by Jtgshu
Nick L wrote:Poor guy, didn't stand a chance... I wonder how one would deal with crash safety on something like this. There's not a lot of room for energy absorption in a MU I imagine. You could make the cab area (on a full cab MU) be the "crumple zone" which might save the pax but that would be curtains for the engineer if he couldn't get out in time. If you just build it super strong then all the impact energy gets sent to the pax. I saw the pictures of that Pioneer car after the DOT/FRA was through with it, not pretty...As an engineer, you understand the inherent risks of operating from a cab on the front end like that, in an RDC or a cab car or MU or whatever. And you for lack of a better word, plan escape routes. One thing is to make sure your "grip" (aka bag) isn't in the way, usually stowed against the back wall of the cab or up against the middle door of the cab car (from what I have seen most guys do, and what I do) Some guys also prop open the aisle door to the body of the coach - on some RR's that might be a rules violation, but its done anyway.
Even sitting down there is often a method as to what the engineer does
Sometimes if the equipment has a deadmans pedal its a little harder, but i find myself when I am coming up to a particularly dangerous crossing or location, not even thinking, i will stand up if Im in MUs (they have a deadman pedal) so I can get the heck out of Dodge. While in a cab car (without a deadman pedal), I find myself sitting sideways or with one foot out towards the center of the vestibule if im coming up to a bad location or somewhere where I know there has been an incident in the past.
Some posters dismissed this concern in the Silverliner V cab thread, but its real, and myself and other posters, mainly engineers, tried to show that it is a valid concern. Many times engineers don't even realize that they do it, and can't explain it, but I have seen many different engineers do something when coming up to a particularly bad location in a cab car. Even in a loco I find myself reacting to the location where im at. While locos are stronger and bigger adn heavier and safer for the most part, they can still become tombs. Every time I run NJTs 4219 Im reminded of that (that loco was in the 1996 Secaucus wreck and the engineer was killed in it through no fault of his own), and the loco was rebuilt and renumbered. At least in a coach, you in theory have 85 feet in that car, plus the ohter cars of the train, you can run back away from the point of impact, but in a loco, you have that cab, and thats it. You might be able to scoot down the side walkway if a Geep varient, or go inside the engine room if a full body and may or may not be able to get out hte back end of the loco, but even that has its risks - I don't think i would wanna be inside an engine room with a blistering hot engine and steaming water and oil and in an impact a water line rupturing and getting scalded or burned if a fire were to break out.
On the RR, "believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see"
John, aka "JTGSHU" passed away on August 26, 2013. We honor his memory and his devotion to railroading at railroad.net.
John, aka "JTGSHU" passed away on August 26, 2013. We honor his memory and his devotion to railroading at railroad.net.