OvermodWho in heaven's name designs a toilet that can deplete the main air-brake reservoir???
Alstom... Yes, it is a horrible idea. What happens when you are underway, lose air, and then have to hunt for which toilet is leaking? Seems to me that another air compressor wouldn't weigh that much...
The merging of machinery and electronics has created more and harder-to-solve problems in maintenance. (HHP-8...) It is easier to fix something that is visible and tangible, not hunting through lines of code. As Balt says, PTC's added complexity will likely be a nightmare in terms of locomotive maintenance.
IIRC, EMRTS is the name of the PTC system that is being worked on in Europe, not sure if the UK uses it.
One last word- If the man in the cab is cutting out the toilet, who is running the train?
carnej1 BaltACD Paul Milenkovic The French (Alstom)? So you disable the errant loo to have working brakes on the train -- can you barricade this toilet so a passenger doesn't, well, attempt to use it and then it doesn't flush? Ewwww! Are passenger trains really that complicated? Or is this a fault of DMUs (you have to walk the train to restart an engine that has cut out, and then you have to work some thingy in one of the cabs -- is it the rear or the front? -- to get that engine out of idle to help move the train). And then that bit about not conducting an evacuation of the train, especially if you are on the main line where it may not be safe to let the passengers out, until you determined whether you have a fire, that the smoke is from the startup of an APU, or that "smoke" is steam from the fire suppression system having already put out an engine fire or some such contingency? Otherwise, the Class 180 train looks really cool . . . Just wait until the set up and operating instructions for PTC operations get rolled into everyday operations on top of all the vehicle related quirks. They are going to implement PTC in the UK?
BaltACD Paul Milenkovic The French (Alstom)? So you disable the errant loo to have working brakes on the train -- can you barricade this toilet so a passenger doesn't, well, attempt to use it and then it doesn't flush? Ewwww! Are passenger trains really that complicated? Or is this a fault of DMUs (you have to walk the train to restart an engine that has cut out, and then you have to work some thingy in one of the cabs -- is it the rear or the front? -- to get that engine out of idle to help move the train). And then that bit about not conducting an evacuation of the train, especially if you are on the main line where it may not be safe to let the passengers out, until you determined whether you have a fire, that the smoke is from the startup of an APU, or that "smoke" is steam from the fire suppression system having already put out an engine fire or some such contingency? Otherwise, the Class 180 train looks really cool . . . Just wait until the set up and operating instructions for PTC operations get rolled into everyday operations on top of all the vehicle related quirks.
Paul Milenkovic The French (Alstom)? So you disable the errant loo to have working brakes on the train -- can you barricade this toilet so a passenger doesn't, well, attempt to use it and then it doesn't flush? Ewwww! Are passenger trains really that complicated? Or is this a fault of DMUs (you have to walk the train to restart an engine that has cut out, and then you have to work some thingy in one of the cabs -- is it the rear or the front? -- to get that engine out of idle to help move the train). And then that bit about not conducting an evacuation of the train, especially if you are on the main line where it may not be safe to let the passengers out, until you determined whether you have a fire, that the smoke is from the startup of an APU, or that "smoke" is steam from the fire suppression system having already put out an engine fire or some such contingency? Otherwise, the Class 180 train looks really cool . . .
The French (Alstom)?
So you disable the errant loo to have working brakes on the train -- can you barricade this toilet so a passenger doesn't, well, attempt to use it and then it doesn't flush? Ewwww!
Are passenger trains really that complicated? Or is this a fault of DMUs (you have to walk the train to restart an engine that has cut out, and then you have to work some thingy in one of the cabs -- is it the rear or the front? -- to get that engine out of idle to help move the train).
And then that bit about not conducting an evacuation of the train, especially if you are on the main line where it may not be safe to let the passengers out, until you determined whether you have a fire, that the smoke is from the startup of an APU, or that "smoke" is steam from the fire suppression system having already put out an engine fire or some such contingency?
Otherwise, the Class 180 train looks really cool . . .
Just wait until the set up and operating instructions for PTC operations get rolled into everyday operations on top of all the vehicle related quirks.
I am certain that there are signaling systems that are approaching the level of PTC in effect on the continent and with all their unique requirements for successful operation.
Present day locomotives and passenger equipment are highly complex technological things - everything that is complex is going to have 'quirks' that those using these transportation tools are going to have to learn to work with and work around in case of non-textbook failures.
With there being limited interoperability amongst countries and carriers on the Continent, UK etc.; there is not the requirement of equipment to be operable all over the UK, Continent and Eurasian land mass
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
What happened to the K.I.S.S. principle? Keep It Simple Stupid. When there is a problem, who will they blame? The driver of course. They do look nice though.
"I Often Dream of Trains"-From the Album of the Same Name by Robyn Hitchcock
I hope there's a question about how to cut the toilet out. I got that one!
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
If GM "killed the electric car", what am I doing standing next to an EV-1, a half a block from the WSOR tracks?
... I nominate Gerald Taylor for Minister of Silly Walks.
Who in heaven's name designs a toilet that can deplete the main air-brake reservoir???
[the answer to one of the quiz questions is 'in the 3901 cupboard adjacent to the A2 door...]
The operative word - SHOULD
A lot of things should operate - but don't.
After viewing this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86oqnk--X_A
there will be a short quiz . . .
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