Alarm tone sound with emergency brake? (Downeaster)

[Maglev]

Trains also have electrostatic brakes (think that’s the relevant term) so when they are applied hard it doesn’t stop the wheel completely and prevents flat spots from being made on the wheel. Basically it pumps on and off. The most notable time I’ve felt them was on the rear of a 24 car train.

I recall being on five trains that have had emergency stops--three due to hitting cars and two due to broken air line connections. During only one of these did I feel pulsating anti-lock brakes, and I have never felt as if I might be thrown from my seat due to the sudden stop. One of the broken air line connections occurred right outside my Bedroom A, and so I heard the whoosh of air dumping and then later listened to the crew as they were repairing the connection. The broken connections took 20-30 minutes to repair.

 

[SheilaAverbuch]

I'm dying here! LOL! It censored something that isn't supposed to be censored. Although, I follow the logic.

Please tell me what the **** is because I couldn't figure it out! -- EDITED - OK, I've figured it out

 

[SheilaAverbuch]

"Emergency" is really just the name for the maximum performance brake setting. It does not imply there is some sort of dire emergency and that the train stops instantly and sends bodies flying. Train brakes are designed to be fail-safe so a failure of a component of the braking system can cause an emergency brake application. That, along with other things that might cause an engineer to put the train in emergency (someone or something fouling the track such as a pedestrian or automobile) makes it an everyday occurrence (I would be surprised in Amtrak ever had a day with no train having an emergency brake application). To the extent that you (the OP) or the general public thinks its rare and therefore to the news media, newsworthy, is because they aren't aware just how common it is.

As to the OP's technology questions, while there has been technology added to improve train handling, at their core, for most trains, brakes are largely unchanged for 100 years and can function just fine strictly with air. That will be true of any Amtrak train of today designed to be coupled to other standard railroad equipment. But as others have said, since you're setting this in the future, feel free to design your own equipment that has new features and doesn't need to be compatible with today's standard railroad equipment.

@lstone19 Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate the generosity of this community! (Am I the OP? What does that mean?)

 

[SheilaAverbuch]

Maybe not fifty years in the future, but perhaps two or three--or even in the here and now as long as you specify a "point of divergence" a couple of years in the past. You see, while the Downeaster is operated by Amtrak, it's actually sponsored (and paid for) by the state of Maine (you can find more information elsewhere on this forum from some knowledgeable folks). So, for the purposes of your story, just state that the powers-that-be in Maine got fed up with Amtrak's clunky old equipment from the 1970s and operating procedures from the 1870s and allowed themselves to be seduced by a high-tech start-up company into re-equipping the train and automating its operation. Of course, there are still a few bugs in the system...or perhaps some disgruntled employee has absconded with a copy of the keys to the kingdom....

In the Real World, automated operation is a non-starter in the litigious environment of the USA, unless you're talking about operations entirely within fenced-in yards or industrial operations...no trespassers, no grade crossings. But, for the purposes of your story...well, these high-tech companies (which have never accomplished anything in the Real World!) can spin a proposal which sounds most enticing to decision makers who likewise are insulated from reality....

@ehbowen That is super helpful, thanks so much

 

[SheilaAverbuch]

Keep in mind ... it is your book and your train - you can have it do whatever you want since this is a fiction story. Most people reading such a story would not know if trains really run and operate like the one in your book.

I have read many books that the story sounds good and the action is "fun" - even if it is fictitious ... that usually doesn't matter in the long run.

If you want your train to stop so fast it throws people to the floor, have it do that. If you want it to be able to move on after blowing off and disconnecting half the train - make it happen. Your train can do whatever you want your train to do even if the real thing cannot do that - most people reading the book won't care if it is 100% accurate ... as long as the story is entertaining and mostly believable.

Look at how popular the Jack Reacher books are - and many of the things in those stories could never happen and don't work quite the way Lee Child portrays them ... but, readers don't care.

@Qapla bless you for mentioning me and Lee Child in the same post! You are right. It's my editor who was querying some stuff and it's sent me down a rabbit hole of anxiety. I need to get out of the hole! I think my book is going to have a Downeaster II. It's the easiest way.

 

[SheilaAverbuch]

The train can get moving after an emergency brake application assuming the air line is intact, once the air pressure is pumped back up. Procedurally the train must be inspected.

All of these systems are mechanical, not electronic. North American cars are uncoupled by pulling a physical cut lever, which unlocks the coupler knuckle. Someone on the ground pulls the cut lever. None of this could be done remotely electronically/digitally.

None of these things are complex. Many more technically inclined railfans know how cut levers and angle c-cks work. The most plausible scenario is your bad guy pulls an emergency brake handle, opens a manually operated door, gets out, closes an angle c-ck, pulls the cut lever at the same place, gets back on. Assuming he cased where the conductor was on the train, and not where he intends to do this, it could be done in just a couple minutes. No flying bodies or passenger injuries in the stop though.

Issues, assuming your bad guys does all this quickly and undetected.
How does the closed angle co-k and opened cut lever escape the conductor's notice on the inspection?
How does the engineer not notice when getting underway that he only has half his train?

If you want something electronic to manipulate, consider the signal system, which is electronic. You could set the signal for a normal stop, then your bad guy could get out, uncouple the car, and get back on without the nature of the stop initiating an inspection.

@zephyr17 you absolutely rule, thank you. I am going to have to change the rolling stock, that's the only way. If the train itself were a fictional next-generation train (electric, driverless), could I get away with uncoupling electronically (no cut levers or angle c-cks)? I am definitely going to allow my fictional train to have a driverless mode which can be overridden to allow a conductor to take charge.

You need to write a book with the scene you describe! It wouldn't work for my book as my bad guy is doing this ALL remotely so can manipulate only what's electronic (as well as people, by lying to them), but you've thought it out brilliantly and it deserves to be in a book or screenplay somewhere.

 

[SheilaAverbuch]

I’m a fiction writer but mostly for screen and stage. That’s what I like to do as a hobby. Nothing published as of yet.

But as far as things go if you had an ancient locomotive by that time from the 50s with a deadman’s pedal. Throw a lunchbox on it and open the throttle. It’ll run till it derails. Now a days they’ve changed how that works so engineers can’t cheat the system.

But for the most part I think for a children’s book no one will notice how accurate it is. Best of luck.

Trains also have electrostatic brakes (think that’s the relevant term) so when they are applied hard it doesn’t stop the wheel completely and prevents flat spots from being made on the wheel. Basically it pumps on and off. The most notable time I’ve felt them was on the rear of a 24 car train.

@seabord92 Thank you! I am going to give myself artistic license. (BTW you've probably read it but Syd Field's SCREENPLAY was invaluable for me to get a handle on plot and turning points...even though I'm writing novels rather than screenplays. Highly recommended)

 

[Duane Witte]

Yes you are the OP. OP stands for original poster.

@lstone19 Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate the generosity of this community! (Am I the OP? What does that mean?)

 

[ehbowen]

You need to write a book with the scene you describe! It wouldn't work for my book as my bad guy is doing this ALL remotely so can manipulate only what's electronic (as well as people, by lying to them), but you've thought it out brilliantly and it deserves to be in a book or screenplay somewhere.

Actually, something very similar happened in the Real World 66 years ago, albeit due to bad design and not some bad guy. Read up on the 1953 wreck of the Federal Express some time.

 

[TinCan782]

I'm dying here! LOL! It censored something that isn't supposed to be censored. Although, I follow the logic.

Here. I'll say it:
"Angle **** A valve located at each end of locomotives and cars used to open or close the brake pipe. The handle is hinged so as to lock in either the open or closed position. When the handle is in-line with the brake pipe, the angle **** is open. When the handle is crosswise to the brake pipe, the angle **** is closed."
from: https://www.csx.com/index.cfm/about-us/company-overview/railroad-dictionary/

EDIT: WOW...its AU doing the censoring! I thought the posters were doing that.

 

[pennyk]

WOW...its AU doing the censoring! I thought the posters were doing that.

The forum software has a list of banned words and those words are removed when used. Sometimes a banned word is part of another word that is not considered profanity. It is impossible for the software to consider all such instances. Please do not attempt to bypass a banned word.
Below is the applicable portion of our rule.

The use of profanity is prohibited. The board software includes a “bad word filter.” This filter finds any of a list words deemed offensive and replaces those words with asterisks. Attempts to intentionally bypass the filter through use of spacing, substitution of symbols for letters, intentional minor misspellings, or other filter bypass tricks will result in the post being removed.

 

[zephyr17]

Air Brake Valve. I dare you.

Can't stand a bit of mockery?