Cab control cars

I undrstand that septa owns at least one cab control car that is a former Alco Fa. Does anybody know where it is and if it's possible to get a picture of it ? When and where does it run ? Thanks

Septa has 2 "F" type control cars. The FA unit #621 is stored at Wayne Shop (in the back) and will be used starting in mid October for the Gel train. The other unit is a "FP7" #618 unit and is stored at Frazer yard. Both units were former MetroNorth contol cab (prime movers removed). They operate them only during slippery rail season along with a diesel locomotive.

Cab control cars may be convenient ( to avoid having to turn a Diesel locomotive powered train at a terminal) but they are far from safe. The collision a few years ago in Maryland between an inbound MARC commuter train and AMTRAK's Capital Limited was tragically ironic because the MARC train was operating with the cab control car forward. If the Locomotive had been in front, most of the fatalities ( from fire as the Diesel fuel carried by the Amtrak Locomotives ignited and consumed the lead car on the MARC train) would probably not have occurred.

Ex LIRR units. I remember them well. Opposite end of the train had a GP-38-2 or MP-15.

Push/pull is a grey area, safetywise, IMHO. As long as to don't hit anything, it's fine, but when you DO hit something, it's really bad because pushing is an inherintly unstable way to move a train (try pushing a chain - it doesn't work very well). There have been nasty derailments out west from push mode trains hitting something as light as a common pickup truck, which generally resulted in overturned cars and most of the train off the track. This isn't a danger with MU, though, because MUs have a near perfect weight distribution, and aren't being pushed anyway.

The FRA bans push pull above 125mph. I think this is is actually inline with Europe (for a change!), most HSTs are dual ended because of the need for very high HP in an HST, and most commuter stuff is sub 125mph. The British do a lot of high speed push pull, but after a few recent accidents, I tend to think they'll move away from it.

Personally, I think it's a bad idea, period.

Here's a shot of FA1 #615 in the yard at Wayne Junction:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/280 ... 9568mRAMLZ

gel train?

During slippery rail season (mid October to late November) SEPTA sends out nightly gel trains to clean the rails. These units either spray the rail with pressurized hot water or drop a gel type substance that provides better traction/braking for the electric passenger trains. Each cab car contains large plastic tanks that are filled before each trip.

aem7 wrote:During slippery rail season (mid October to late November) SEPTA sends out nightly gel trains to clean the rails. These units either spray the rail with pressurized hot water or drop a gel type substance that provides better traction/braking for the electric passenger trains. Each cab car contains large plastic tanks that are filled before each trip.

The gel contains a metallic grit that improves traction--the gel is there to keep it on the rails. The pressurized water is to wash off leaf oils from the railhead.

Hi Guys I Like The Photo of The EX-LIRR Alco FA I Am From Long Island I Miss The Alco FAs And GP38-2 F-7s.

Hows The Alco FA 615 And F7 622 Doing Today And if Anyone Has Any Photo of The 615 And 622 Can Someone E-mail Me To Show The Guys Here on Long Island How The Old Fleet is Doing Now.


Thank You

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try pushing a chain - it doesn't work very well

Try pushing a chain through a tube or along a rutway. It'll work just fine. Push-pull has worked for four decades and continues to work.