Hello everyone could please in nutshell explain how the braking systems work on this train or point in the direction of the manual. Thanks
Hi dal#7945 As you've asked specifically about the braking systems on EMD F7 in Santa Fe livery, I'll take the liberty to assume that you've a primary understanding of braking systems in general and you're asking about the details with respect to this machine in particular. So I'll keep it simple & here's what I have - These are the controls - 1. Brake cutout switch 2. Rotair valve 3. Transition lever 4. Independent brake handle 5. Service brake handle ( Automatic brake - as labelled in TSW ) Here are the instruments - 1. Ammeter 2. Main reservoir (MR) & Equalizing reservoir (ER) pressure gauges 3. Brake pipe (BP) & Brake cylinder (BC) pressure gauges You can ignore everything else as far as braking is concerned. To setup your brakes - a. Verify that the brake cutout lever is in the 'cut-in' position in the leading unit ( the one you'll be driving from ) and 'cut-out' in all the others. b. Verify that the rotair valve is in passenger / freight position ( depending on the load that you're pulling ) in the leading unit and passenger lap / freight lap in all others. Now you have 3 types of brakes available to use in this locomotive - Dynamic brakes - Use them to slow a moving train. ( running under 30 - 35 mph to under 10 mph ) Do NOT rely on them to bring you to a complete halt. Only applies on the locomotives in your lash-up or those connected to yours via the banking comm. To apply - a. Reduce the throttle to 0. b. Move the transition lever to braking mode. Verified by a 'B' in the lookout above it. c. Now increase the throttle to a desired position ( higher the position = more braking power ) d. Verify the braking effort in the ammeter. Independent brakes - Use them to slow down or stop only if running light ( without any passenger / freight cars ) or with a very light load. Only applies on the locomotives attached to your current lash-up. To apply - a. Reduce the throttle to 0. b. Move the independent brake handle to the desired level. c. Verify the braking effort on the brake cylinder gauge. * This lever can also be used for bail-out function. Move the lever beyond the release position to rapidly discharge the brake cylinders. Useful in hill starting situations. Service brakes - Use them to apply the brakes on the entire train. a. Reduce the throttle to 0. b. Move the service brake handle to 'First application' position. c. Observe the brake pipe (BP) & brake cylinder (BC) gauges. This is the minimum braking application you can apply when using service brakes. d. If you need more braking power - Move the service lever to 'Apply' position. Note the reduction in BP and increment in BC. When the desired pressure has been reached - Move the lever back to 'Lap' position to hold the pressure in that configuration. e. To reduce the pressure in BC - Move the lever back to 'Release' position. 3 important points to keep in mind about service braking - 1. It takes a while to get the hang of this 'release' - 'lap' - 'apply' system. (also known as manually lapped braking system) It's completely okay to over-brake / under-brake. Don't get overwhelmed. Just practice and you'll get better. 2. There is no partial release. If you want to reduce your braking effort from full-service to half then the way to do it is to release all the way ( BC to 0 ) and then apply to the desired level. 3. The compressor on this locomotive is of an old model which cannot always keep up with rapid changes in braking efforts. So keep an eye on the MR for how much air you have in it. As a result of points 2 & 3 - it is possible on rare occasions to run out of enough air to apply the brakes. So as a rule of thumb - it's better to start by applying a little amount of brake and then increasing it as required; rather than applying a lot of brakes too early, only to release them completely and applying them again and finding out that you don't have enough air in MR. Feel free to follow up if you have any questions
Thanks that really helps shame the tutorial doesn't really explain. I can do lap braking assuming its the same has other types of lap braking. Its the dynamic I could not figure out. So thank you for taking the time explain. You should give that to DTG and they could put that in manual.
Dynamic braking: it's important to realize that the dynamic brakes and independent brakes both operate on the same wheels- the locomotive's wheels - and they do not play well together at all. If you are using blended braking (necessary on long, steep downhills), apply the train brake but BAIL OFF the independent brake, leaving the loco axles under control of the dynamics.
