Station to HEP

It appears a new practice of switching power sources on trainsets on the south end of CUS has started. In the past, a trainset would be plugged into station power until the scheduled departure time. The doors would then be closed and power to the trainset would be switched to HEP, although the interior lights would stay off until the train has started moving. Now, the switch from station power to HEP takes place around the time the automated announcement is made announcing train info, which is about 2 minutes before departure. This enables the train to leave right at the scheduled departure time instead of taking the 1-2 minutes after the doors are closed to switch power sources.

Do practices like this take place at the other downtown terminals? I know the main reason for trainsets being plugged into station power is to idle the locomotive and cut down on pollution, especially on the south end of CUS, which has poor ventilation.

Working out of CPT or also known as OTC the HEP must be on before they open up for loading passengers. Which is typically 30 minutes from departure. All though especially weekends when we switch equipment alot the MIC forces will leave the HEP on standby till the engineer gets up to the headend to place it properly online. Which typically means for just few seconds the drain goes dark. I wasn't aware that CUS did things that different. It would seem like an inconvience especially if the HEP doesn't come right away then you have use the bypass power for the train. But I guess everyone has there own way of doing things.

Until a few years ago it was common practice to switch on HEP two minutes before departure and then depart on time at CUS. It was changed to reduce emissions. I am surprised the BN is going back to this practice. Any word about what is being practiced on the North side?

On the north side of CUS, station power is used primarily on equipment that's stored midday in the terminal, usually on either six or seven car sets. On six car sets, the cars are plugged into station power, while the locomotive uncouples, then runs to Western Ave. for servicing. Later on, a different unit is sent down from Western to hook onto the cars, with the switch to HEP within 5 minutes of its scheduled departure. Meanwhile, the seven car equipment is split into four and three cars, with four cars leaving on a midday run, while the remaining three are stored at the terminal plugged into station power; but the changeover to HEP for these cars occurs a little earlier, when they're combined with a 4-car set from an earlier arrival. Likewise, ventilation is also a problem on CUS's north side as well, but fortunately, the schedule on the Milw/NCS is such that many inbound trains only spend about 15-20 min. in the terminal before heading out again (and this also applies to equipment arriving from Western Ave for the evening rush), so on these trains, the HEP remains on the entire time...

I find it interesting that each district has a different way of utilizing power sources at the downtown terminals. One would think that trainsets would be plugged into station power for as long as possible so that the locomotive can idle, therefore, less noise, less emissions and less fuel burned. The practice of keeping a trainset on station power until the scheduled departure time when the doors are closed only applies to BNSF. The changeover on HC and SWS sets generally takes place anywhere from 2-10 minutes before departure. Personally, for each district I'd stay on station power until 5 minutes before departure, then switch to hep so there's enough time for the locomotive to load.

Perhaps the disparity in this practice can be traced to the operating procedures of the legacy railroads, and that could very well apply to the UP/BNSF contract operations in particular. But then, 30 years ago, railroads didn't have to worry about federally mandated emission regulations, and I remember the Rock in particular just letting those old E and F units at the old LaSalle St. terminal belch away with impunity. In fact, I'm not even sure LaSalle St. had terminal power in those days; given the Rock's sorry condition at that time, it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't...

Looks like BNSF is back to its old ways, as its back to lights out once the doors are closed at departure time. Of course, there are some exceptions (i.e. equipment arriving from the road that have short turnaround times before departing CUS).