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Wow, sure has been a lot of activity since I was here last! j. wrote : "i only have one thing against his statement. now its not to say he is wrong couse i know engineers who do this and it works for him. I dont watch my amps to see them drop before i get another notch." j.makes a good point. Rereading my hastily written post (typing one finger style with a 2 and 4 year old on each leg) I can see why he would say that. The fact is, 99.9% of the time we have enough power for the train we are hauling and "seat of the pants" is the way we (I) run. Taking a notch when you need it is something learned from experience and when done right is akin to watching the gauge with your ears. We have a hard grade here and tonnage is figured for the power hitting the bottom at 35 mph. Once and a while we would have to stop and do work at a yard at the bottom of this hill. Now instead of trying to give the yo-yos in the office a lesson in physics over the radio at 3:am we would sometimes try it anyway. Sometimes traction was the deciding factor (rain, ice, snow, leaves..) but given the same basic situation I started to see a pattern in who was making it easier than others. As a brakeman and/or conductor I could see different engineers and their methods. Not much difference really just that some were more patient then others. Some even nursing the independant brake to discourage wheel slip. Only one or two pullaparts but some hoggers would just give it to 'er till the wheels would slip. I started putting the questions to the engineer who, in my, and others, opinion, was doing the best job. He said it was mostly "seat of the pants" but in an effort to simplify it for me, he showed me what the ampmeter was doing and that it is not a bad idea to refer to it when in a situation like this. I now pass this info on to younger hoggers (if they want it) and on a rare occasion I do it myself. Just a matter of using all the resources available to me. My previous posts were intended to simplify an explanation for rail fans (Jenny) that would not be needed for experienced railroaders (someone's name intentionally left out. He seems to be getting enough bruises here without me). For them, "Seat of the pants" seems hard to grasp without out a well thought out post like j's. I just wanted to show that j. and I are on the same page. Sorry for the long post, Slofr8.
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