Electric or Not to Electric....Doors that is....

I understand from reading here that all the cars assigned to the Old Colony lines have electric doors. So my question is this: if an Old Colony car wanders onto the rest of the system, why de-activate the electrics? It sounds like that would take some time, and what's the big deal of having a mix of doors in a train? Just open and close them with the controls like we do here in Philly with a mixed set of MU's....

They do run mixed sets on the south side. The only problem is that the cars with electric doors not in old colony trains normally have door problems(i.e. BROKEN)! So, you have to pull the emergency cord to unlock and open the door. Problem with that, there is no latch to hold the door open or keep it closed. It's a real pain, and that's ONE reason why I am a proud north sider!

The major difference between the Old Colony Lines & all the other lines, and the main reason they can use electric doors is the fact that the entire Old Colony Lines are high-level platforms, where-as the other lines have low-level platforms with a mini-high-level platform @ the end.

sery2831 wrote:They do run mixed sets on the south side. The only problem is that the cars with electric doors not in old colony trains normally have door problems(i.e. BROKEN)! So, you have to pull the emergency cord to unlock and open the door. Problem with that, there is no latch to hold the door open or keep it closed. It's a real pain, and that's ONE reason why I am a proud north sider!

Ahh, that explains it. Like the original poster, growing up in the Philly area I was used to seeing the Silverliners with their electric doors, even though SEPTA has about the same amount of low-level platforms (i.e., a lot). The operating strategy seems to be the same -- once you clear the last of any high platforms, the doors and traps just stay open.

octr202 wrote:once you clear the last of any high platforms, the doors and traps just stay open.

I believe that is against the operating policy though. Am I correct John? I know this is normal practice, but think it is a no-no......due to safety.

CSX Conductor wrote:

octr202 wrote:once you clear the last of any high platforms, the doors and traps just stay open.

I believe that is against the operating policy though. Am I correct John? I know this is normal practice, but think it is a no-no......due to safety.

NJT does it all the time with the Comet I's, IB's, and Arrow III's.

Yes, running with traps open is a saftey no no. But on the south side that is normal, been like that probally long before it was against the rules. On the north side, most trains run with there doors closed.

On the Worcester line, there is one train that runs using an Old-Colony trainset every day ( the 8:15am ).

The conductors deactivate the electric doors for the entire ride until the train leaves Back Bay. After we leave Back Bay, the traps get closed and the the electric doors are reactivated and closed. The doors are then electronically opened in South Station.

sery2831 wrote: But on the south side that is normal, been like that probally long before it was against the rules.

Yes, I know it's always been that way, perhaps because of the # of cars vs # of trainman ratio?!?

Well there are more trainmen on trains on the south side. But in turn the ridership is much more. On the north side we control the train a lot more, it seems you cant get away with that on the south side for some reason.