MN equipment on LIRR

Phil,

I know one of the coupler heater elements was overheating, and in some cases, grounding out. I was told by HMC Gang Foremen that it is the wrong voltage for the heater element involved. The LIRR just disconnected that particular heater in the M-7 cars, pending resolution of the problem by the mfgr.
The cab gimbal lights (reading lights...similar to your reading lights in aircraft pax cabins) burn out on a regular basis. There is a dimmer switch that controls it. As long as the gimbal light is not cranked up all the way, it will last for a while. At full blast, though, the bulbs don't last long. The "fix" drawn up is to put a voltage limiting resistor in the circuit.

Tom

Funny side note: Some uninformed people (employees and commuters alike) used to steal the PAR bulbs that were used in the vestibules of the old diesel equip't for home use. Imagine their surprise when they screwed the 34 volt bulb into a 110 volt socket.

<i>I know one of the coupler heater elements was overheating, and in some cases, grounding out. I was told by HMC Gang Foremen that it is the wrong voltage for the heater element involved. The LIRR just disconnected that particular heater in the M-7 cars, pending resolution of the problem by the mfgr. </i>

Ugh. Hopefully, they'll get it settled before winter. Those M-7's sure should help things go smoother this year, period, though....

<i>The cab gimbal lights (reading lights...similar to your reading lights in aircraft pax cabins) burn out on a regular basis.</i>

Heh, whoops.

<i> There is a dimmer switch that controls it. As long as the gimbal light is not cranked up all the way, it will last for a while. At full blast, though, the bulbs don't last long.</i>

Hey, better than some Amfleets I've been on where the switch did NOTHING and the lamp won't shut off.

<i> The "fix" drawn up is to put a voltage limiting resistor in the circuit. </i>

hehehe. All resistors see a voltage drop accross them, provided there's current flow. Well, I guess if it's put in and the bulb burns out for whatever reason, it's no longer limiting the voltage

<i>Funny side note: Some uninformed people (employees and commuters alike) used to steal the PAR bulbs that were used in the vestibules of the old diesel equip't for home use. Imagine their surprise when they screwed the 34 volt bulb into a 110 volt socket.</i>

Cool. I guess if you had the bulb on a dimmer, it'd be more fun to watch though.

"Wow!! That 60 watt bulb sure is BRIGHT" *pop*

Interestingly, GE has done some reasearch in years past, and they've found that light bulbs fed off of DC tend not to last as long as bulbs fed off of AC, particularly smaller types. They're not sure exactly why yet, but there's some interesting effects that go on that cause notches to form on the filliment on DC, but not AC.

I don't know how much this scales, i.e., do big bulbs have it too. But it's an interesting side note.

At least you guys use easy to find bulbs. Ever try to find a Lume-O-Line for a 30's vintage jukebox?

Ha! Ha! Right N340; we don't want to upset Dutch!

Hey, while we're on the subject of differences between the two railroads, here's one I've wondered about for a while. Back around 1997 when the electric cars were retrofitted with the new top headlights, howcome different designs were used on each railroad? LIRR used one with 2 smaller sized sealed-beams, and M-N used a different lamp with only one large bulb.

Now you would think that with both railroads operating virtually identical fleets under the same parent agency (MTA), that it would have been simpler to use the same type for both. OR is there an actual reason that different headlamps were used?

Head-end view,

when the electric cars were retrofitted with the new top headlights, howcome different designs were used on each railroad?

That is another one of those questions that I was asking when the "Cyclops" mods were done. (HMC did all of ours. WSS didn't do any. Nobody even told us about it.) Was the increase in lighting mandated by the FRA? I imagine it was, or the LIRR never would have finished their entire fleet.
Obviously, the two RRs did not collaborate on that one. Each RR drew up their own modification in-house. Sometimes they do talk, sometimes they don't.
C'est la vie.

Tom

P.S. The bulbs the LIRR uses for Cyclops are the same bulbs as the original, lower headlight bulbs.