Eastern Railroad Discussion > NS and BNSF Railway to Test New Train Brake Tech.

Norfolk Southern and BNSF Railway to Test New Train Brake Technology

NORFOLK, VA AND FORT WORTH, TEXAS, March 29, 2007 – Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) and BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) will begin testing a new braking system that may reduce the amount of time it takes to stop a train.

The project, authorized by the Federal Railroad Administration, calls for NS and BNSF to equip and test certain locomotives and freight cars with electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes.

ECP brakes have the potential to reduce train stopping distances by as much as 50 to 70 percent over conventional air brake systems. ECP brakes utilize electronic signals to simultaneously apply and release throughout the length of a freight train. This differs from conventional brake systems in which each car brakes individually as air pressure moves in a series from car to car.

Testing ECP will allow the railroads to review its potential for improved braking and shorter stopping distances that may improve railroad and public safety, network capacity and efficiency, asset utilization, fuel savings and equipment maintenance.

NS and BNSF plan to conduct separate ECP brake tests. NS plans to equip 30 locomotives and 400 rapid-discharge coal cars with ECP brakes during 2007 and use the equipment in dedicated coal train service.
BNSF plans to test this technology within its intermodal fleet, focusing on international business to/from the San Pedro Bay ports. In addition, BNSF is pursing a partnership with a major coal customer to integrate this technology into one of the longest distance coal routes in the country.

“ECP brakes represent a major breakthrough in rail technology,” said Gerhard Thelen, Norfolk Southern’s vice president operations planning and support. “Our tests will help determine how the technology performs in a real-world environment and will indicate whether it will be practical to one day make it commonplace across the entire U.S. rail industry.”

“BNSF plans to expand the testing of this important technology within its fleet,” said Dave Dealy, BNSF’s vice president, Transportation. “By leveraging our past experience with this technology, BNSF looks forward to building on this foundation to allow further implementation of ECP into our intermodal and coal shipments.”

http://www.nscorp.com/nscorp/index.jsp

I qualified on the with unit coal trains on CSX nearly 7 years ago and haven't seen them since. They work great and are a blast to run. The problem if I recall was equiping the cars and loco's. I don't remember now exactly how much it cost, but i want to say like $35k per car and like $120 per engine. It is good stuff, but I don't see wide spread using it. too many cars to equip and who is going to pay for it?

-Joe

JoeyGooganelli Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I qualified on the with unit coal trains on CSX
> nearly 7 years ago and haven't seen them since.
> They work great and are a blast to run. The
> problem if I recall was equiping the cars and
> loco's. I don't remember now exactly how much it
> cost, but i want to say like $35k per car and
> like $120 per engine. It is good stuff, but I
> don't see wide spread using it. too many cars to
> equip and who is going to pay for it?
>
> -Joe

The US Taxpayer. All the RR's are knocking each other down to get a gubment handout these days.

What ever happened to the new braking system on a test unit coal train on the NS on the Pittsburgh line I saw 2-3 years ago? Why can't everyone work together and get a system wide application that works?
Tommy

does this mean they are going to merge ?

NO it doesnt!!!

The cost estimates given last year by the FRA were about $40,000 per locomotive and $3-4,000 per car. This will be an FRA-mandated safety addition, so ALL rolling stock must be retrofitted with ECP brake equipment.

Total cost ~$400,000,000 for locos, $3.6-4.8 BILLION for cars, or $4-5.2 billion grand total.

Have heard estimates of benefits - 70% to RR, 30% to car owners.

Guess who's making out on this one?

How does this differ from the same technology CR tested in coal train service back around 1996? Wireless maybe, the older required cables between cars and locos.

Gonut