dehusmanJust because EHH liked it, doesn't mean it was right.
But on the other side of the coin, if you are reducing the number of employees working - you want to increase flexibility of those remaining employees. RCLs (remote controlled locomotives) limit that. You can only use engines equipped with RCO (remote control operator) gear. You can only use designated tracks if using remote zones. You need sufficient remote operators.
When things are super busy, yeah, RCl's can help. But when you are trying to run the place on limited manpower - you can shoot yourself in the foot, depending on how the place is set up.
We ran into this the other day. They couldn't fill a local due to lack of available manpower. So they sent us (2-man traditional switch crew) 10 miles down the mainline to serve an industry that was out of cars. If all they had was RCO men or equipment - that customer would have been screwed.
And last ngiht, the RCLs we had stopped loading. So they had to use other power - power not equipped for RCO operation. RCOs seem more like a set of handcuffs than anything else. And I've spent years running them.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
zardoz jeffhergert I had a 14850 ft manifest yesterday. Cripes! How do you handle such a long train in hogback country? Also, what was the power distribution? And did you make it end-to-end in one piece?
jeffhergert I had a 14850 ft manifest yesterday.
Cripes! How do you handle such a long train in hogback country? Also, what was the power distribution? And did you make it end-to-end in one piece?
Three engines on line (2 more dead) on the head end. One DP about 8500 feet behind the 5th engine on the head end.
We had working PTC with Trip Optimizer integrated, so the computer ran the thing for about 2/3rds of the trip. It gave me back control through the terminal area in Omaha/Council Bluffs. And the whole thing (PTC and Trip Optimizer) went belly up just as we were approaching the worst part of the territory. Three big hogbacks and sags that can cause normal sized trains to tear apart if you're not careful. We made it through OK.
Jeff
jeffhergert Three big hogbacks and sags that can cause normal sized trains to tear apart if you're not careful. We made it through OK.
Congratulations. Do you use different throttle settings (between leading units and DPU's) or do they all get the same setting? And does T.O. ceate different power settings for each power block or just the same power setting for all? It would strike me that you have to be making many mental calculations to maintain appropriate power settings while considering all the variables of weight, drawbar pull, grade, etc.
I use the fence and operate the DP apart from the head end going through those spots. When Trip Optimizer and LEADER auto throttle are engaged, they immediately put up the fence and constantly make throttle adjustments on both head and dp consists as the train is moving. More than is probably necessary.
I've allowed T-O to run trains through those spots and it does pretty good. I've heard stories where T-O didn't do too well. Where it advised to set minimum service on the automatic brake on a 10000 plus manifest. (It can only handle throttle/dynamic braking at this time.) Then it advised to release the automatic. Not the best advise considering where they were. The engineer did has the computer said and the train broke in two.
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