Freight train engineer question

[washerman]

I have a question about freight trains. I see them go by in town sometimes with 2 or 3 locomotives. Is there an engineer in each one or does the guy in the front control them all? I can see a problem coordinating stops and starts if there are 3 people running 3 engines on one train. My wife thinks i'm nuts that i even care about finding out. She may be right. I still would like to know though. Hopefully one guy isn't running back and forth because he better be darn quick!

 

[Jessie]

I may be wrong, but I think the engineer in the front engine controls them.
They're electric diesels, so it's a matter of wiring.

 

[billwill]

Guess they only have to control speed and braking. Never saw a steering wheel in a train cab

 

[Beemer-mark]

Engines are slaved, all controlled by one Engineer in one cab.

 

[ExRanger714]

Beemer-mark right on the nose.

 

[washerman]

Engines are slaved, all controlled by one Engineer in one cab.

Then my wife would make a great engineer for big trains

 

[Sevens]

All of you are mistaken.

There is a kid sitting next to the track with a box that has a dial on it. He also has a little slider switch that makes it go backwards!

 

[RobertJ.]

Apologies for the hijack, but once I was at the Idaho State Fair and there was a booth in one of the commercial exhibit buildings for the railroad. I asked one of the engineers, "When you see a car cross the tracks in front of you, do you ever gun it just a little?'

You'd think I'd just made a joke about his mother! Apparently, they take that very seriously, and have no sense of humor about it!

 

[Marshwheeling]

All of you are mistaken.

There is a kid sitting next to the track with a box that has a dial on it. He also has a little slider switch that makes it go backwards!

He also controls the school bus that is heading for the crossing right now!

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

Engines are slaved, all controlled by one Engineer in one cab.

Beemer is right. I watch lots of train videos on you tube. I'm like you, I don't need to know, but I am not to old to learn something new!

Have a blessed day,

Leon

 

[loknload]

SEvens,,,,,All of you are mistaken.

There is a kid sitting next to the track with a box that has a dial on it. He also has a little slider switch that makes it go backwards!

Only if ?.....

 

[misswired]

Grew up on a RR track...….got it down pat!

 

[ParadiseRoad]

...these are the multiple unit connections that allow control from one unit...

...now they have what's called distributed power that allows radio control of units placed as helpers farther back in the train...

...not too long ago helpers were human controlled...and required some skilled operators to not pull the train apart...the train in the video below has human helper engineers...click on youtube at the lower right...

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXpTRpn_fuQ[/ame]

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Except when the Motors are old school.

 

[raljr1]

Apologies for the hijack, but once I was at the Idaho State Fair and there was a booth in one of the commercial exhibit buildings for the railroad. I asked one of the engineers, "When you see a car cross the tracks in front of you, do you ever gun it just a little?'

You'd think I'd just made a joke about his mother! Apparently, they take that very seriously, and have no sense of humor about it!

No sense of humor at all. It takes about 2 miles to stop a freight train that is traveling 45 miles per hour. Imagine the trauma of knowing that you will witness the destruction of a vehicle, and the possible death of the occupants, and you powerless to stop it. One engineer and one conductor per train. Sometimes as many as four locomotives up front, and with distributed power, maybe a couple in rhe back

 

[stonehorses]

Apologies for the hijack, but once I was at the Idaho State Fair and there was a booth in one of the commercial exhibit buildings for the railroad. I asked one of the engineers, "When you see a car cross the tracks in front of you, do you ever gun it just a little?'

You'd think I'd just made a joke about his mother! Apparently, they take that very seriously, and have no sense of humor about it!

With all due respect RobertJ., this IS quite serious. Would you "gun it just a little" if a person walked in front of your vehicle?
Mr. Stonehorses is a RR engineer with nearly 30 years service. He has looked into the faces of those trying to beat the train. In some occasions it's been at a crossing, others have been on trestle while trying to out run it. These images don't fade with time.
BTW, he has a great sense of humor in most situations, just not this one.

 

[RobertJ.]

With all due respect RobertJ., this IS quite serious. Would you "gun it just a little" if a person walked in front of your vehicle?
Mr. Stonehorses is a RR engineer with nearly 30 years service. He has looked into the faces of those trying to beat the train. In some occasions it's been at a crossing, others have been on trestle while trying to out run it. These images don't fade with time.
BTW, he has a great sense of humor in most situations, just not this one.

I wasn't serious. I was just having fun. At the time I really had no idea how serious they took this.

Now it's just a humorous anecdote. Well, for some.

 

[steveno]

years ago I knew an engineer that hit a car and he never was quite the same afterwards. people think they can outrun a train and they might get away with it once but they won't be lucky forever,

I remember in Germany that at the railroad crossing the arms cover both lanes of traffic on both sides of the tracks.

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

I know a former conductor that was coming out of a large city when a guy pushing a pink baby stroller loomed out of the darkness on the track ahead.
He did everything he was supposed to, but hit the guy and baby stroller. He still gets shook up to some degree when he sees babies in pink. He could not continue working after that happened.
Turns out the guy was drunk and going after more beer. How sad.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

 

[brjr51]

My son is a locomotive engineer for CSX. He's had some close calls but nothing fatal, yet. And yes some never recover from an incident, especially when young children are involved. And don't forget suicides also, happens more than you think it would.
To get back on thread, he enjoys running the DPU, distributed power trains with a locomotive on each end controlled by the lead unit. He explained it with the analogy of carrying a couch up the stairs. Would you rather have two guys on one end pulling it up, or one on each end pushing and pulling at the same time?