River Line LRV question

I rode the RL to Ent. centre today and it was pretty nifty. Nice cars with a big railfan window :D

I have some questions though.

1)On the control panel, there is a gauge left of the load meter. What is that gauge? Some sort of air gauge?

2)There is a large red button with 3 white arrows in a circular patten. What does that do? Can't be used to stop the train because there is an other switch next to that labeled "train stop".

3) Is the line cab signal? What are the speed limits?

you may want to ask here :
http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewforu ... ce3d785f5d this heavy rail not light rail.

howardr142 wrote:I rode the RL to Ent. centre today and it was pretty nifty. Nice cars with a big railfan window :D

I have some questions though.

3) Is the line cab signal? What are the speed limits?

Maximum speed is 60 mph.

No, the River Line does not have cab signals. Believe it or not, they chose "intermittent inductive" train stop (a hunk of iron is next to the track at each signal; when the signal is red, it's energized as a magnet and pulls open a valve on a passing train, dumping the air). This is whey the signals are typicall set back a couple of hundred feet from control points.

Use of this 1920s technology required a waiver from FRA; pending regulations will require "proactive" rather than after-the-fact train stop.