Model Railroading > New lineside detail

Here is an interesting lineside detail that is often overlooked in service yards. It's a load tester, used to test the dynamic brakes on road units, without having to move the unit!

The tester is simply a dynamic brake section, mounted on a skid, steel legs or railroad ties. A set of heavy duty jumper cables are run from the tester to the road units' dynamic brake (like jump starting a car) and if they are working properly, the load tester will so indicate.

I based this on a photo I took at the AzCal Rwy in Parker, Az., several years ago, just after they got thier SD45's and SD45-2's. I didn't know what it was at the time, but thought it was intersting. Thanks to a good friend with the FRA, I know what it is, and having some spare dynamic brake sections lying around, I come up with this neat little detail. The black pole mounts either a yellow or red rotating beacon, to warn workers that a test is in progress. I made the red cable pole to hang the jumper cables on to keep the area less messy.

For this project, I used an SD40-2 dynamic brake, in which I replaced the fans with Atlas see through fans. The ends had to be closed up some with plastic pieces, then the whole unit was painted a grimey black, then weathered with chaulks. Stained wood ties were glued to the bottom then when dry, the whole assembly was glued down next to my svc track.

Jim

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Not really used to test the dynamic brakes - the unit does have to be moving... Instead, its used to test the output of the locomotive's generator/throttle. Very useful to tell if the unit is not loading properly in a particular throttle position, etc.

-Eric

They've got a few of these around the BNSF Topeka Shops, and I just shot one the other day, abeit, through a fence.

- Jeff Carlson

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Very cool. I like the dolly it's mounted on. Makes it a lot more portable.

Jim