I have been following the recent news from up north and am confused. I am not a railroader but I thought I had some idea of how a train is left when not crewed.
I put this thread here for two reasons
- I would like to know how PAR does this, and;
- I do not wish to imply that anyone did or did not do what they were supposed to do in the case of any particular event.
If the moderators want to move this, please feel free.
I thought that there are two types of brakes on train cars, mechanical (ratchet wheel on each car) and pneumatic, (or electro-pneumatic) controlled from the locomotive. The latter is used to stop a moving train and the former is used like a parking brake on your car to keep the stopped train from moving. I have seen cuts of cars positioned in a yard, and before the locomotive departs, heard lots of repeated "ratcheting" sounds that I assume are individual car brakes are set.
Assuming this description is correct, do the mechanical and pneumatic brakes use the same brake shoes on each car?
Are there rules based on grade and train length how many brakes should be set in a given situation? Is there a test? Are there situations where the air brakes set from the locomotive alone are considered sufficient? Using the car analogy If I am in my car on a flat street and am stopping only to drop my kid off at the gym, not getting out myself, I don't set my parking brake, but if I'm parking overnight on a steep hill, I'll set the parking brake and turn my wheels to the curb just like they taught us in drivers' ed.
I know from building models that modern cars have a reservoir tank for air and an operating valve and a brake cylinder on each car. I thought that release of air pressure supplied by the locomotive to the train line caused brakes to be applied using pressure from the reservoir tank. This would seem to imply that simply shutting down a running locomotive would not by itself cause air brakes to release, rather the train line would need to be pressurized.
Does PAR publish their rules on this in a document available to the public?
I put this thread here for two reasons
- I would like to know how PAR does this, and;
- I do not wish to imply that anyone did or did not do what they were supposed to do in the case of any particular event.
If the moderators want to move this, please feel free.
I thought that there are two types of brakes on train cars, mechanical (ratchet wheel on each car) and pneumatic, (or electro-pneumatic) controlled from the locomotive. The latter is used to stop a moving train and the former is used like a parking brake on your car to keep the stopped train from moving. I have seen cuts of cars positioned in a yard, and before the locomotive departs, heard lots of repeated "ratcheting" sounds that I assume are individual car brakes are set.
Assuming this description is correct, do the mechanical and pneumatic brakes use the same brake shoes on each car?
Are there rules based on grade and train length how many brakes should be set in a given situation? Is there a test? Are there situations where the air brakes set from the locomotive alone are considered sufficient? Using the car analogy If I am in my car on a flat street and am stopping only to drop my kid off at the gym, not getting out myself, I don't set my parking brake, but if I'm parking overnight on a steep hill, I'll set the parking brake and turn my wheels to the curb just like they taught us in drivers' ed.
I know from building models that modern cars have a reservoir tank for air and an operating valve and a brake cylinder on each car. I thought that release of air pressure supplied by the locomotive to the train line caused brakes to be applied using pressure from the reservoir tank. This would seem to imply that simply shutting down a running locomotive would not by itself cause air brakes to release, rather the train line would need to be pressurized.
Does PAR publish their rules on this in a document available to the public?
