Amtrak Watcher said:
Stupid Question...
I often have to sit in train stations waiting for connections, where I see locomotives (both Amtrak and various freight types) sitting for hours -- running. When are they ever shut down? Is it a big deal to start them up? Is it cheaper to just let them run?
AmtrakWatcher,
I'm a firm believer that no question is ever too stupid, if you don't know the answer. After all that's how we all learn new things.
Now to your question, as Viewliner indicated when it comes to electric engines it doesn't really matter all that much to leave the pantographs up and supplying power to the engine. Plus I've been told that on the older engines, the batteries are in such bad shape that they would have to hand crank the pantograph back up later.
As for the diesel engines, generally they are just left running unless they are going in for repairs or will be out of service for several days. While I'm not an expert in these matters, I believe that it's simply easier to leave them running.
The diesel engines are left in a idle mode, which uses far less fuel than when running. I seem to recall reading something once that said the amount of fuel that the Sunset Limited uses to go from one coast to the other would probably allow an engine to run at idle for close to two weeks.
There are issues with starting up an engine, and it not as simple as putting the key into your car and turning it. It not nearly as complicated as bringing an airplane to life though. One issue that I am aware of is oil within the engine.
Just like your car these days, they recomend that you don't let it warm up before you pull out of the driveway. They've discovered in recent years that when you start driving right away, the oil heats up faster. This means less wear and tear on your engine, than if you let it idle in the driveway like you used to with older cars.
Well in the case of the diesel engine, which in more finely built than your car's engine, even the extra friction during startup until the oil starts flowing is not a good thing. So just allowing it to keep running, abliet on a minimal setting, is better for the engine than shutting it down.
I suspect that there are probably a few other reasons that I'm unaware of, that also make it smarter to just leave them running.
During the winter this is an absolute must in northern climes, as you would end up with freezing problems. Even if an engine is actually shut down during the winter, it must then be plugged into an electric heater to avoid freezing problems.
Viewliner said:
As for the Diesels I don't really know, it may be easier to keep them on as well, but can't trains some how "plug in" to a station for power like in CHI?
Those cables that you see in the station, only supply HEP or Head End Power to the coaches. I don't think that you can plug them into an engine; even if you did then it would only supply power to the train. It still wouldn't help the actual diesel engine.
