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I suppose you could call my column for this month as the same story, but from a different angle. What led to this was the recently issued system General Order dealing with the 2 way E-O-T-D system. There are and have been important changes made; however, the original intended purposes have not been changed.
After last month's column and initial General Order issuance, there has been considerable interest, along with questions regarding some of the language the first General Order contained.
The newly revised General Order (which brings out at the beginning that it cancels the previous version entirely), is also part of the efforts to keep us updated on the latest changes, along with answers from to some of the feedback received by the many inquiries on this topic.
So now, as was my format last month, let's take a look at the contents of this new document, in the order they appear, and see what these changes are.
The opening statement give a more clear description of the components making up an operable 2-Way E-O-T system, as well as provides later down what constitutes equivalent devices.
One of the more major changes you will need to make note of is the chart reference notations. Now there are two specified grade chart listings; Chart 1 deals with grades running 2% for two or more continuous miles, while Chart 2 deals with grades running 1% for three or more continuous miles (For those of us in Fort Worth who operate over the Baird Subdivision, you will find that the zone from Centennial Yard to Clyde, Texas is included).
What are the differences between the two? The answer may be found in Part C of Rule 30.10.3, which deals with a 2-Way E-O-T or equivalent device failure.
Chart 1 is more restrictive, due to the types of grades outlined, so in these locations, subparts 3 and 4 govern, which states the train must be brought to a stop until communications are re-established. On Chart 2, the restrictiveness is less, but yet, more than that for flat terrain. So in the event of failure, Subpart 2 governs, which limits you to a maximum speed of 30 Mph until re-established communications (Oh yes, be sure to also do Subpart 1 and immediately notify the train dispatcher).
The exceptions portions of the rule has been reworded; locals and work trains now have their own distinct definitions. Rather than to outline them here, please refer to your General Order book for this information.
And finally, just as a reminder, a power move is also an exception to the 2-Way E-O-T application requirements.
Also note you will find the wording of designated crew change point now used (I pointed this out in last month's column), along with more concise definitions of what message conditions you are not permitted to leave such a location with.
Make sure to read the special note which follows the message listings; this has been added to the General Order, and in more detail of how it works, I touched on this last month.
There have been misconceptions among some that once you get this message, you can still operate at maximum authorized speed for 16 minutes, 30 seconds, then reduce speed to 30 Mph (or come to a full stop according to those provisions listed in the General Order) if the message does not disappear.
Don't kid yourself on this matter; the moment you get any of those messages, it requires you to IMMEDIATELY reduce train speed to 30 Mph or stop the train, depending upon what terrain you're operating on until communications are regained.
Is there a function or by some other method a way by which you can check the amounts on a lead unit equipped with integrated displays? Answer: No. In this case, it may only be ascertained by someone being back at the E-O-T, getting the data and relaying that to the head end. The first notice the integrated display will give you on this will be when the battery is low.
That code is: =UM I INIT No. (Example: =UM I UP 8012). This will bring up the characteristics for that locomotive. It will also work if you have in your consist a foreign line locomotive. A special request I'd like to make: There have been occasions when I have been on trailing units in conventional consists and even on DPU remote units where the air conditioners were turned on, and no one was occupying the cab. If these locomot ives are in these consist positions, don't let the equipment run needlessly.
Doing this can improve your chances of having properly working equipment when it does become a lead unit by reducing wear to it.
Out of these visits came the false belief that this is a rule which applies only to Distributed Power trains.
This is definitely not the case: although the catalyst which prompted the rule to be authored was a DPU train, the rule outlines that it applies to both DPU and conventional formatted train arrangements (yes, it even applies to a yard transfer job).
As was pointed out, review this rule, along with the rest of the contents of that system General Order. Troubleshooting Pointer In June of this year, I worked a train to McAlester, Oklahoma which had for a lead locomotive a Norfolk Southern C40-9W locomotive (their units are outfitted with the conventional dual lever controller and IFD screens).
When I first looked at the screens, they had a message in yellow of IFD OVER TEMPERATURE: SHUTDOWN PENDING (This situation also happened to another engineer on board a C44AC of the U.P.). Eventually, this message will go to red lettering before rendering the screens dark.
Here's the background: The message is saying that something in the console has been detected to be over 100 degrees Centigrade, and most likely occur when the locomotive has been in very hot temperatures for an extended time period.
The shutdown protection is there so that bulb life in the screens may be preserved. It's caused by a lack of cooling air flow to the screens. You can temporarily bring the screens back up by touching any function key, but the more permanent solution is to get the screens cooled down.
On July 30th arriving in Fort Worth was K-Line stack train job IMEFW-29 (Memphis to Fort Worth) that had for power a pair of SD90/43AC locomotives (the unit numbers were the 8084 and the 8091) pulling 82-0- 5686 tons. Now to tease you imaginations: could you see this same train with both of the units being the 6000 horsepower SD90AC models?