Train 21, late, late late!

[DryCreek]

Well, I figured that those issues would come up. From what I remember on our tourist jaunts down to SAS (driving) parking was always a crapshoot in that area. Plus I figured the issue with not boarding would come up too.

It seems like CBR has some anti-Amtrak shield that has disabled arriving AT locos twice in about a 30 day period, not to mention the one that lost its brakes shortly after leaving CBR (locked up outside of Clifton, I believe).

 

[Hoeg]

Once again the Single P-42 on the Eagle results in a mess! When will the suits in Chicago get it that this Train requires 2 Engines?!!!

I am starting to think that when they lock the prime mover to a speed to provide HEP that is what is causing all of these problems. The length of the consist alone saps a good deal of power for hotel loads, and then when you have to rely on the (already lowered capacity) of that same generator to provide traction power, you are setting yourself up for high-amperage heating damage (I2R losses) to both the generator and the traction motors.

And translated to simple language any foamer can understand, 'You'd be wrong with that assumption!'

HEP is separate from traction with respect to generation of electrical current. When running HEP, Notch 7 traction loading is available to the traction alternator of a P42....equates to roughly 3400 HP for traction. Keep guessing....

 

[DryCreek]

And translated to simple language any foamer can understand, 'You'd be wrong with that assumption!'
HEP is separate from traction with respect to generation of electrical current. When running HEP, Notch 7 traction loading is available to the traction alternator of a P42....equates to roughly 3400 HP for traction. Keep guessing....

Yup, it was just a guess on my part - not being familiar with how traction power is generated versus HEP. I was just speculating based on the 10K HP V-16 diesel emergency generators we have at our plant. They use open-frame generators (alternators) at 6.9KVA with a 0.8pf. The normal engine speed for them is 450 rpm. Under heavy loads (over 8 MW) or if one of the turbos is lost or weaker, we can sag RPMs down to about 440 and you can really start seeing issues as the excitation currents start going up, and we have to stay above our low frequency trips on the busses (volts/hertz) so voltage rises to compensate. That leads to heating which shortens insulation life.

So, if run 7 (out of 8?) is still available, what do you think is the cause of the locomotive failures? Lack of proper maintenance? Just pure bad luck? Isis (sabotage)?

Is there a prize if we guess correctly? Are you the sole arbiter of 'answer correctness"?