Cab car question

[OportRailfan]

If one of the cab cars go bad on one of the ends, and the only option is to move it from the other end's cab car, do they stick a qualified person on the other end to call signals over the radio like they do with NJTransit?

[Fan Railer]

i'm pretty sure that you can't operate PATH trains in reverse (that's basically what you are saying). the controls are so primative, i don't even think there is a reverse switch in the cab...

[OportRailfan]

There's definitely a reverser on the cab controls believe it or not...its the one closest to the door, and the engineer has to put the handle in to use it, same with brakes

[Fan Railer]

but when you operate that switch, it basically changes the headlights to tail lights and vice versa and activates the control panel on the opposite cab car...which wouldnt help if that cab car was broken...

[OportRailfan]

yeah, so would you send the engineer to the working cab car, and have the conductor or someone qualified call signals to the engineer?...I see what you're saying with the marker lights and all, but I think if you throw it in reverse, it shuts off the headlights on the end with the reverser in the reverse position

[Fan Railer]

yeah, so would you send the engineer to the working cab car, and have the conductor or someone qualified call signals to the engineer?...I see what you're saying with the marker lights and all, but I think if you throw it in reverse, it shuts off the headlights on the end with the reverser in the reverse position

and there beholds the problem, nothing is known about what happens to the master controller. for your emergency configuration to work, the reverser switch has to reverse the operation of the master controller in the rear facing cab car. but it doesn't. it just turns it off and transfers power control to the foward end of the train and the forward cab's master controller, which once again doesn't help the situation if the forward cab is broken or something...
plus, the engineer at the back of the train has to really have a feel for the brakes in order to time stops at stations perfectly.

[OportRailfan]

yeah, but i doubt they would do that in revenue service...I was thinking more along the lines of building consists

[PONYA]

If the Engineer cannot operate from the head car for whatever reason the next in consist operating cab is tried. The "Master Controler" and reverser key work in any cab. That's the basic idea,but gets more complicated as the exact cause of the failure most be determined. Train won't charge due to air {brake} problem or electrical problem. There are ways to isolate individual cars or sections of cars in atempt to move train when mechanical failure occurs.
The reverser and Mater Controler in the head car are basically bypassed once an operating position is established in another cab. Each 7 car PATH train has to have at least 4 operating cabs for revenue service.

OportRailFan has it right when he describes the Conductor flagging train to next station. Passengers are discharged and the train is moved under flag to a yard. The engineer does not have to "feel" the brakes because the bad section is isolated. While he may not have 100% braking he has to have enough to properly charge the train. If not a 7 car train is added to the bad train and pushed to next station under flag and passengers off-loaded and moved 14 cars to yard.

[arrow]

I saw what PONYA said in Newark once. They had some problem (don't know what). We all had to leave the train and I saw the engineer get out of the front cab and go into the cab in the second car. He operated the train from there, however someone else was still sitting in the front cab. He definitely had the controller in and was using it. I could hear over the radio through the window what I presumed to be the guy in the head end talking to him. Very interesting, but I'm sure nothing they would do with passengers on board.