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Since the last issue of CROSSROADS, there has been a lot going on in the area of DPU operations. Some of them in one way or another have had an effect on their operations into our area. Others involve what is taking shape as far as with future arrangements in various areas concerning DPU. So without further delay, let's take a closer look into the big picture (or give it our best shot at least).
Here is the background: As of January 1st, DPU activity going to the San Antonio facility with the 128 car trains has been suspended. The issue resulting in this action is being worked on by the affected parties. So pending the outcome, all of the San Antonio coal trains up to press time have been operating as three unit conventional format trains.
In the case of the trains going to the Halstead plant, these were trains added to the rotation to assist in maintaining the levels of tonnage age being delivered to that customer. In fact, with the help from those trains, the performance expectations wound up being better than anticipated.
The continuance of the larger size trains are being worked on by the involved participants. Since my putting together my final notes for this report, I was informed that DPU operations would be returning to the Halstead coal trains.
There are 11 sets of 115 car trains in operation in this rotation; some of them have already been transformed into DPU trains. Eventually, all of them will become 115 car DPU formatted trains. As to the San Antonio situation, this was still being worked on to where they might be able to get DPU back on them at the 115 car size until the details resulting in the present suspension are ironed out.
The main reason for why you are seeing this materialize is due to problems being experienced with the three unit conventional coal train sets at various locations along the routes for these jobs.
Among the projects slated for 1997 is to implement a program whereby the SP units will be updated and modified for DPU compatibility with the UP units. Also to be included are SP's C44AC units numbered 100 to and including 199; this group will be retro-fitted with the DPU control system (NOTE: All of the SP's C44AC locomotives are presently outfitted with the integrated display screens and the WABCO E-Brake system).
The involved participants will include the DP group and Locomotive Maintenance Operations departments of the UP and SP, GM, GE Transportation Systems, WABCO, and GE/Harris Electronics. They are putting together a fairly exhaustive, settled down list which outlines for what will be the finished package consolidation what will be kept, what will be changed, and why they are being done.
This message is telling you that the emergency brake application was triggered at the lead consist via the reception of a radio signal from a remote consist by the DPU control system. Any other type of emergency brake applications experienced by a DPU train will not initially generate this message, but it will eventually.
Once you get this message, the procedure it conveys to you is that once you get the integrated screen message to go to the release position with the automatic brake handle, to wait at least an additional 30 seconds before going to release and recovering the air brakes.
This feature is in there mainly for the contingency of whenever you are inter operating in DPU service an E-Brake equipped locomotive with a pneumatic air brake equipped type locomotive (these are C41-8W units 9356 to 9405). The pneumatic systems require this additional time in order to make a full recovery.
The extra time frame for the pneumatic system is not something new; if any of you by chance still happen to have the old green air brake rule book of the former MP lines, it contained two rules which addressed this (their numbers were 314, paragraph 2 and 720 part 3, paragraph 3).
First of all, whenever BV OUT is employed, you change the characteristics of the brake pipe. However, the only way that its use might assist in offsetting a "kicker" in DPU trains is if the suspect is in a car control valve, and that car is close to the rear end or to that remote consist.
What caused engineers to get into the habit of using BV OUT stems back in part from when the leaders of the remote consists were also outfitted with the E-Brake system; due to sensitive E-Brake connections between the lead locomotive and/or sometimes the perceived rear locomotive, it was believed that by doing this, it would reduce or terminate the sensitivity of going into emergency.
Since then, there has been some progress made: the software to the E-Brake system has been corrected so that it can properly "read" a minimum brake pipe reduction to be just that and not a command to go into emergency, thus putting the entire train into emergency, and finding sensitive car control valves which would go into emergency from a minimum reduction. However, the last chapter in this saga has not been written; you assistance in compliance with this General Notice will in the long run provide you with safer, more reliable equipment to operate with.