Railroad Forums 

  • Locomotive cabs

  • General discussion about locomotives, rolling stock, and equipment
General discussion about locomotives, rolling stock, and equipment

Moderator: John_Perkowski

 #699076  by rararoadrunner
 
Interesting, how these EMD cabs reflect what at least one conductor told me about GE cabs on a Renzenberger run: that the engineers much preferred conventional control stands to the desktop controls, so that when GE replaced the dash-9 with the Evolution, they restored conventional cab controls...

...or perhaps that was a confusion with EMD? Dunno, but the train simulator at the UP yards in West Colton uses desktop controls...

However, there is no "Cab mask" to simulate visibility restrictions: just a really big screen showing the route. Odd, how my old BVE-2 freeware, despite its limitations, has a feature the UP simulator hasn't? Odd...

Anyway, thanks for the excellent pix!
 #699793  by John_Perkowski
 
As I look at all these, I marvel at how far ahead the FT-F9, E7-E9 cab was in terms of forward and side visibility when in road service. (Of course, in switching service, these units sucked pond water for visibility).

On some of the modern units, view for the crew seems to be an afterthought.
 #713963  by NV290
 
rararoadrunner wrote:Interesting, how these EMD cabs reflect what at least one conductor told me about GE cabs on a Renzenberger run: that the engineers much preferred conventional control stands to the desktop controls, so that when GE replaced the dash-9 with the Evolution, they restored conventional cab controls.
The cab style of a locomotive is not a builders choice, it's a buyers choice. GE and EMD will put any style cab interior you want. The styles you see today are the buyers choice, not the builder. NS's likes the all video AAR "Hybrid" stands on it's new loco's. CSX opted for conventional gauges on an AAR stand with one video screen on It's EMD's . Some railroads want two video screens and no gauges. Some railroads want a screen on the Conductors side. Others don't. Some want a large conductors desk with the Emergency brake valve up high. Others want it down low. All of these are done by railroad request.

Desktop controls have fallen out of popularity with freight railroads so most railroads are not ordering them. But this was their choice. Almost all the new passenger units are still coming with them.

I personaly don't mind desktop controls on road freights. It's nice having a work surface for paperwork, eating, reading, etc. The new hybrid stands are nice as they have a small area for paperwork.
 #734230  by slchub
 
It would be nice if the RR polled the Engineers and Conductors as to their likes/dislikes in the cab. When I worked for the airline industry the airlines I worked for polled the pilots as to what they would like to see as far as instrument placement, etc and the flight attendants were polled in regards to the galley design, etc. when they were ordering new aircraft. I once had the opportunity to go to Boeing as a part of the galley design team as a flight attendant. It was nice to see what types of mock ups, coin matt, coffee makers etc. were available.
 #734381  by Jtgshu
 
slchub wrote:It would be nice if the RR polled the Engineers and Conductors as to their likes/dislikes in the cab. When I worked for the airline industry the airlines I worked for polled the pilots as to what they would like to see as far as instrument placement, etc and the flight attendants were polled in regards to the galley design, etc. when they were ordering new aircraft. I once had the opportunity to go to Boeing as a part of the galley design team as a flight attendant. It was nice to see what types of mock ups, coin matt, coffee makers etc. were available.
NJT had a design team made up of people from the Engineers union and mechanical forces who met with the company and manufacturer and gave input on a basic cab designs and went to see mock ups of recent purchases (comet 5s, Multilevels, ALP46s, PL42s and the dual mode locos). Of course, not all suggestions were implemented, but some were, and compared to say the earlier versions of cab cars to the newest ones, there is a HUGE difference.

Like for example, NJT engineers preferred analog guages for the air guages and the load meters. The new locos have the computer screens but they are not necessary and can be shut off, and just using the analog guages is perfectly acceptable. Something you can relate to slchub, the P40s that NJT has now, NJT added analog guages to them and a load meter. They aren't in the most convenient places (the air guages to the upper right corner, next to windsheild) and the ammeter above the engineers window, but they are there.

We have been fighting for a notched throttle on the new stuff, but they don't want to seem to budge on that, and instead its a smooth controller. The P40 is a nice treat to have a notched throttle, unlike the PL42s which is smooth
 #754118  by KSmitty
 
A couple questions,
1) any real railroaders out there, which do you prefer, the cab style of a second genration locomotive or today's wide cabs. Is one more comfortable than the other, what about ride quality (fe. ATSF GP60M's overstressed the suspenssion and led to a bumpy ride)

2) could a railroad still order narrow front hood (spartan cabs???) if it wanted to or are there laws that require that a widecab be on all new locomotives?
 #756130  by USRailFan
 
Widecabs are mandated on road locomotives for safety reasons, IIRC. Only switchers can have old-style 'narrow' noses now (this applies to new-builds, of course).
 #789755  by MBTA1052
 
What is the second Monitor used for on the Engineer Side of the Train???
 #798496  by 10more years
 
Each screen can monitor several different functions depending on locomotive model. Some folks only want one screen, some like flexibility of two. Personally, I like setup of ES44DC with two screens. I like to use one to monitor a trip history; average speed, maximum speed, time and distance traveled and time/distance in each throttle, sand application, braking and the other for current speed, air pressures, odometer, amperage, checking speed. That's just my preference. I imagine everyone has their own particular ideals. Most engineers that I know don't like the ES44DC's for their pulling and especially their dynamics. I'm not real crazy about their locomotive seats, especially if you have to sit still for a while. But, overall, I like them.
  • 1
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8