a lot to do with it. I keep wondering if the horns blow on their own, or if the Engineer does it in his sleep.



Doc

 

[Cummins Cowboy]

Yeah i know what you mean about crappy diesel, when i was a kid the diesel we used in our tractors, which was brought out to us and put in a large gravity fed tank had tons of dirt and crap in it. the filters on the side of our john deeres where glass and you could always see tons of dirt in them, plus the fuel always had a dirty gritty feel to it when it got on your hands. At the time (in the 80's) the fuel wasn't dyed anycolor either. I have no idea why we didn't have alot of problems with the fuel, I know our trucks would plug up in a heart beat running this stuff.

 

[Blakers]

Originally posted by 98rammer

a little off subject... what do locomotives have for transmissions? i can hear the engine immediately rev up sometimes, but i'd only guess that it has some sort of clutch system... .

No transmission at all. The engine drives a generator directly, which powers electric motors down on the axles.



Unless you're talking steam... . but then still no transmission. Cylinders on each side drive the drive wheels directly with connecting rods.



Blake

 

[98rammer]

Originally posted by Blakers





No transmission at all. The engine drives a generator directly, which powers electric motors down on the axles.



Unless you're talking steam... . but then still no transmission. Cylinders on each side drive the drive wheels directly with connecting rods.



Blake

yeah, i've always known about the steam engines (grandfather). anyways, wouldn't the diesel to electricity waste engergy overall and therefore waste more fuel mileage/hourage?

 

[EMDDIESEL]

Its a very efficient system because the diesel engine also provides power for the compressor for the air brakes and electricity for Dynamic brakes which use the traction motors for slowing the train. There is really no other way to do it. Transmissions would never hold up and would be way too maintence intensive. They tried awhile back to use Diesel-Hydraulic but there were too many problems. Diesel-Electric is it for a LONG time to come.

 

[illflem]

Is the electric drive motor clutched in some way or does it start out at 0 rpm and slowly increase?

 

[COBRAJET]

Don't some of the big boys still spray sand down in front of the wheels to help with traction when they first get rolling? I saw that once and was totally amazed that such a simple process was called in for that duty. My grandfather was an Amtrac engineer for 35 years between LA and Phoenix. Use to pilot the old cab aheads. They sure seemed cool when I was a kid!!... . CJ

 

[EMDDIESEL]

The generator is directly coupled, no clutches or gears. Engine speed is not always in relation to how fast the locomotive will move. The electrical system has a selector that allows you to go forward, reverse or "Neutral" when you can rev the engine but the locomotive wont move). Speed is controlled by electrial conatactors set up sort of along the lines of a dimmer for a light (That is simple terms, it is really complicated to explain and would take up many pages). The only differrence is you have 8 throttle positions instead of a completley variable system. As you advance the throttle, RPM increases and the power is sent to the traction motors. Newer locomotives that use AC for traction use Capacitors which is one of the reason they have so much more tractive effort.

Locomotives still use sand for starting trains (And stopping in emergencies). Most locomotives have anti wheelslip systems that automatically apply sand if the wheels start slipping.

 

[KatDiesel]

My trains use sand all the time to move up the hills.



If they don't have it they stall out sometimes.

 

[K_Arts]

I talked to my father last night about this thread and he told me that they don't let their locomotives idle longer then 30 minutes here in Denver. If they have any work that needs to be done on them... the train is shut down.



He said that the only time they let the engines remain at an idle is if the outside temp is 40* or lower.



Kev

 

[Doc Tinker]

I know... this is a little off track... but. . A lot of coal furnaces were converted to oil burners. I've been wondering if any steam locomotives ever got converted to oil burners.



Doc

 

[Blakers]

Oh yes, many of the southwestern railroads burned oil in the steam engines. They were primarily closer to oil fields than to coal mines. They would smoke just as much as the coal fired engines would too.



Blake

 

[EMDDIESEL]

As i am sure Kat can tell you, alot of UP's and SP's locos were oil fired towards the end of the steam years. Thats what UP's challenger is now.

 

[Skydiver]

Motors

Please tell us how the motors are wound. I could not see them using brushes on commutators. Is it true what I heard that the engines do most all the stopping. Any brakes behind the engine are for (EMD) emergency use mainly?

And while I'm thinking what do they make those(DRY) bearings out of that you see the box car axles riding on.

Are the box-car brakes set to come on at lower pressure or do they need more pressure.

I stayed at the depot from the time I was age 8 till 11... 1968 till 1971.

Hey, CSX has a pair of rails coming through our town of Opelika.

But the Norfolk-Southern engines are better looking and at least cleaned up every now and then. hahaha.

Thanks Tim

 

[EMDDIESEL]

With the exception of the newer AC units, the motors have brushes and commutators. The Locomotives do alot of the stopping with Dynamic brakes, but all the freight cars have brakes too that they use to stop. When the locomotive vents the trainline air, it will apply the brakes on the cars, to release them, you increase the pressure.

 

[bvanetten]

These guys http://www.thetrain.com/ are oil burners now. Lots of fun. We took the kids on the North Pole adventure last christmas. The train leaves Williams Depot and arrives at the North Pole. The kids get to visit santa and the adults have a good time also.



Bruce

 

[JWhitcomb]

Great Thread, allways wanted to know about these things. Could someone talk about how trains know when to procede or stop due to traffic. I assume radio but am wondering if signals on a post are still used. Also what if any role does GPS play. When I was a kid in the midwest my Grand Father ran steam trains and I would get to ride now and then. I was too young to really know what was going on but still remember those train rides.

 

[EMDDIESEL]

Train operation varies from railorad to railroad and also on territory there operating. They still use signals on most areas i operate on. Alot of the signals we have are over 50 years old. Radio communication is used mainly when signals are down due to trouble or trackwork. GPS is coming in to play in something called PTS or Positive Train Seperation. What it will ultimatley do is eliminate collisons by stopping a train before it can hit another one (This is still a plan, not actually 100% effective) But its a great idea. Its still in a testing phase now. Kat would know alot about this since he is a dispatcher.