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At some time, and in some way, all of us have been involved with a memorable moment or event. For me, such a situation took place recently; the first surprise: it occurred just after the publication of last month's issue of Crossroads.
The situation dealt with the subject I addressed concerning inter-operability of the various types of Distributed Power control systems. Yes, such a feat can be accomplished; but as you will be reading about for this month's feature, my first trip with such a train would include more than just one first time situation.
It had a LOCOTROL III equipped C44AC locomotive (UP 6856) as the lone remote; the lead unit it was linked with was a LOCOTROL LSI (IDP) equipped SD90/43AC unit (UP 8164). The trailing unit in the lead consist was another C44AC locomotive (UP 6800). This job marked my my second time to see an SD90/43AC unit arranged for IDP operations, but this would be my maiden voyage to operate the equipment.
Overall, the physical layout is more flat than it is on the Choctaw Sub. There are some 1% uphills going northbound at Bridgeport and Bowie, Texas, along with 1% downhill runs; one of them leaving Hicks, Texas, the other at Agwam, Oklahoma, 14 miles south of Chickasha. At various locations, most of them in Texas, there are hogbacks (undulating terrain, if you prefer that term), but they're not as severe as those on the Choctaw Sub.
Control of train speed via the throttle modulation technique was easier; it didn't require making a large number of adjustments in as quick a time frame.
There were not that many moments in which Run 8 throttle operations occurred; the ones which did didn't last for extended time periods. Leaving Rush Springs, Oklahoma (it is 3 miles south of the Agwam hill area),
I split the consists into Front/Back groups for a hill cresting exercise on Agwam hill; this was my first such attempt on any DPU empty unit coal train on any of my assigned territories.
The exercise came off very well, with a nice transition bringing the remote consist back into synchronous dynamic braking for the downhill run.
Now that this has happened, I can agree with the comments from another engineer when I asked him for his thoughts on the format: "It was nice. I liked working with it."
One of its best assets is you now have one less display screen to look at (since you don't have a separate control box console), as well as having everything more directly in front of you. Another item I was studying when I did my Front/Back group experiment was how the display arrangements would react, particularly when I brought the remote unit from Back group power throttle into Front group dynamic braking.
Looking at how to bring up menu selections on the right side ICE screen was interesting; some of my own questions about it were supplied by this hands-on experience (In regards to the Train Check function: A following outline will be included; it will be addressing a question I was asked about it).
The key factor here is patience; the IDP system, when it is the lead unit for the train, will draw down the brake pipe at a service rate once you execute the Unlink function. You will receive message prompts which will guide you through what to do; once you get the message of DISTRIBUTED POWER LINK PENALTY: PENALTY SOURCE STILL PRESENT, turn off the Data Radios circuit breaker, then press the End Dist Pwr soft key. Afterwards, move the automatic brake handle to the release position, then follow the message prompts to recover the air brakes.
My remaining time left to work involved getting a limo ride to the remote locomotive, reconditioning it for conventional operation, then hostling the unit up to the head end for the outbound crew, who completed coupling up the unit as a conventional trailing locomotive with the other two, and then taking off for Wichita, Kansas ( the next crew change point) as a conventional train with the two-way E-O-T-D system applied.
So there you have it...The story of the first DPU train on the OKT Subdivision.
Who knows when (or for that matter if) another such train will travel over this route again. But if nothing else, it can't be said that it didn't happen at least once. Oh yes... I would like to extend a special thank Conductor Dick Wasser. This was my second tour of duty with this true gentleman and accomplished professional railroader (He also had some nice comments about the cab design of the SD90/43AC unit). Memorable firsts are better when your colleague in the cab is of this stature in both areas.
The Train Check function is contained in the right side ICE screen; to get "down the road" to it requires the following steps:
Out of McAlester, Oklahoma on October 17th would be the first SPRB to South Texas unit coal train to see this setup; it was the CCDSA-14 (Cordero Mine to San Antonio), which had 129 cars, 17179 gross tons, and these units:
However, be advised that for now, the former SP C44AC LOCOTROL III equipped units can only be linked with another SP equipped unit. Developments are ongoing for eventually making all UP, CNW and SP units which are DPU outfitted capable of communicating with one another (mixing and matching) successful.