Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
INSPECT
Locomotive Brake Inspection -- single locomotive
Inspect Blue Card for inspection within 92 days.
Apply hand brake, blow down Main Reservoir
Independent Full Application -- cut in MU-2A (26 stand)
Automatic Full Release (26) or Running (6) -- cut in Automatic
Verify standard brake pipe pressure
Verify locomotive brakes applied, shoes aligned, rigging, piston travel etc.
STAND
Standing Locomotive Test -- observe brakes at each step
Release automatic and independent
Automatic -- 10 psi brake pipe reduction
Cut - out 26 brake pipe
Leakage must not exceed 5 psi/minute
Actuate ( 4 sec/unit)
Automatic -- Full Service (26) or 10 psi brake pipe reduction (6)
Release Automatic
Independent Full Application -- release hand brake, chocks, etc.
RUN
Running Locomotive Test -- observe cylinder press. & retarding effect at each step
Apply Independent
Release Independent
Apply Automatic
Actuate Independent
Automatic to Full Service
Summary of Required Locomotive Inspections
SITUATION
Daily
X
When taking charge
Initial Light Movement
Change Light Locomotive Consist
Change Control Stations
Accepting Tested from Mechanical
One authoritative source for minimum standards - though any railroad may impose stricter requirements - is the FRA regulations for railroads at the U.S. Government's ''Code of Federal Regulations'', Title 49, Volume 4 [Revised as of October 1, 2008], From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access[CITE AS: 49CFR232.1] as follows:
Title 49--Transportation
PART 232--BRAKE SYSTEM SAFETY STANDARDS FOR FREIGHT AND OTHER NON-PASSENGER TRAINS AND EQUIPMENT; END-OF-TRAIN DEVICES
Subpart C—Inspection and Testing Requirements
Double heading and helper service.
It's too long and complicated for me to copy and paste here, so if you want to know more, go to this website instead:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_08/49cfr232_08.html
- Paul North.
Here are the brake rules used by GVT as well as Conrail's EC-99 brake rules.
Both will cover the various brake tests, as well as a number of other of things. Note that the EC-99 is not complete. I never finished formatting all of the illustrations and charts.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Air tests are regulated under the federal Power Brake Law. The testing procedures are spelled out in the railroad's Air Brake manual. But basically....
Class I (Initial Terminal Test/ITT): required when a train is built at it's initial terminal and anytime cars have been off air for more then 4 hours.
At locations with ground air and car inspectors, the car knockers can preform the ITT before the power is attached. The ITT can also be preformed by the conductor, or the car inspector with the locomotive. Note that after an ITT is preformed with ground air, a Road Test is needed when the power is added, before the train can depart.
Take a Ride on the Reading with the: Reading Company Technical & Historical Society http://www.readingrailroad.org/
Basically, there are three types of tests:
Class One, or initial terminal brake test: Done on the entire consist, and as Carl notes, every single car has to be inspected, on both sides, both set and released. If it's a long train, it'll take a while.
A class one also has to be done if the train has been "off air" for more than four hours. This applies to us on the Adirondack Scenic - even though we've done tests of the consists as it stands, the locomotive is shut down overnight. Thus, each morning we do a class one test on the consist. If we have two crew members doing the test, we change sides between the set and release.
I never do a class two, or enroute test, and I don't have my rules handy to look it up. As the name implies, it's intended to recheck the train at certain points in its journey.
IIRC, in the case of both the Class 1 and Class 2, it might be folks from the car department performing the tests, not the road crew.
When doing the Class 1, I'm also looking at brake shoe condition and for any other issues that might affect safe operation.
A class three test is done any time there is a change to the consist, like adding or dropping cars, or in our case on ADIX, when we run the locomotive around the consist at each end of our trips. The idea is to verify that the trainline is continuous from locomotive to the last car. It can be done with a gauge, but we normally ensure that we see the brakes on the last car apply and release on cue.
On trains with an EOT, the engineer ensures that the EOT shows the appropriate pressures at the appropriate times. Having the conductor walk all the way to the tail end of the train would be time consuming, and possibly hazardous due to less than optimum walking conditions along the ROW.
Sawtooth500I know before moving a train you're supposed to perform the brake test. I can find plenty of into on the net about air brakes, but is there a good place that explains all about the brake test? Like when exactly you have to do one and how it's done?
No your mistaken about having to do a brake test before moving a train, there is no rule saying a brake test is needed to move a train, after a train is built and the initial class 1 test is done there is no need to retest a train at every crew swap, the only stipulation is if the train consist is changed other than solid blocks from the head or rear then a class 1 test must be preformed again. there is other rules that i wont get into just go read the gcor rules.I am not sure how many types of test there is now, use to be 16 or so, and amtrak was differant than freight.
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