APU generators (was "HEP Generators in PAR Locomotives?")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRrrWuEV ... re=channel

I didn't know they had these! Where in the loco are they?

Nice to see the doors locked.....(not)

Nice videos man!
I could care less, but man you've got some *alls to climb into the cab like that!

That's a nice tresspassing video if it was taken by a railfan, which I would have to guess by the way he climbed down off the engine.

HEP is for passenger cars. The APU keeps the engine and fluids from freezing in the winter while its shutdown. Entirely different...

Nevermind found my answer:

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... &hilit=APU

BTW THAT WAS NOT ME i did not make that video.

I know to the guy who took that video and he HAD PERMISSION from a fellow engineer he new to be film the loco and go inside the cab.

What confuses me (not hard to do! ) is IF this unit has an APU, why is the prime mover in operation? The photographer even comments on how much he loves the sound of it! Nowhere in the video is any mention made of an APU, let alone a HEP, except in a mysterious collection of tags mentioning these things. The captions mention that the unit would only go into reverse and was waiting to be repaired.

guilford88panam wrote:I know to the guy who took that video and he HAD PERMISSION from a fellow engineer he new to be film the loco and go inside the cab.

First off engineers are not authorized to allow trespassers in the cab or even on the property. This video should be
forwarded to the railroad and the person(s) responsible should be found and prosecuted. The crew or at least the engineer
who allowed this to happen if indeed the engineer did could also be in a peck of trouble.
If I were a railroad official and saw something like this, I would be "fit to be tied".
The people responsible for this have cast another black mark on railfans everywhere and this should not be condoned.
NO HEROS HERE.
Noel Weaver

I must agree with Mr. Weaver. Unless that video was taken by the engineer or conductor of the train (and even then, whether it is permissible to do so may be restricted by company regulations) there was surely trespassing involved and it cannot be condoned. I don't think there is any railroad today on which a guest may be authorized onto the railroad property without the formal approval of an authorized member of management.

cpf354 wrote:What confuses me (not hard to do! ) is IF this unit has an APU, why is the prime mover in operation? The photographer even comments on how much he loves the sound of it! Nowhere in the video is any mention made of an APU, let alone a HEP, except in a mysterious collection of tags mentioning these things. The captions mention that the unit would only go into reverse and was waiting to be repaired.

The video appears not to have been shot all at one time. If you listen to the sound in the video carefully, there is a very distinct difference between the earlier part and the latter part - in the former the APU is running and in the latter the prime mover is running. The APU is much quieter than the prime mover and has a considerably different sort of cadence.

You can tell the engine is APU equipped because of the strobe light on the top side of the long hood.

The previous poster is correct, in the first few seconds of the video alongside the engine you can hear the APU which sounds more like a generator than anything else. When the video is from inside the cab the engine is started and in idle. The engineer probably started the prime mover for them.

I don't condone publishing footage of tresspassing, but there's no need to suggest a witch hunt to find out who let who onboard. Everyone and their brother (including myself) has let kids and/or family members on an engine at one time. Give me a break.

Bottom line: it's an APU unit and not an HEP unit, and the other thread that mbta1051dan found explains what those are and how they work. Case closed.

Standard disclaimer: trespassing is bad, trespassing is dangerous, trespassing is illegal. Don't do it.