OK, This should be No 1000 - So ask me a Technical Locomotive Question

[SALfan]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Randy Stahl

Why do tornadoes always hit locomotives that are parked next to trailer courts?
Randy

DUHHH!!! You must have never lived down South - everybody down here KNOWS trailer parks are tornado magnets. (No offense, Randy - just couldn't resist pulling your chain.) Riddle: How is a Texas tornado like an Arkansas divorce? Answer: Somebody is "fixing to" (Southern for "about to") lose a trailer!

[Paul Milenkovic]

Gee, with all the good-natured ribbing going on, I hope I am not ruled out of order for getting serious.

The F40Ps had their Diesel going a mile a minute to provide HEP (Hotel Electric Power I am told is correct -- they also have HEP on a cruise ship). I understand that none of the GE Genesis units, the DC P40 and P42s as well as the AC P32ACs have their main Diesel reved up like this, but none have a separate HEP Diesel. I read that the P32ACs use a variant of a "traction inverter" (i.e. a whole lot of electronics) to generate the HEP from the variable-speed main Diesel.

Question 1: what is the HEP scheme on the DC Genesis (P40/P42) -- they don't have the fancy traction inverter electronics?

Question 2: what is the fuel penalty for running the Diesel at full RPM and at part load? I saw a Web site that a Diesel at low-speed idle uses very little fuel compared to full throttle. What percent of full throttle fuel usage do you have when the Diesel is going full tilt but you are drawing very little load?

[Mookie]

Peter: Here is a toughie. M636C?

Mook

[zardoz]

QUOTE: Originally posted by miniwyo

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon




Okay, what's the airspeed of a unladen swallow?


Dan

Is that an African swallow or a European Swallow?

I don't know..... AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Nice to know there are a few Monty Python fans out there!


And now for something completely different.....

[M636C]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mloik

QUOTE:
To quote a famous British car racing commentator;

"Unless I'm very much mistaken..."

Peter

Peter,

Is that Jackie Stewart to whom you are referring?

Michael

Michael,

No, it was Murray Walker (just a commentator, never a driver)

I can recall his "Unless I am very much mistaken.....and I AM very much mistaken" on at least one occasion. There is a web page dedicated to the strange things he's said!

For some reason, I watched a lot of F1 broadcasts on Sunday nights when nothing else was worth watching.

Peter

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by M636C

QUOTE: Originally posted by Limitedclear

Peter-

Technical question.

How many cylinders does an RS-18u have in its Alco/MLW 251 Engine?

LC

To quote a famous British car racing commentator;

"Unless I'm very much mistaken..." Twelve cylinders

The only pre-Century series sixteen cylinder MLW was the demonstrator RSD-17 "Empress of Agincourt". That is, always assuming that the RS-18u still has a 251 engine. Some might have had Cat engines installed. Didn't BC Rail do something like that?

Peter

Very good...

LC

[miniwyo]

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon




Okay, what's the airspeed of a unladen swallow?


Dan

Is that an African swallow or a European Swallow?

I don't know..... AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[mloik]

QUOTE:
To quote a famous British car racing commentator;

"Unless I'm very much mistaken..."

Peter

Peter,

Is that Jackie Stewart to whom you are referring?

Michael

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by M636C

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon

QUOTE: Originally posted by M636C

Dan,

Thanks, but I must ask, laden with....?

At this time of year, we have a swarm of big moths (called "Bogong" moths) that fly to the southern mountains to avoid the heat. They live on nectar and are quite sweet (I'm told) and are regarded as dessert by the local birds. The speed (and manouvrability) of some of these birds at low level, after a moth, is quite impressive. Say 50mph(?).

Peter

Two AIM-7M (training CATMs) on the wing tips and a centerline tank.

Bogong.......is that the sound they make hitting the car when you drive through a swarm of them? [:)]

Dan,

"Bogong" is the name of a high plateau in Northern Victoria where the moths travel to in summer, passing through Canberra (and I mean through, they crawl under doors and hide in crevices) on the way.

Are you sure you mean AIM-7M on the wingtips? I've never seen radar guided Sparrows on the wing tips. Our F/A-18s carry AIM-9L Sidewinders on the wingtips, and Sparrows partly recessed on the intakes. We've got ASRAAMs now, with a better off boresight performance (ever since the Malaysians creamed us in an exercise with their MIG-29s!)

Peter

Very good catch on the 7 vs 9, I didn't realize I had made that mistake......I bow to your greatness.

29's are a heck of a plane, they make average pilots good, and in the hands of talent, they can be absolutly deadly.

[M636C]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Limitedclear

Peter-

Technical question.

How many cylinders does an RS-18u have in its Alco/MLW 251 Engine?

LC

To quote a famous British car racing commentator;

"Unless I'm very much mistaken..." Twelve cylinders

The only pre-Century series sixteen cylinder MLW was the demonstrator RSD-17 "Empress of Agincourt". That is, always assuming that the RS-18u still has a 251 engine. Some might have had Cat engines installed. Didn't BC Rail do something like that?

Peter

[M636C]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Junctionfan

The autobrake has 5 settings. From left to right, RL, H, LP, SV and EMG (last one is in red writing). I don't know what the H does or the LP. I also have no idea what the independent brake is for but it always seems to stay on the left and can't move it except to the middle where it sometimes goes back to the left on its own.

OK, I've said I'm not an expert and right now I can't think what "H" stands for.
LP stands for "LAP". I think I've been told that having made a "Service" (SV) application, the handle is normally brought back to "Lap" ready to make another application. Moving back to "lap" does not release the application already made.

Now thinking further about it, it is possible that H stands for "Hold". If my thought is correct, in that position the handle is also not going to change the brake setting, but is closer to the "Release" position allowing an easy movement to release the brakes.

One of the positions L or H might allow recharging of the reservoirs. That has to be possible at some setting.

EMG means "Emergency" and will apply maximum braking on all vehicles. You really don't want to do that on a real train unless you have to, because not all vehicles brake evenly, and an emergency application put a lot of stress on the couplers, and can lock up wheels causing them to skid on the rail, some times picking up some steel from the rail or getting a small 'flat' on the wheel. That's why it is marked in red.

The names and positions of the handle relate to the way the air brake valve is built and what it does to the air, rather than being positions for a given effect on the brakes. For example, making an emergency application was sometimes called "big-holing" because to make an emergency application, the brake handle opens the biggest "hole" to let air out of the train pipe. "Service" has a smaller hole, so the application is slower, but if you leave the handle in SV, eventually all the air will come out and the brakes will be on just as hard as if you made an "Emergency" reduction.

So the amount of braking depends both on the position you use, and the time you spend making the application.

The independent brake isn't as complex, because it des not affect the whole train, and does not rely on pressure reduction in the train pipe. You can apply it and more particularly, release it more quickly. It has a different effect on the train, too. If you apply the independent brake at speed, all the braking occurs at the locomotive, and the train "Bunches up", with all the couplings compressed. If you apply the Automatic, the locomotive brakes aren't applied (except in "Emergency") and all the braking occurs in the train, stretching the train out.

If you were driving a passenger train, and wanted a smooth start, you would stop using the Automatic, leaving the train stretched out. Then you can start smoothly with no jerks as the couplings "take up" the strain.

If you have a very heavy freight and you don't want to load the locomotives right up, you could get a rolling start by stopping with the independent brake, "bunching" the couplings. Then as you start, you get the train moving one car at a time, reducing the initial load on the locomotives.

There must be people who know more about it than me, but that's my best effort.

Peter

[Anonymous]

Peter-

Technical question.

How many cylinders does an RS-18u have in its Alco/MLW 251 Engine?

LC

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Randy Stahl

Why do tornadoes always hit locomotives that are parked next to trailer courts?
Randy

FOFLMAO...

They never hit the ones parked near the mansion...oops...hey there's no track near the mansion?? Go figger...LOL...

LC

[edblysard]

Well, tie me kangaroo down, boys.....

Please, respond with as much technical stuff as you can, after all, thats why people ask you guys those questions, because you have the knowledge, and they need it...

Never boring, always a great source.

Ed

QUOTE: Originally posted by M636C

Guys,

I'm worried about how much time I've wasted making postings on this Forum (mainly) and I've realised that they have generally been technical reponses to locomotive questions.

So here is an invitation to ask any questions you haven't asked yet!

Peter

[Modelcar]

...Congrats Peter...now you have 4 golden stars to install on your locomotive....!

[M636C]

QUOTE: Originally posted by talbanese

Is there a limit to how many locomotives can be MU'ed? Do they need to be somewhat similar in performance and setup?

Congrats on the 4th star.

Tom,

Nearly missed this one!

One of the limitations relates to how MU is set up on the locomotive. On Alco export units, the lead locomotive was the only one providing the MU control power, and with voltage drop in the connectors it was felt that the practical limit was four units. With EMD units, each unit provided its own control power and it was quite possible to run more than twelve locomotives in multiple, since the voltage drop problem was overcome by each unit only "driving" the next in line. I believe the Alcos were modified to the EMD arrangement.

On other threads recently, "power reduction" was discussed. For example, the minimum speed of a GP40-2 is much higher than that of an SD40-2 simply because the same power is split through four motors rather than six, resulting in greater currents, and hence a greater heating effect in the motors of the four motor unit. Thus the power of the GP40-2 is reduced to an amount that will allow it to run for the same period as the SD40-2 at any given speed, so that motor damage does not occur.

Similar problems would occur running an AC unit leading a DC unit, because the AC unit can run almost indefinitely without overheating the motors at some low speeds, while a DC unit would have strict time limits at some low speeds available to AC units.

It is good practice to have the least powerful locomotive lead an MU consist, since any instance of overloading would be directly visible to the crew.

I hope this answers the question.

Peter

[Junctionfan]

The autobrake has 5 settings. From left to right, RL, H, LP, SV and EMG (last one is in red writing). I don't know what the H does or the LP. I also have know idea what the independent brake is for but it always seems to stay on the left and can't move it expect to the middle where it sometimes goes back to the left on its own.

[M636C]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Randy Stahl

Why do tornadoes always hit locomotives that are parked next to trailer courts?
Randy

Because, over many years, tornadoes have learnt that locomotives on their own tend to ignore high winds, so hitting it with a mobile (very mobile) home or two draws its attention.

Peter

[ajmiller]

QUOTE: Originally posted by M636C
Dan,

Thanks, but I must ask, laden with....?

At this time of year, we have a swarm of big moths (called "Bogong" moths) that fly to the southern mountains to avoid the heat. They live on nectar and are quite sweet (I'm told) and are regarded as dessert by the local birds. The speed (and manouvrability) of some of these birds at low level, after a moth, is quite impressive. Say 50mph(?).

Peter

Laden with coconuts!
It could grip them by the husk!

[Randy Stahl]

Why do tornadoes always hit locomotives that are parked next to trailer courts?
Randy

[M636C]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon

QUOTE: Originally posted by M636C

Dan,

Thanks, but I must ask, laden with....?

At this time of year, we have a swarm of big moths (called "Bogong" moths) that fly to the southern mountains to avoid the heat. They live on nectar and are quite sweet (I'm told) and are regarded as dessert by the local birds. The speed (and manouvrability) of some of these birds at low level, after a moth, is quite impressive. Say 50mph(?).

Peter

Two AIM-7M (training CATMs) on the wing tips and a centerline tank.

Bogong.......is that the sound they make hitting the car when you drive through a swarm of them? [:)]

Dan,

"Bogong" is the name of a high plateau in Northern Victoria where the moths travel to in summer, passing through Canberra (and I mean through, they crawl under doors and hide in crevices) on the way.

Are you sure you mean AIM-7M on the wingtips? I've never seen radar guided Sparrows on the wing tips. Our F/A-18s carry AIM-9L Sidewinders on the wingtips, and Sparrows partly recessed on the intakes. We've got ASRAAMs now, with a better off boresight performance (ever since the Malaysians creamed us in an exercise with their MIG-29s!)

Peter

[kolechovski]

Junction...I just read another forum...and I see exactly why you asked this question...so, how do you like the Trainmaster Demo so far? I think you could buy a package deal of it and Train Dispatcher 3 for around $50-60 back when they first came out. these days, if I could buy both for $20 or less, I'll gladly do it. Anyway, to help you with your train movements...M636C already gave many details, so basically, when you want to start releasing the brakes, choose RL. I can't remember what H is for, so you can try that and see what happens. Set it to LP when you want it to maintain whatever amount it's at. Use SV to start engaging the train's brakes. And if necessary, use the EMG (emergency) for any nasty situations you encounter. I think if you collect a few overspeed violations, or go too fast at once, the game forces your train into Emg anyways, although there may be a way to disable that auto-emg if it has that option. It's been a year since I've had the luxury of playing that game, so I don't remember much about it. If you're as screwey as me, and like playing around, I think if you press "V" on your keyboard, it takes you into a feature where you can explore the track forward and backward...check the documentation for details. Have fun, Trainmaster!

[M636C]

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

OK how many locomotives does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

Congrates on the four star promotion!
[bday][bday][bday][bday]

In 1978-79, the Victorian Railways purchased ten GT26C 3000HP wide nose hood units known as class C, numbers 501 to 510. These were pretty impressive units at the time, but although they had steps at the front, there was no platform across the front (as built). The headlight bulbs were only accessible externally. So to change the front headlight bulb of a VR C class, the answer is "two locomotives are required to change a light bulb", any other unit with a platform backed right up to the coupler to give the electrician somewhere to stand. Later they just added a narrow platform on the nose.

Peter

[locomutt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon

QUOTE: Originally posted by M636C

Dan,

Thanks, but I must ask, laden with....?

At this time of year, we have a swarm of big moths (called "Bogong" moths) that fly to the southern mountains to avoid the heat. They live on nectar and are quite sweet (I'm told) and are regarded as dessert by the local birds. The speed (and manouvrability) of some of these birds at low level, after a moth, is quite impressive. Say 50mph(?).

Peter

Two AIM-7M (training CATMs) on the wing tips and a centerline tank.

Bogong.......is that the sound they make hitting the car when you drive through a swarm of them? [:)]

(dweedle.........dweedle...........dweedle........dweedle...........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)[:D][}:)]

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by M636C

Dan,

Thanks, but I must ask, laden with....?

At this time of year, we have a swarm of big moths (called "Bogong" moths) that fly to the southern mountains to avoid the heat. They live on nectar and are quite sweet (I'm told) and are regarded as dessert by the local birds. The speed (and manouvrability) of some of these birds at low level, after a moth, is quite impressive. Say 50mph(?).

Peter

Two AIM-7M (training CATMs) on the wing tips and a centerline tank.

Bogong.......is that the sound they make hitting the car when you drive through a swarm of them? [:)]

[locomutt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by M636C

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon

QUOTE: Originally posted by M636C

QUOTE: Originally posted by M.W. Hemphill

Welcome to the four-star time-wasting club!

Here's your question:

Are you ready?

Why?

In my current work environment, many people wear "readiness" badges.
I don't have one.
So, by definition, I'm not ready, and can't answer why I would be!

Peter

HEYYYYYY .....I resemble that remark....


Okay, what's the airspeed of a laden swallow?

Congrats Peter...1000 posts and 99.9% of them on topic....

Dan

Dan,

Thanks, but I must ask, laden with....?

At this time of year, we have a swarm of big moths (called "Bogong" moths) that fly to the southern mountains to avoid the heat. They live on nectar and are quite sweet (I'm told) and are regarded as dessert by the local birds. The speed (and manouvrability) of some of these birds at low level, after a moth, is quite impressive. Say 50mph(?).

Peter

Laden with what[?] surely not BIN[:D][}:)]

[M636C]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon

QUOTE: Originally posted by M636C

Mark

In my current work environment, many people wear "readiness" badges.
I don't have one.
So, by definition, I'm not ready, and can't answer why I would be!

Peter

HEYYYYYY .....I resemble that remark....


Okay, what's the airspeed of a laden swallow?

Congrats Peter...1000 posts and 99.9% of them on topic....

Dan

Dan,

Thanks, but I must ask, laden with....?

At this time of year, we have a swarm of big moths (called "Bogong" moths) that fly to the southern mountains to avoid the heat. They live on nectar and are quite sweet (I'm told) and are regarded as dessert by the local birds. The speed (and manouvrability) of some of these birds at low level, after a moth, is quite impressive. Say 50mph(?).

Peter

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon




Okay, what's the airspeed of a unladen swallow?


Dan

Is that an African swallow or a European Swallow?

Shouldn't matter....they're both export variants..

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon




Okay, what's the airspeed of a unladen swallow?


Dan

Is that an African swallow or a European Swallow?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by M636C

Guys,

I'm worried about how much time I've wasted making postings on this Forum (mainly) and I've realised that they have generally been technical reponses to locomotive questions.

So here is an invitation to ask any questions you haven't asked yet!

Peter

Congratulations...

LC