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Ferrari355 (314 posts)
Jun-28-01, 04:25 AM (EST) "is this a Hotbox detector?" Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
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Subject Author Message Date ID RE: is this a Hotbox detector? sd90mac Jun-28-01 1 RE: is this a Hotbox detector? geepman Jun-28-01 2 RE: is this a Hotbox detector? sd90mac Jun-28-01 3 RE: is this a Hotbox detector? Ferrari355 Jun-28-01 4 RE: is this a Hotbox detector? Ferrari355 Jun-28-01 5 RE: is this a Hotbox detector? Ferrari355 Jun-29-01 6 RE: is this a Hotbox detector? sd90mac Jun-29-01 7 RE: is this a Hotbox detector? Ferrari355 Jun-29-01 8 RE: is this a Hotbox detector? jbeagle Jun-29-01 9 RE: is this a Hotbox detector? Ferrari355 Jun-29-01 10 Hotbox detectors for MSTS railway_nut Mar-15-02 11 RE: Hotbox detectors for MSTS AlabamaRailfan Mar-15-02 12 RE: Hotbox detectors for MSTS railway_nut Mar-15-02 13 RE: Hotbox detectors for MSTS highball5 Mar-15-02 14 RE: is this a Hotbox detector? Brando Mar-15-02 15 RE: is this a Hotbox detector? darkfyre Mar-16-02 16 RE: is this a Hotbox detector? highball5 Mar-16-02 17 RE: is this a Hotbox detector? darkfyre Mar-16-02 19 RE: is this a Hotbox detector? seabornnn Mar-16-02 18

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sd90mac (100 posts)
Jun-28-01, 03:38 PM (EST) 1. "RE: is this a Hotbox detector?" LAST EDITED ON Jun-28-01 AT 03:49 PM (EST)No it isn't.The white upright box is a AEI data tag reader. All US freight cars and locomotives have a small electronic module mounted on the side of the car/loco and when the train passes one of the readers it reads and transmits the car/loco number to a central computer.This information is used in a lot of ways but one way is freight car locating and tracking.I believe the box between the rails is a axle counter which would be co-located with the AEI reader.By any chance was that photograph taken along the Tehachapi route in California?TAP
Locomotive Engineer Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
geepman (9 posts)
Jun-28-01, 03:40 PM (EST) 2. "RE: is this a Hotbox detector?" No, this is not a hotbox detector. I forget what it's formal name is, but it is a sensor reader for passing cars. The white rectangle near the center of the photo is a proximity detector tha senses an electronic device on a passing freight car that is programmed with the road number of the car, car type, detination, and contents. As the car passes this detector, the sensor reads this info from the car and transmits it to the railroad so that the railroad can locate a car and track its journey.In simple terms, these are similar to electronic tags that are put on clothes at a store that is sensed and sets off an alarm if somebody tries to exit the store without paying for it. In this case, these can be programmed by the railroad for tracking the whereabouts of their cars.geepman Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
sd90mac (100 posts)
Jun-28-01, 03:56 PM (EST) 3. "RE: is this a Hotbox detector?" geepman:As far as I know the data tags cannot be programmed with destination information and load contents. The tags are pre-programmed with the number of the car and it's empty and maximum load weights and permanently attached to the car.. Once it is attached to the car it is not reprogrammed in anyway.TAP Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Ferrari355 (314 posts)
Jun-28-01, 11:34 PM (EST) 4. "RE: is this a Hotbox detector?" ok now I understand I have more pictures so hold on Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Ferrari355 (314 posts)
Jun-28-01, 11:57 PM (EST) 5. "RE: is this a Hotbox detector?" Now i know what this is it's a high car detector it has to beams that shine down to find how tall a object is and I think two on each side to see how wide.I saw this pictures last night did they forget to close the door?Oh and i found that AEI thingy
it says this: Optional addition to all microprocessor-based Harmon Hot Box Detectors (HBDs). Provides car-borne tag data to the hot box detector thereby enabling it to more precisely identify alarming axles by car number.
A HotBox???A dragging detector??I got better pics somewere I have to find them Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Ferrari355 (314 posts)
Jun-29-01, 00:17 AM (EST) 6. "RE: is this a Hotbox detector?" I found the site!!! I think it has the best pictures not very many people get to see the inside were the defector is. So I had a hard time finding it but nevertheless I found it!Here it is First the high Wide detectorHotbox detector and heater:Here is another view of the hotbox detector and heater.same but closer shot:Here is a close-up of the hotbox detector. Notice it also has a heater on it.High Wide detector with heater:This is a close-up of the base sensor for the high-wide. Notice the heater coils under it!This shows the view looking directly RR south. You can see the bottom half of the wide sensors and the hotbox detectors.This is the cabinet that runs the High-Wide at Cantwell. It contains a generator, radio, and all the electronics to operate the detector. Notice the yellow polls on the stringers. Those are so the snowplows don't run into the stringers.
Here is the site were i got that Car counter picture fromhttp://www.trainweb.com/reynolds/052298.htmlok now this time i really found it it took 3 hours just to find it........Here is the defect detector! can you spot it??It's that light blue box on the right side all those people's voices come from their and this is what the write up said.Inside the equipment case are the batteries at the bottom and a few electrical components above them. The voice of the "SP Lady" which announces "No Defects, no defects" or "Engineer, Stop Your Train" is housed in the blue box. Part of Rick's inspection routine is to electrically shunt the rails and kick the paddles to activate the "SP Lady". He also checks battery electrolyte levels and voltages and records it on cards seen here slightly below and to the left of the blue box. On top of the case is a Sinclair antenna to broadcast the SP Lady to train crews.Dragging detectorThree miles south of the last signal we arrive at the first dragging equipment detector in the canyon. This one is solar powered as evidenced by the collector array mounted near the case. The "paddles" are visible between and on either side of the rails in the right side of this picture. What is that tall pole thing?another pic with amtrak going past it
ok i'm done lol and way too many pictures sorry about that Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
sd90mac (100 posts)
Jun-29-01, 01:11 AM (EST) 7. "RE: is this a Hotbox detector?" The "tall pole thing" is a type of signal called a Semaphore. Semaphore signals can only be found in a few places in the U.S. They were used before color light signals.In the first picture the blade on the signal is at the 5 o'clock position which is a Proceed indication. The second picture with the Amtrak train the blade is at 3 o'clock which means Stop.TAP Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Ferrari355 (314 posts)
Jun-29-01, 01:23 AM (EST) 8. "RE: is this a Hotbox detector?" It's also in train sim after the train passes it turns red to all the other trains behind it.>The "tall pole thing" is a
>type of signal called a
>Semaphore. Semaphore signals can
>only be found in a
>few places in the U.S.
> They were used before
>color light signals.
>
>In the first picture the blade
>on the signal is at
>the 5 o'clock position which
>is a Proceed indication.
>The second picture with the
>Amtrak train the blade is
>at 3 o'clock which means
>Stop.
>
>TAP
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jbeagle (5 posts)
Jun-29-01, 11:15 PM (EST) 9. "RE: is this a Hotbox detector?" Is anyone working on implementing real working Defect Detectors (similar to the Harmon units) for various train-sim routes? With all these pictures, I was hoping someone had enough interest to look into it. A nice visual with an appropriate transmission similar to the typical "C-S-X...equipment defect detector...milepost###...track number 2...no defects...length of train###feet...train speed###miles per hour...total axles####...safety first...always...end of transmission"This would be cool to hear while driving down the east coast over CSX trackage (Amtrak's Silver Service).
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Ferrari355 (314 posts)
Jun-29-01, 11:31 PM (EST) 10. "RE: is this a Hotbox detector?" hehehhe or like this:
BNSF detector Milepost 129.1 no Defects repeat no defects..... total axle count 120.............. OUTThat would go good with Bnsfi was hopeing it would have it at the Marias Pass Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
railway_nut (3 posts)
Mar-15-02, 06:59 AM (EST) 11. "Hotbox detectors for MSTS" i was hoping to put hotbox detectors on my Sandpoint to Spokane line. please let me know if anyone has sucessfully integrated a hotbox detector on thier line, or if anyone has tried. be great to have a little radio chatter on a active line such as "the funnel" axle counts aside, the hotbox detector is a great ides, although i think that an axle-count detector would be difficult to do. i dunno though.looking forward to hearing about it.David Page Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
AlabamaRailfan (214 posts)
Mar-15-02, 10:53 AM (EST) 12. "RE: Hotbox detectors for MSTS" Hey Guys,
This is a great idea! I have been popndering how to do this for a while, but since I don't usually mess with audio or the activity or route editors, I have never actually tried anything.I have, however, started collecting some photos of local EDDs in the hopes of building a couple in TSM for use in MSTS. It would be really sweet if someone could figure a way to "sync" the playing of a wav file to running past the EDD. If worst comes to worst, if it would at least play when the loco passes it woundn't be bad, but it would be even better if we could get it wait until the entire train passes it.Being a fan of wayside equipment and signal maintenance, I started collecting recordings of EDDs. These might be useful when/if we can get this to work in MSTS. Here is a link to my sound files: http://www.alabamarailfan.com/sound-bytes.php
Many of these were recorded from the train while riding the Sunset Limited and the Coast Starlight on a trip to California a couple years ago. The others were recorded trackside with a portable recorded connected to my scanner.I would really love to see this become a reality in MSTS! If anyone is interested in working on it, I will help out any way I can!Highball!John D. Peterson
Webmaster - AlabamaRailfan.com
http://www.alabamarailfan.com(Insert cool logo here)
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railway_nut (3 posts)
Mar-15-02, 11:39 AM (EST) 13. "RE: Hotbox detectors for MSTS" LAST EDITED ON Mar-15-02 AT 11:43 AM (EST)alabamarailfan.com rules, btw. i downloaded all your sound bites and repaints, etc long before i found train-sim.com
keep up the awesome work on the website.
and if you like, once i have my sp&s/bn route finished, i plan on selling it from my website. custom painted locomotives and other free addons will be available at yours, if you'll have them. i'd be honored.btw. sp&s/bn line from sandpoint to west spokane is'nt going to be a slipshod route, in case you wondered. i'm using usgs data and prototype models for buildings and elevated right-of-way through spokane. i also plan on letting people choose between pre-1973 era and modern era. pre-1973 era will have the depot and yard with the GN tower on havermale island, with a full set of custom painted Mallets for sg&s. Empire Builder will sure look grand on this line. btw, if anyone has good information on sg&s from spokane to sandpoint, i'm looking for good sources of information. you will be credited as a source, and if yer interested in helping to develop the line, be sure to drop a line to admin@cablemirc.com in private. all contributors of decent information I don't already have will get a free finished product of the line.
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highball5 (123 posts)
Mar-15-02, 03:26 PM (EST) 14. "RE: Hotbox detectors for MSTS" I experimented with a talking DED in MSTS a while back. Got it to "sort of" work, but then got side tracked on some other projects and never got it 100%. Check in the Sound Forum. There's a thread there talking about SMS files that branched into a discussion on talking detectors. The method I was experimenting with was adding a Track sound. The ttype.dat file in the routes are sounds when a train passes over a certain type track or structure... wooden bridge, tunnel, etc. I added a type that was a basic detector audio. My problem was that instead of the detector going off when the train passed it, it was constantly talking. As you approached it, you could hear it faintly. As you got closer, it got louder, and after you passed it, it began to fade away until gone. I tried the 'play_oneshot' and various other settings, but never got it nailed. I think perhaps some of the guys in the sound forum might have taken it a bit further, maybe even got it to work. As for a full blown output with axle count, speed and temperature, I can't think of anyway to make that work. As far as I can see, the audio would have to be the same regardless of axles, speed, etc. But a basic DED would be pretty realistic with just the basic 'no defects, no defects' type message. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Brando (6 posts)
Mar-15-02, 03:32 PM (EST) 15. "RE: is this a Hotbox detector?" For anyone who's interested, this site http://w3.one.net/~kb8vrz/defect.htmlhas a pile of defect detector recordings. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
darkfyre (164 posts)
Mar-16-02, 03:24 PM (EST) 16. "RE: is this a Hotbox detector?" Whats a hotbox?
Hauling cars is fun; but crashing them is even better.

-Darkfyre Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
highball5 (123 posts)
Mar-16-02, 04:18 PM (EST) 17. "RE: is this a Hotbox detector?" The railroad definition is an overheated wheel journal or bearing caused by heavy braking or a mechanical defect. Causes the packing to burn or smoke a lot.As for non-railroad related definitions, try doing a search for XXX
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darkfyre (164 posts)
Mar-16-02, 09:40 PM (EST) 19. "RE: is this a Hotbox detector?" Hmm...Haven't seen any fires in MSTS yet; so it didn't make much sense to me when i saw an activity that said something about a set-out with a hotbox; wasn't quite clear on the subject, that's why I asked

Hauling cars is fun; but crashing them is even better.

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seabornnn (9 posts)
Mar-16-02, 09:29 PM (EST) 18. "RE: is this a Hotbox detector?" back when i was a kid my dad would bring his radio home and he always told me that they had a little person in the hot box detecter and when the train went by he would say "hotbox detector ruel 150. no alarm detector out" and they would feed him korn flacks. but now i know he's full of ##### too hahaha.hey it was along time ago ok.. hahahaseaborn Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

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