by cobra30689
8th Notch wrote:Cab cars do not have ammeters (older ones at least) that indicate if power is being generated by the traction motors so yes if he was in the locomotive he could have verified that when the throttle was placed in idle or reduced, traction power responded correctly. The only other option in the locomotive is using just the engine brakes which wouldn't have made a difference, the control cars have air gauges so if something is wrong with your pressure you should know it.Not entirely true. The VRE Nippon Sharyo cab cars I run have ammeters (I don't know if the Metra cars have them), but all of our diesels are DC traction....but in the case of MN (Amtrak and NJT as well) with AC traction and their power displays expressed in total tractive effort vs. amps....I don't know how you could display power draw in a cab car.