Railroaders' Nostalgia > Figured this would be the best place to ask this one.

Having only about 2.5 yrs on the RR total, I was not sure where to exactly ask this one at. But here goes. On locomotives with "Dual Control Stands" how were the control stands "isolated" from each other? I don't think it would be fun to have a crewmember accidently bump into whichever control stand was not in use and have it "online" and possibly cause issues with operation of the train. Have been in one or 2 units like this, but for whatever reason, never thought about it til just recently. I imagine cutouts etc probably were used to isolate one stand from the other, but just curious. Thanks ya'll. Ben

ns2557 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Having only about 2.5 yrs on the RR total, I was
> not sure where to exactly ask this one at. But
> here goes. On locomotives with "Dual Control
> Stands" how were the control stands "isolated"
> from each other?

Each control stand has three electrical switches, among others, labeled "Engine Run", "Control & Fuel Pump" and "Generator Field".
These switches must be 'Up' or in the "ON" position in order for the throttle or dynamic braking lever associated with that control stand
to have control over engine RPM or electrical loading. Generally railroads issued instructions that all three
of these switches be in the down or "OFF" position when the control stand was not being used to operate the locomotive.

In reality only the "Generator Field" switch has to be in the "OFF" position to disable or, in effect, 'isolate' its
control stand. All the above would apply to EMD's. Alco's terminology for Generator Field was "Exiter".


Charlie



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/17 14:52 by cewherry.

ns2557 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't think it would be fun to
> have a crewmember accidently bump into whichever
> control stand was not in use and have it "online"
> and possibly cause issues with operation of the
> train.

That can be bad, real bad.

https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/RAR9801.pdf

And you have to cut the air into whichever stand is in operation.
BN SD9s were under the cab floor. Lift a hatch and cut it in/out.

I agree with Charlie and SD45X. While sitting on the left side of the cab of a dual controlled Ft. Worth & Denver (BN) SD7 decades ago I asked the fireman sitting behind me what the button on the end of the throttle did. He replied “Push it in and move the throttle forward”, I did as instructed thinking nothing of it since the control stand was cut out, or so I thought. Moments later the engine died and I discovered the button was the fuel injector shutoff switch for these older units. We were the only job switching a small yard at the time and as we coasted to a halt the engineer chuckled “Aw, you killed her.” We came to a halt with the engine on the crossover between the main and siding with our long cut of cars trailing down a long curving lead off the yard tracks. As the crew went about restarting the prime mover it was soon discovered the batteries didn’t have enough charge for the task and we were stuck there dead in the water blocking both the main and siding. The fun of pranking the newbie quickly wore off when it was discovered we had really sewn the railroad up in the way the locomotive and cars had everything blocked. There were southbound trains headed our way but the way the equipment was oriented and fouling the track layout they could not simply move us out of the way. It would take a northbound movement to clear us up and since there were none called it required the help from the neighboring Houston Belt & Terminal railroad to sent a job over to bail us out which wasn’t going to happen soon. As the southbounds backed up during the wait the fireman dumped the radiators so the incident would be written off as a low water cause.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/17 16:41 by cuontv.

That's hilarious where in Houston was this?

Posted from Android

Following Hurricane Agnes which devastated many railroads in the eastern US, the Erie-Lackawanna diverted some traffic over the Canadian Pacific through eastern Canada. Some of the EL locomotives had dual control stands.

An older CP locomotive engineer marveled at the complexity of the controls in the cab of an EL locomotive.

A friend was the head end brakeman on his train, and said to the engineer. " This locomotive automatically whistles for grade crossings" Every time they approached a crossing, the brakeman sounded a 14L whistle signal. The handle for the whistle on the other control stand was not visible from the engineers seat.

He would have gotten away with the jest except when he made a short "toot" at a friendly bystander.

I was told this story by a long time Rock Island engineer who in his younger years fired for
the legendary Bob Barcus.
The Alco RS's in suburban service had dual controls.
To overcome the monotony on a suburban line run one day while firing, at the first few stops he would release the air
a tad after Bob had set it. Bob would have to go after it heavy to get the train stopped. Bob was grumbling about
the poor brakes and made a very heavy set approaching the next stop. Of course this time the fireman didn't
release any air and the train came to an abrupt halt short of the mark. Barcus immediately knew what the "problem"
was because the fireman could not stop laughing.

Perhaps that's why most dual control engines I've seen have removable handles - and are provided with only one handle which must be moved to the stand of the operator!

I wont say this is how all dual control stand power is, but this is true for the power I've had over the years.

The generator field switch needs to be up on both sides for the unit to load. That switch specific is wired in series with each other. However the engine run, and fuel pump switches only need to be up on the control stand in use.

Air brakes need to but cut out and set to trail on the stand not in use, similar to a trailing locomotive.

If one attempts to put a reverser in and select a direction and notch other than what the other side is doing, you will trip the control breaker and the engine will stop loading.

Both sides have the simultaneous ability to control headlights, alerter, bell, horn. If one stand is set to dim and the other stand is set to bright, the headlight will go to bright.

Remember to remind your conductor that the attendant call button is not a toy... Nor is it funny when they hold the horn or bell on while your using them.

You're absolutely correct, it's actually hilarious.

"Nor is it funny when they hold the horn or bell on while your using them"

Posted from Android



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/17 00:56 by jointauthority.

You cut out the control stand and airbrakes on the control stand you were not going to use just the same as if it was on a trailing locomotive. No surprises there.