We have GE's trip optimizer on my carrier, which will do it all, throttle, dynamic, perminant and temporary speed restrictions but, of course, will not recognize signal aspects. I work undualating territory and I don't care for the system at all. It does not seem to recognize the rolling characteristics of intermodal trains (which I run). It is excruciatingly slow approaching slow orders, and then, at the last second, randomly fails to get down to the posted speed! Of course, we're supposed to anticipate when that might happen! In multiple track territory, it asks which track you're going to be on, far in advance of where one could possibly know. It will also slow you down, anticipating a crossover move miles away whether or not your going to cross over at that point. When you are close enough to determine your route at the next interlocking, the train must be accelerated back up to line speed. Yeh, that's saving fuel. Cresting a grade, I've had it go in and out of dynamic up to 19!!! times, before deciding that the train is accelerating sufficiently downhill to stay in dynamic. It runs sloppy in areas of short, multiple grade changes, driving hard into the bottoms and then going into dynamic uphill, causing some pretty nice run-ins. Places, where a knowledgable hoghead could drift a train in idle for miles, optimizer jumps in and out of dynamic and power. Sloppy. I'm a cranky old head. I've always taken a great deal of pride in getting over the road safely and efficiently. Smooth train handling has always been my goal. An intimate familiarity of the grade profile, signal locations and perminant speed restrictions is an absolute necessity for good train handling. At least for me, the screen profile just doesn't come close. Just let me run my own train for a few more years.
rfpjohnAn intimate familiarity of the grade profile, signal locations and perminant speed restrictions is an absolute necessity for good train handling. At least for me, the screen profile just doesn't come close. Just let me run my own train for a few more years.
I agree with you - but with 900 miles of railroad to learn - I'll take any help I can get. I'm not proud.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
That's alot of territory! Good luck and happy rails to you!
rfpjohn That's alot of territory! Good luck and happy rails to you!
Sad part is, that if all goes as planned, I won't be regularly running on 97% of it.
Frustration, thy name is railroad.
Zugman:That is life in general. Prepare for the big picture, work a smaller chunk. Why did I ever waste time in French class 30 some years ago?Ed
Ed - Like me (not that I knew it at the time ): So you have a chance of understanding the locals when you can go visit the Quebec, North Shore & Labrador (Tshiuetin Rail for the passenger service), Cartier, and other railroads up there (the reason I bought a French-English dictionary a few years ago); and/ or the trains in Quebec and Montreal; or maybe go to France to ride the TGV's and regional rail lines (which my daughter will be doing in about a week).
- Paul North.
MP173 Why did I ever waste time in French class 30 some years ago?
Yeah, with subtitles and Google Translate, hardly seems worth the effort.
Why did I start taking French in the 10th grade? To round out my class schedule, which needed another subject since Iwas not taking Vocational Agriculture, which the majority of the boys in my class were taking--I had no thought of being a farmer (and only one or two of my classmates ended up farming). As a result, fifty some-odd years later I was able to converse, briefly, with a native in Quebec City.
Johnny
Paul_D_North_Jr Ed - Like me (not that I knew it at the time ): So you have a chance of understanding the locals when you can go visit the Quebec, North Shore & Labrador (Tshiuetin Rail for the passenger service), Cartier, and other railroads up there (the reason I bought a French-English dictionary a few years ago); and/ or the trains in Quebec and Montreal; or maybe go to France to ride the TGV's and regional rail lines (which my daughter will be doing in about a week). - Paul North.
have ridden both the QCM as well as the QNS&L and the TGV, RATP, RER etc without knowing a single word of French and got along just fine, but that's an arrogant American talking!
Buslist Quick lesson on signal terms. The "display" or look of the signal is called the Aspect. Begins with the letter A which helps when you think of it as the "Appearance" of the signal. The name of the aspect is called the Indication. Beginning with I helps to remember it's the "Information" conveyed by that aspect. So green would be a signal aspect , clear would be the indication.
Quick lesson on signal terms. The "display" or look of the signal is called the Aspect. Begins with the letter A which helps when you think of it as the "Appearance" of the signal. The name of the aspect is called the Indication. Beginning with I helps to remember it's the "Information" conveyed by that aspect. So green would be a signal aspect , clear would be the indication.
Thank you for this. Your definitions of Aspect and Indication are exactly as I learned them 50 years ago on the NYC. Misuse of Aspect above was beginning to raise my blood pressure.
And while I'm posting, that Red Over Yellow, in my rule book, which I still have, was Rule 290 "Restricting". Its Indication was "Proceed at restricted speed". (Yeah, I had to look it up.)
I must have heard a thousand times: "Signals don't tell you where you're going; they only tell you how far and how fast you can go."
ChuckAllen, TX
cefinkjr Buslist Quick lesson on signal terms. The "display" or look of the signal is called the Aspect. Begins with the letter A which helps when you think of it as the "Appearance" of the signal. The name of the aspect is called the Indication. Beginning with I helps to remember it's the "Information" conveyed by that aspect. So green would be a signal aspect , clear would be the indication. Thank you for this. Your definitions of Aspect and Indication are exactly as I learned them 50 years ago on the NYC. Misuse of Aspect above was beginning to raise my blood pressure. And while I'm posting, that Red Over Yellow, in my rule book, which I still have, was Rule 290 "Restricting". Its Indication was "Proceed at restricted speed". (Yeah, I had to look it up.) I must have heard a thousand times: "Signals don't tell you where you're going; they only tell you how far and how fast you can go."
At one point there was a clear difference between North American Signal practice and European. European tended to be "route" based, it told you what route you were lined on, you need to know the speeds required. North American practice was speed ( and as you said how far you can go) based. That distinction has blurred somewhat in recent years with a bit more route information in North American practice. Can't comment on any European trends.
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