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I got a lot of questions below but I'd really really appreciate if someone could answer them for me, thanks!In a Santa Fe Desert RailRoading yard in my model railroader I saw little separate sheds throughout the yard that cover one locomotive. It's not a big shed, it's just a little one with no doors on it or anything. It just has some roof and side walls. What do you engineers use them for?There's a picture of a turnout in one magazine that I get and it says under it "Many railroads bent the closure and wing rails of their turnouts into a diamond (as shown here) or oval shape to accommodate a longer-wearing manganese-insert frog." What's a maganese-insert frog?I got a photo in my model railroader that you can buy a model of, it's a Burlington Northern (BN) Jordan Spreader with High Blade. It looks like it has a snowplow on the front of it. What is this machine?I saw a car that the train car part goes down the middle of a trailer truck trailer which makes the wheels on the trailer truck trailer hang down really close to the railroad rails. I usually see trailer truck trailers on flatcars but sometimes I do see the cars I described above to. What are the cars that I described above called?On some diesel locos I see a piece of flat metal that overhangs the side cab windows on the outside of the locos. I've saw this sticking out or pushed in against the side of the loco. Do you use these to keep the rain from coming in the side cab window or what do you use them for?Last Question...On that new Tech 4 model railroad controller advertisement it says on the back of model railroader this issue it says 'we hooked up 24 locos and throttled up'. How can you hook up 24 locos on one track in a model railroad without them pulling apart? I tried to hook up two locomotives on my model railroad and they didn't work out too well.Any help is really appreciated. Thanks in advance to anyone who answers!Adam

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RE: Questions, IcyFire, Aug-05-02, 01:47 PM, (1) RE: Questions, calr, Aug-05-02, 02:17 PM, (2) RE: Questions, Lone_Gunman_SG, Aug-06-02, 01:09 PM, (16) RE: Questions, kevarc, Aug-06-02, 03:50 PM, (18) RE: Questions, Transcon, Aug-05-02, 02:30 PM, (3) RE: Questions, I_totally_love_trains, Aug-05-02, 02:47 PM, (4) RE: Questions, IcyFire, Aug-05-02, 02:53 PM, (5) RE: Questions, I_totally_love_trains, Aug-05-02, 03:49 PM, (6) RE: Questions, darkhorse2, Aug-05-02, 05:09 PM, (7) RE: Questions, darkhorse2, Aug-05-02, 05:13 PM, (8) RE: Questions, Xacto, Aug-05-02, 05:42 PM, (9) RE: Questions, I_totally_love_trains, Aug-05-02, 05:47 PM, (10) RE: Questions, IcyFire, Aug-05-02, 05:52 PM, (11) RE: Questions, I_totally_love_trains, Aug-05-02, 06:26 PM, (12) RE: Questions, IcyFire, Aug-05-02, 06:28 PM, (13) RE: Questions, I_totally_love_trains, Aug-05-02, 08:29 PM, (14) RE: Questions, I_totally_love_trains, Aug-06-02, 10:29 AM, (15) RE: Questions, I_totally_love_trains, Aug-06-02, 03:46 PM, (17) RE: Questions, darkhorse2, Aug-06-02, 07:19 PM, (19) RE: Questions, darkhorse2, Aug-06-02, 07:24 PM, (20) RE: Questions, darkhorse2, Aug-06-02, 07:29 PM, (21) RE: Questions, I_totally_love_trains, Aug-06-02, 08:49 PM, (22) RE: Questions, CSX_CW60AC_GregMarck, Aug-06-02, 09:05 PM, (23) RE: Questions, Lone_Gunman_SG, Aug-07-02, 10:37 AM, (24) RE: Questions, I_totally_love_trains, Aug-07-02, 08:48 PM, (25) RE: Questions, PatchCrew, Aug-07-02, 10:13 PM, (26) RE: Questions, I_totally_love_trains, Aug-08-02, 04:58 PM, (27) RE: Questions, darkhorse2, Aug-08-02, 10:55 PM, (28)

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about the trailers.. It sounds like your talking abut roadrailers, did they look like this?

Shawn "IcyFire" Kenselaar
I hate my Computer, so very very much

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Regarding model railroad locos, as long as locos are closely matched in power, you can string as many of them together as you want within the current limits of your power supply. By closely matched, I mean same brand, same model. In other words don't try to run an Athearn SD40 with an Atlas SD40. Two or more Atlas SD40's will work very well together.

Cal Rasmussen
Beaverton, ORColumbia Gorge Route (Construction resumed on The Dalles Dam)

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LAST EDITED ON Aug-06-02 AT 01:11 PM (EDT)

That doesnt seem right in some way. Why dont different model locos work well together?

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Motor and gearing differences.Kevin Arceneaux
gdapia

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About the 24 model railroad locos, you can also buy a DCC system, and put DCC chips into your engines, this will make any engine of any brand work together without burning up engines. Many 0-scale manufacturers are starting to produce engines with DCC or Lionel TMCC chips in them (M.T.H, K-Line, Lionel). My dad recently bought a Southern Pacific GS4 'Daylight' (#4449 of course!) from K-Line and it has DCC technology in it. However, you need to know that setting up a DCC system for any scale is expensive! For a basic layout, I'd set up about a $1000 budget just for a good DCC system. Every model railroad club I've seen in HO has a DCC system, complete with remote controls of course! I'll tell you, it's gotta be worth all the money put in to a DCC system! My dad is thinking about putting one of those systems on the O-scale railroad we're planning to build...Also things like F7 ABA lash ups have a cord connected to each other for synchronization of the engines, to prevent them from ripping apart.My first experiment was when I was 8 or so I got an old Marx HO UP F7 engine, and lashed it up with a brand-new Life-Like trains HiNose GP38-2 Santa Fe engine, that totally made a mess of sparks and I think I blew out a wire on the old Marx loco! lol Both engines are ok now and are working fine (after a few repairs).------------------------------------------------------------I'll never let go of the railroad that inspired me to involved with trains, the Union Pacific!

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Them cars are what I was talking about Transcon! Could you guys please try to answer some of my other questions?
Also I know the movie Atomic Train was very very unrealistic but in that movie they hooked two locos to the back of the runaway train to slow it down and it shook everything from the tension. If you had to slow a real runaway train down in real life would you get that kind of tension to shake everything including the train crew?Also in real life do you get actual clearance of the line from railroad control like they did in Atomic Train?Adam

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I think if you tried to slow a runaway by hooking onto it and slowing down, You'd have a broken knuckle coupler pretty fast, dunno for sure tho

Shawn "IcyFire" Kenselaar
I hate my Computer, so very very much

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Well IcyFire they did it without breaking a coupler in Ohio with a CSX Freight and they said in the interview that they were praying that the couplers wouldn't brake because they'd all be dead at that speed.How do you conductors unhook couplers when they're already coupled?Adam

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we just pull up on the lever that all cars have. as long as you have slack when the rest of the train moves forward the knuckle will open and the car will stay behind.

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also the thing you see on the side of a loco cab is a sunshade. it helps the engineer to keep out of the sun when he is leaning out the window, i guess it would keep some rain off him too!! it does nothing for conductors though!!! the are adjustable up or down , thats why you might see them laying flat.

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>In a Santa Fe Desert RailRoading yard in my model railroader
>I saw little separate sheds throughout the yard that cover
>one locomotive. It's not a big shed, it's just a little one
>with no doors on it or anything. It just has some roof and
>side walls. What do you engineers use them for? I have the same magazine and I'm not sure what the shed is for. It appears to be covering a servicing area.>There's a picture of a turnout in one magazine that I get
>and it says under it "Many railroads bent the closure and
>wing rails of their turnouts into a diamond (as shown here)
>or oval shape to accommodate a longer-wearing
>manganese-insert frog." What's a maganese-insert frog? Manganese is added to steel to create a harder alloy that resists wear, and the surfaces of a frog are subjected to a lot of wear.>I got a photo in my model railroader that you can buy a
>model of, it's a Burlington Northern (BN) Jordan Spreader
>with High Blade. It looks like it has a snowplow on the
>front of it. What is this machine? It's a snowplow with moveable wing plows that can clear the tracks to either side of the track that the spreader is on. The plow on front clears the snow ahead of it.
>Any help is really appreciated. Thanks in advance to anyone
>who answers! You are welcome Cliff

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Oops didn't mean to say the conductor when I was talking about the sunshade.
Wouldn't it be kind of hard to uncouple a train with a lever because the cars would have to push themselves apart in order to uncouple?Also why does each modern diesel loco have 3 hoses one each side of it on the back and front when the cars only got 1 hose?Do you also have the plug the hoses on the back and front of the train so there's no leak in air causing the train to go into emergency?Once again any help is really appreciated by me and thank you to anyone who gives me answers in advance!Adam

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MU hoses.. Im pretty sure about that one

Shawn "IcyFire" Kenselaar
I hate my Computer, so very very much

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What's MU hoses?Two more questions left to answer also.Adam

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Multi Unit hoses, each hose controles a funtion of the unit behind it, and cars only have one, cus thats the air hose

Shawn "IcyFire" Kenselaar
I hate my Computer, so very very much

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LAST EDITED ON Aug-05-02 AT 08:36 PM (EDT)

I know it was a very unrealistic movie but on Atomic Train they tried to slow the runaway down with a pile of sand on the tracks and railroad control said "Slowing from the sand is negligible". What does "negligible" mean?Also does a seperately operated from train snow plow as wide as the train or just as wide as the rails? Note that a train is wider than the width of the rails.Adam

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What's the hose in between the ditch lights on the front of Santa Fe Locos for?Adam

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LAST EDITED ON Aug-06-02 AT 03:48 PM (EDT)

Lone_Gunman, you should of posted your post as the last post on the thread so everyone would know where it is. Unfortunately, I don't have a answer for your question but I know it has something to do with power.Can you order a model train locomotive that's customized with no engine in it?On the locos for the railroad known as The J below the sunguard they got a window that sticks out like a drive thru window at mcdonalds so the engineer can stick their head out the window but still be covered completely. Why don't other railroads have that?Adam

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that would be a "all weather window" it allows the engineer to lean out to better look back in any kind of weather.dont do the conductor any good though!!!

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modern cars have a "cut lever" you pull up on it and it raises a pin inside the knuckle . when the other car moves away it opens the knuckle and presto the cars uncouple. when you go to couple 2 cars together the pin has to drop into the locked position in order for the train cars to remain coupled.

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all railroad cars and locomotives have a device called an "angle cock" and you open or close it to allow air to go from 1 car to the next. so in a train the only one that would be closed is at the very last car,all the rest would be open...keep those questions coming;)

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I think I saw a pin jump up out of the coupler on Atomic Train when the engineer coupled the cars up.
In the Atomic Train movie a bus was caught on a crossing at the beginning and the lights came on at the crossing but the gates didn't go down for a while. Is that how it is at some crossings?Also on Atomic Train the train at the beginning had it's throttle stuck and the engineer put on the emergency brake when he saw the bus on the crossing I mentioned about above. Could a train stop with the throttle at full?On Atomic Train I saw a guy in between two cars and I think he's the one that made the hoses leak because when the mechanic walked past after loading the boxcar before it up that was the leaky hose. Do you guys check for leaks in the hoses very carefully before you even move in the yard?Can you access the engine room on a modern locomotive from the cab?Adam

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>> In the Atomic Train movie a bus was caught on a crossing at the beginning and the lights came on at the crossing but the gates didn't go down for a while. Is that how it is at some crossings?Yes, atleast that it's how it's done here(one most crossings), I think its so that the dumb@$$ people who decided that want to beat the train are given time before the gates trap them in.>> Also on Atomic Train the train at the beginning had it's throttle stuck and the engineer put on the emergency brake when he saw the bus on the crossing I mentioned about above. Could a train stop with the throttle at full?
I guess it really depends on the engines(number of units and horsepower) If it was one engine pulling a 50 car loaded coal train uphill at 5 mp stuck in notch 8, he'd stop, because of the 50 loaded coal cars behind him, whose breaks are stuck in emergency. But, then again, if it was 4 Dash 9s, pulling a 10 car intermodel, I doubt emergency would do anything more than put flatspots on the wheels.

Greg
HighV0ltge - AIM/AOL
gregoryis411@hotmail.com

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LAST EDITED ON Aug-07-02 AT 10:38 AM (EDT)

>On some diesel locos I see a piece of flat metal that overhangs the side cab windows on the outside of the locos. I've saw this sticking out or pushed in against the side of the loco. Do you use these to keep the rain from coming in the side cab window or what do you use them for?<I think youre talking about sunshades. You can guess what they are used for.

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LAST EDITED ON Aug-07-02 AT 09:09 PM (EDT)

On Atomic Train I saw a guy in between two cars and I think he's the one that made the hoses leak because when the mechanic walked past after loading the boxcar before it up that was the leaky hose. Do you guys check for leaks in the hoses very carefully before you even move in the yard?
Can you access the engine room on a modern diesel locomotive from the cab?
Also there's been accidents before where there was large holes in the middle of the tracks and just about all of the train went in. Amazingly on the ones I heard about every member of the crew survived. Do you have crush-proof cabs or do you go and hide in the engine room when something like that happens?
Also on a hill could you give a train just a tad bit of throttle in reverse to keep it from going down the hill?
There's a old track that's now all growed in with grass by my Grandma's place but it comes off of the new track now. There was a work train sitting on them tracks that haven't been used for about 8 to 10 years now. Do they inspect the tracks before they move any train onto a old track like that?Adam

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>Also on Atomic Train the train at the beginning had it's throttle stuck and the engineer put on the emergency brake when he saw the bus on the crossing I mentioned about above. Could a train stop with the throttle at full?The throttle is automatically cut back to idle when the automatic brake valve is placed in the emergency position.>Do you guys check for leaks in the hoses very carefully before you even move in the yard?That is one of the jobs carmen do in a major yard. If you are picking cars enroute then the Conductor or Brakeman would do that. The Engineer is required to perform certain air tests before leaving a major yard or picking up cars enroute to check for trainline leakage.>Can you access the engine room on a modern diesel locomotive from the cab?No.>Also on a hill could you give a train just a tad bit of throttle in reverse to keep it from going down the hill?No. Well sort of depending on what you mean. You use dynamic braking and train brakes to control train speed downhill. But if your locomotive consist is made up entirely of AC units some railroads allow you to HOLD a stopped train on grade by placing the locomotives in reverse and opening the throttle. AC units only!PatchCrew
UP Engineer

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There's been accidents before where there was large holes in the middle of the tracks and just about all of the train went in. Amazingly on the ones I heard about every member of the crew survived. Do you have crush-proof cabs or do you go and hide in the engine room when something like that happens?
There's a old track that's now all growed in with grass by my Grandma's place but it comes off of the new track now. There was a work train sitting on them tracks that haven't been used for about 8 to 10 years now. Do they inspect the tracks before they move any train onto a old track like that?
I've saw two or three locos coupled together sitting alone here on the tracks and I saw a guy walking back and forth to each loco and he'd be in the cab for a while on each one. They were almost ready to move. Do you have to apply the brakes on every locomotive?
Any help is really appreciated in advance and very much thanks to all of you who helped me out already!
Adam

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most of todays wide cabs have a pair of steel beams inside of the nose.they are there to protect the cab from getting crushed, and they hope to keep the crew safe.there is no place to go and hide in the engine compartment,that is where the oil water and fuel are! if you get any of that on you it will hurt big time! sombody might have looked at the tracks before they put the worktrain on it,but they probably just backed in real slow. the guy checking out the locomotives was most likely making sure the hand brakes were not on and putting the isolation switch online and in the trailing unit position.

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