Bad train pictures

[M636C]

Guys,

LED rail signals are taking over in Australia. They are basically like the road traffic signals, but they do seem brighter than the lamp signals they replace (although they might have night/day settings for different intensity like some rail lamp signals had).

The amber/orange light seems a bit greenish compared to the older lamp signals. I think all the rail signals on the Sydney Harbour Bridge are now LED signals, including the track occupied lights used to warn track workers of an oncoming train. They consist of a vertical rectangle in orange. They can be seen at the end of underground stations as well, and replace simple white bulbs.

Peter

[M636C]

Guys,

LED rail signals are taking over in Australia. They are basically like the road traffic signals, but they do seem brighter than the lamp signals they replace (although they might have night/day settings for different intensity like some rail lamp signals had).

The amber/orange light seems a bit greenish compared to the older lamp signals. I think all the rail signals on the Sydney Harbour Bridge are now LED signals, including the track occupied lights used to warn track workers of an oncoming train. They consist of a vertical rectangle in orange. They can be seen at the end of underground stations as well, and replace simple white bulbs.

Peter

[CShaveRR]

LEDs are probably the "new normal" on grade-crossing flashers...just about every recent installation I've seen has them.

I've also seen a dwarf signal (north throat to Chicago Union Station) that is an array of LEDs. The single head contains LEDs of all colors, and only the one-quarter to one-third of the LEDs in the head are lit at any one time. That's still plenty of light.

Now a dwarf signal is for a low-speed operation, which implies that the signal need only be visible for a realtively short distance. I don't know of any LEDs being used in normal (above slow or restricted speed) automatic block signaling...there may be problems with them over longer distances, either in the brightness required or their capability to be focused.

I'm not familiar enough with LEDs, but I understand that over time they grow dimmer, and that could be a problem in a railroad application...what one person may have gotten used to as it grew dimmer might be nearly invisible to someone encountering it for the first time. I think it would be much better to have something that failed completely and needed immediate replacement...or for visibility standards to be enacted and enforced.

[CShaveRR]

LEDs are probably the "new normal" on grade-crossing flashers...just about every recent installation I've seen has them.

I've also seen a dwarf signal (north throat to Chicago Union Station) that is an array of LEDs. The single head contains LEDs of all colors, and only the one-quarter to one-third of the LEDs in the head are lit at any one time. That's still plenty of light.

Now a dwarf signal is for a low-speed operation, which implies that the signal need only be visible for a realtively short distance. I don't know of any LEDs being used in normal (above slow or restricted speed) automatic block signaling...there may be problems with them over longer distances, either in the brightness required or their capability to be focused.

I'm not familiar enough with LEDs, but I understand that over time they grow dimmer, and that could be a problem in a railroad application...what one person may have gotten used to as it grew dimmer might be nearly invisible to someone encountering it for the first time. I think it would be much better to have something that failed completely and needed immediate replacement...or for visibility standards to be enacted and enforced.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by tree68

And as a corrollary question: The highway community has gone into LEDs in a big way for traffic lights. Are the railroads considering a similar move for signals?

We are having a lot of road construction work around here now. One night on the way home from work I noticed that many of the construction warning signs are now lighted by LEDs. I was going to post about that and also ask about LEDs in the railroad world. I was thinking about the red lights for passenger cars and maybe FREDs. Signals did come into mind too. There are many flashlights available now with a single LED and some of a combination of LEDs. They also come in a variety of colors. [8D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by tree68

And as a corrollary question: The highway community has gone into LEDs in a big way for traffic lights. Are the railroads considering a similar move for signals?

We are having a lot of road construction work around here now. One night on the way home from work I noticed that many of the construction warning signs are now lighted by LEDs. I was going to post about that and also ask about LEDs in the railroad world. I was thinking about the red lights for passenger cars and maybe FREDs. Signals did come into mind too. There are many flashlights available now with a single LED and some of a combination of LEDs. They also come in a variety of colors. [8D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

Even Mookie is out of questions this morning!

Me too

DOGGY

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

Even Mookie is out of questions this morning!

Me too

DOGGY

[Hugh Jampton]

Signal bulbs have double filaments in them so when one blows the other takes over. The signal maintainer checks the bulbs every mot and replaces any with a blown filamant.

LED railway signals are being installed in Europe. They last much longer >100,000 hours, give more light per Watt and if a couple burn out the signal is still visible.

[Hugh Jampton]

Signal bulbs have double filaments in them so when one blows the other takes over. The signal maintainer checks the bulbs every mot and replaces any with a blown filamant.

LED railway signals are being installed in Europe. They last much longer >100,000 hours, give more light per Watt and if a couple burn out the signal is still visible.

[tree68]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mikeygaw

weird question to give the thread a jump start...

how long do signal lightbulbs last, say with whatever would be considered normal usage?

And as a corrollary question: The highway community has gone into LEDs in a big way for traffic lights. Are the railroads considering a similar move for signals?

[tree68]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mikeygaw

weird question to give the thread a jump start...

how long do signal lightbulbs last, say with whatever would be considered normal usage?

And as a corrollary question: The highway community has gone into LEDs in a big way for traffic lights. Are the railroads considering a similar move for signals?

[Mikeygaw]

weird question to give the thread a jump start...

how long do signal lightbulbs last, say with whatever would be considered normal usage?

[Mikeygaw]

weird question to give the thread a jump start...

how long do signal lightbulbs last, say with whatever would be considered normal usage?

[tree68]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

Even Mookie is out of questions this morning!

Mark this one on your calendars folks. Da Mook is out of questions (for now).[8D]

[tree68]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

Even Mookie is out of questions this morning!

Mark this one on your calendars folks. Da Mook is out of questions (for now).[8D]

[Mookie]

Even Mookie is out of questions this morning!

[Mookie]

Even Mookie is out of questions this morning!

[Anonymous]

This thread seems to have been sidetracked. Let's just get it back on the mainline. [:D]

Who has the next question? [?] [;)]

[Anonymous]

This thread seems to have been sidetracked. Let's just get it back on the mainline. [:D]

Who has the next question? [?] [;)]

[rrnut282]

As far as NS hi-hoods go, the GP38's are still around as well as the GP50's. There are a few hi-hooded SD40-2's left, but they're getting rare. I haven't seen a hi-hooded B23-7 in almost a year, so they might be retired or just re-located. Has anybody seen anything else lately ?

[rrnut282]

As far as NS hi-hoods go, the GP38's are still around as well as the GP50's. There are a few hi-hooded SD40-2's left, but they're getting rare. I haven't seen a hi-hooded B23-7 in almost a year, so they might be retired or just re-located. Has anybody seen anything else lately ?

[tree68]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mehrlich

My next question: To me, it would seem like working for the railroad would be the best job in the world. Is it? I'm a school teacher and love doing it, but I always wonder what if...

mike

Like any other job, you get good situations and love to go to work in the morning, or you get bad situations and wonder why you chose that career.

That said, there are not many fields, outside of sports, where there are fan bases as well. Being involved with both, railfanning and firebuffs easily come to my mind. In both cases, you will definitely find people who pursue as a hobby something related to their 9-5. Not to pick on accountants, but you don't usually expect to see people hanging around Price Waterhouse hoping to see a certain kind of ledger.... Bring on a train or a fire, though, and you'll hear the muffled roar of camera shutters (being replaced by the beep of digitals, now) and the appreciative faces of those who enjoy seeing the men (and women) and machinery do what they were intended to do.

As far as being a teacher - If you love doing it, stick with it! We need all the good teachers we can get!

[tree68]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mehrlich

My next question: To me, it would seem like working for the railroad would be the best job in the world. Is it? I'm a school teacher and love doing it, but I always wonder what if...

mike

Like any other job, you get good situations and love to go to work in the morning, or you get bad situations and wonder why you chose that career.

That said, there are not many fields, outside of sports, where there are fan bases as well. Being involved with both, railfanning and firebuffs easily come to my mind. In both cases, you will definitely find people who pursue as a hobby something related to their 9-5. Not to pick on accountants, but you don't usually expect to see people hanging around Price Waterhouse hoping to see a certain kind of ledger.... Bring on a train or a fire, though, and you'll hear the muffled roar of camera shutters (being replaced by the beep of digitals, now) and the appreciative faces of those who enjoy seeing the men (and women) and machinery do what they were intended to do.

As far as being a teacher - If you love doing it, stick with it! We need all the good teachers we can get!

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your answers. It all makes a lot more sense now. I'll have to pay better attention to what they're saying, maybe they were saying check instead of pick up. Needless to say, it's a lot of fun listening and I've learned a lot. I suppose I'm lucky to live (South central Texas on the UP line between Houston and San Antonio) where I can listen to my scanner and there be something going on almost all the time. I thought I was right on what flags were, I saw one the other day.



My next question: To me, it would seem like working for the railroad would be the best job in the world. Is it? I'm a school teacher and love doing it, but I always wonder what if...

mike

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your answers. It all makes a lot more sense now. I'll have to pay better attention to what they're saying, maybe they were saying check instead of pick up. Needless to say, it's a lot of fun listening and I've learned a lot. I suppose I'm lucky to live (South central Texas on the UP line between Houston and San Antonio) where I can listen to my scanner and there be something going on almost all the time. I thought I was right on what flags were, I saw one the other day.



My next question: To me, it would seem like working for the railroad would be the best job in the world. Is it? I'm a school teacher and love doing it, but I always wonder what if...

mike

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jhhtrainsplanes

Just saw a pic of a hi hood GP-38-2. It is a N S unit leading a train. The unit is # 5117.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NSReadingline/

I hope that if you are not a member of this group that you can still see the pic.

Seeing this pic made me wonder how many hi hood units are still operating on Class 1 railroads? As a railfan I know that they still do operate on N S. I also know that some shortlines and regionals operate them. But I was curious how many are still in use on a Class 1 railroad?

Have any of our current engineers in the forums operated one recently? If so, do you like to operate them? My guess is "No", because of safety reasons. But it would be interesting to know about them and maybe hear some stories from our current engineers about them.

I was hoping at LC, CSX engineer, Wabash, etc., could give us some stories and examples of their operation of a hi hood unit.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jhhtrainsplanes

Just saw a pic of a hi hood GP-38-2. It is a N S unit leading a train. The unit is # 5117.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NSReadingline/

I hope that if you are not a member of this group that you can still see the pic.

Seeing this pic made me wonder how many hi hood units are still operating on Class 1 railroads? As a railfan I know that they still do operate on N S. I also know that some shortlines and regionals operate them. But I was curious how many are still in use on a Class 1 railroad?

Have any of our current engineers in the forums operated one recently? If so, do you like to operate them? My guess is "No", because of safety reasons. But it would be interesting to know about them and maybe hear some stories from our current engineers about them.

I was hoping at LC, CSX engineer, Wabash, etc., could give us some stories and examples of their operation of a hi hood unit.

[hogger42]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mehrlich

Just got a scanner, and having it is a blast. When the dispatcher gives orders to the crew, how can they read them back to him so fast and so well?
What is a "flag" at milepost x to y, with a speed limit? Repairs, bad track?
What is a box, like go to milepost x and pick up two boxes marked 8 and 20.
thanks,

m

True, you just have to fill in the blanks.
Flag at milepost.....Track flag...probably a yellow board slow order bad track and length
of restriction.

On our Track Warrant forms (BNSF) each numbered line of the track warrant has a BOX
preceeding the line number that the dispatcher will tell the train crew to check .
That almost sounds like the dispatcher was telling them to place an x in boxes 8 and 20. Marking an x in these boxes tell them which lines they have to comply with.

.

[hogger42]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mehrlich

Just got a scanner, and having it is a blast. When the dispatcher gives orders to the crew, how can they read them back to him so fast and so well?
What is a "flag" at milepost x to y, with a speed limit? Repairs, bad track?
What is a box, like go to milepost x and pick up two boxes marked 8 and 20.
thanks,

m

True, you just have to fill in the blanks.
Flag at milepost.....Track flag...probably a yellow board slow order bad track and length
of restriction.

On our Track Warrant forms (BNSF) each numbered line of the track warrant has a BOX
preceeding the line number that the dispatcher will tell the train crew to check .
That almost sounds like the dispatcher was telling them to place an x in boxes 8 and 20. Marking an x in these boxes tell them which lines they have to comply with.

.