Hi Folks:
As Karl says, there is a formula for retainers. I don't know that we ever
referred to it though. When we were still hauling rock down off of the High
Line (4th. Sub.-Deadwood Branch) down the 3%, I would have the head man go
back (with much protest: "what for?") and set 10 at Lien quarry, and have
him kick them off after we stopped at Minnekahta in a cloud of blue brake
shoe smoke :-)
We've been playing with the new version of the 60+ year old
Electro-Pneumatic (i. e. straight air) Brake on a couple of the coal sets
out here. It works pretty slick, you can set or release a pound of brake
cylinder air whenever you want to. It works really good for stretching 'em
through the sags. You should be able to drive right up to a slow order at
track speed and set a bunch and set her down just like a passenger train :-)
'Course, what a 20,000 ton coal train would do to already unstable track
doing that would probably be really spectacular. I've got a theory; that I
could set 'em up coming off of Newcastle, never have to completely release
'em all the way down to Edgemont (about 50 miles), and come into town in a
big cloud of smoke, just like the old days :-) And... some fool decided to
mount the control box up on top of the left side of that idiot desk control
stand on the wide cab motors, so far away from my seat that I can't reach
the buttons without stretching. I don't run motors like that, so I probably
will just shut the thing off, and run it with the semi-real computer air.
If you can't have fun running 'em, it's just a job.
Mike Decker
----- Original Message -----
From: <BRHSlist@egroups.com>
To: <BRHSlist@egroups.com>
Sent: Friday, August 25, 2000 3:03 AM
Subject: [BRHSlist] Digest Number 692
Message: 5
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 20:48:53 -0600
From: "Karl L Rethwisch" <karlre@r...>
Subject: Air
<Snip>
Retainers: <Snip> If the grade conditions require the use of retainers
specific formulae are used to determine the total number of retainers that
must be set ("turned up"). On a 1% grade the maximum allowable tons per
retainer is 250. On a 3% grade the max. allowable tons drops to 70.
<Snip>
**The new Electronically Controlled Brakes have a feature that allows
trainline charging while a brake application is in effect.
If someone hasn't done it before I get time to write again I'll hit on the
control (triple) valve for the next discussion.
Later
Karl
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