Prototype Railroading: Picture Time!

I have not shared a lot of pictures from work on here really.  I do not actually take a lot, just because usually I am thinking more about getting the job done right and getting home.  But I thought I would share a few today, with their associated stories.  If I did it right, you should be able to click on them to make them larger.  Enjoy!

The first picture is a puzzle for you!  This was taken on an SD70MAC locomotive.  We had to ride a train out to pick up another train, and the speedometer on the Conductor's side.  Now a SD70MAC has a maximum speed of 75 mph, and the fastest we are allowed to operate around here is 60 mph.

We were not actually operating at 125 miles per hour.  In fact, we were riding in the second locomotive on the train, which is where we found this.  The computer on board was having a bit of a fit.  The locomotive was running just fine, at about walking speed when the picture was taken.  But if you had looked at any of the computer screens, you would have seen that the locomotive could not decide between throttle and braking, stopped and moving, and it kept thinking the horn and bell were going.  So the answer to the puzzle...computer problems!

The next picture is another cab shot.  This is a newer, more modern locomotive.  On some, the Conductor gets a "big screen TV," as we like to call it.  On most engines, the conductor gets a speedometer, and sometimes an odometer that measures in feet.  Some locomotives have fancy screens though, which are identical to the screens that the engineer looks at on his side.  This has all the information the engineer needs to run the train safely.  It shows air pressure in the brake pipe, equalizing reservoir, main reservoir, brake cylinder, and the air flow rate.  It also shows the position of the reverser and throttle, as well as the tractive effort being put out by the locomotive.  The tractive effort is the amount of force the locomotive is pulling with, which can be as high as 150,000 pounds.

Now, we will look at the engineer's side of the engine.  The screens look similar to the one above, but he has two screens so he can monitor more things at one time.  The biggest difference is that the Conductor only has a horn button and emergency brake valve on his side, while the engineer has all the controls.  All the levers to the left of the computer screens make the train move or stop.  They include the reverser and throttle, three types of brakes, bell, horn, lights, the radio, and climate controls for the cab.  There are also switches for some of the electronics on the train, such as the generator field switch.  The most used electrical switches are put here, within easy reach of the engineer.  The rest, and the less commonly used, are on the back wall of the cab, as seen in the photo below.

This photo is what you would see if you were sitting in the conductor's seat, and looked over your right shoulder.  It is on the outside of an electrical cabinet, behind the engineers seat.  The start and stop switches are located on that wall on newer locomotives, as well as circuit breakers for just about everything, and a battery disconnect switch.  On the back wall there are also coat hooks, where we hang out safety vests.  There is a small stool that folds out of the wall, for a fourth seat.  And there is a door out to the walkway behind the cab.  From the walkway there are access panels to the engine and other major mechanical components.

The next picture is one of the more unusual things I have seen.  One afternoon, we were sitting in Colgate siding, which is only about seven miles west of Glendive.  There is a farm crossing towards the east end of the siding, so when we pull in there, we try not to block it, in case the owner needs to get across to access his crops.

On this particular day, a few weeks ago, we did not see the farmer anywhere, but we did catch his sheep trying to escape.  We do not know how they got out, but at one point during the wait in the siding, I looked up to this view:  That is a lot of sheep!  They somehow got out of their pen, and began heading across the tracks to one of the crops.  Once across the tracks, the herd spread out and they all began eating the crop.  A little while later the farmer came out on a four wheeler and chased them all back across the tracks to their enclosure.  I can not imagine he was particularly happy about their escape!  Fortunately none of them got hurt or killed in their field trip across the tracks.

One last picture for today.  This is a shot of some graffiti that we see periodically in Glendive.  This car goes back and forth from the coal mines in Wyoming to a power company in Wisconsin.  We see it every few weeks, but I just finally had the chance to take a picture of it.