Anyone riding the New YOrk subway system notices the car markers at the stations: 4, 6, 8, 10. With standard length cars, the subway "motorman" simply pulls to a smooth stop at the right marker. The "A Division", the old IRT, has only one standard length of cars about 53 feet. The B Division has two lengths, both 60 foot, the very oldest and the very newest, and 75 feet, the inbetweens. But there are standard train lengths, and a ten car 60 footers trains is equal to an eight car 75 footer train. On the B Division, except for a few shuttle runs, trains are 8 or 4 75 footers or 10 or 5 60 footers. So there isn't a problem. This concept dates from the earliest elevated railroad days and is nothing new. I think Chicago and most other transit systems are similar.
A ENGINEER operating a passenger train knows where the engine needs to be stopped for any given consist...if he doesn't he doesn't really qualify as a ENGINEER....maybe a throttle monkey, but not a engineer.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Jack_S La Metrolink trains are burdened with stopping so that a door on the last car is lined up with a raised portion of the platform. This allows easier access for patrons in wheelchairs. Since the engineer can't see this alignment he is obviously relying on radio contact with the conductor. It is easy to see how this might result in an occasional rough stop. However, that is Metrolink, not Amtrak. Jack
La Metrolink trains are burdened with stopping so that a door on the last car is lined up with a raised portion of the platform. This allows easier access for patrons in wheelchairs. Since the engineer can't see this alignment he is obviously relying on radio contact with the conductor. It is easy to see how this might result in an occasional rough stop. However, that is Metrolink, not Amtrak.
Jack
This is no excuse. Since all Metrolink cars are the same length why are there not a signs saying 1 car, 2 cars, 3 cars etc for the engineer to plan his stop? Other commuter outfits use this and also many subway systems. The length can be set exactly for the engineer to stop.
Train handling is the sole province of the engineer knowing how to operate his equipment....some do and some don't. When they don't you feel it.
4merroad4man Don, blended brake can be one reason, but one of the principle reasons I have seen in student engineers is a complete reluctance to use the graduated brake feature, even in blend. Near the stop, the use of graduated brake feature eases the stop and eliminates that "brick wall" type of stop. Of course there are other factors at play here as well, such as the temperment of the locomotive and the consist itself, as well as grade and even weather conditions. In blended brake, the air and dynamics are applied by the computer control system virtually at the same time. It is up to the engineer to handle the system properly. In regard t some being better than others, you hit the nail on the head. As to starting a train, too many young engineers are in too big of a hurry to move the train, advancing the throttle to the mid range even before the air has had a chance to release. This results in a very jerky start if there is slack in the train, or at the least, causes a rapid start that catches one's balance off guard if not prepared for it.. Releasing the air and using Run 1 with some patience on level terrain will move the train smoothly from a station stop in most cases.
Don, blended brake can be one reason, but one of the principle reasons I have seen in student engineers is a complete reluctance to use the graduated brake feature, even in blend. Near the stop, the use of graduated brake feature eases the stop and eliminates that "brick wall" type of stop. Of course there are other factors at play here as well, such as the temperment of the locomotive and the consist itself, as well as grade and even weather conditions.
In blended brake, the air and dynamics are applied by the computer control system virtually at the same time. It is up to the engineer to handle the system properly. In regard t some being better than others, you hit the nail on the head.
As to starting a train, too many young engineers are in too big of a hurry to move the train, advancing the throttle to the mid range even before the air has had a chance to release. This results in a very jerky start if there is slack in the train, or at the least, causes a rapid start that catches one's balance off guard if not prepared for it.. Releasing the air and using Run 1 with some patience on level terrain will move the train smoothly from a station stop in most cases.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
The GP-9 introduced load regulation control that permits the engineer to have a locomotive perform almost like a switcher for kicking cars or like a passenger locomotive for smooth starts, all with simply what the engineer does with the throttle. But I think the older passenger setup continued to be used on all E units throught the E-9, possibly on the FL-9 as well as originally delivered. With the E-unit setup it was almost impossible to make a rough start. When pulling the throttle from Idle to Run 8, the generator would not be excited greatly until the engine RPM was up to full horsepower speed, rather than half the power to accelerate the engine and half to the traction motors, which was applied to the GP-9 and I assume subsequent SD and GP models.
In the old days, you stopped the train stretched by applying the brakes with the throttle open. Now, the locomotives have blended braking which applies the dynamics down to a certain low speed, then applies the air. I'm guessing the the engineers are trying to stop with the train bunched instead stretched and maybe some are better at it than others...
I ride that Crescent train from time to time and I have never experienced what you describe.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
I ride twice a day and I generally experience smooth starts and stops. The line is Metra's Southwest Service and the consist is usually an F40PH and eight bi-level gallery coaches.
To All,
Why is it that when an Amtrak train is coming to a complete stop, it feels as though it hit something in the track? I've been riding trains for over 60 years and don't remember in the pre-Amtrak days feeling that way. Don't P40's and P42's have dynamic brakes? Do these new Amtrak engineers not realize that cattle is not their lading? It may seem like a small item but when one doesn't board a train until 2:30 in the morning (as in Charlotte, NC), sleep all of a sudden has become a major factor in one's life. I wish someone would teach these new engineers how the old timers stopped trains at station stops.
Starting trains is not as good as it could be either. I can remember boarding the Nancy Hanks at Dover, GA and looking out the window to see if I could tell when we started movement. It was amazing because I couldn't. Alas, times of yore!
Edwin C. Locklin at mp367.
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