Lighting

Greg Procter wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@ihug.co.nz:

One of the "*very* good" reasons to be back there...the crew toilet was usually in the back corner of the carbody, back by the steam generator (if there was one).

That sounds about right for the very early units. Most of the "F" units I was in had some form of chemical toilet (porta-pottie) in the nose. It likely varied from railroad to railroad. This was even before many passenger cars often had such. All the early passenger cars just had a 'hopper' for a toilet too, and this persisted on some cars into the first Amtrak years.

I recall seeing passenger car trucks COVERED in human waste and toilet paper. :-(

It must have made working on the underneath running gear a real joy! I suppose a good steam-cleaning would get rid of most of it. And, how about the track and roadbed?

Different times, different values.

Dan Mitchell ============

"Daniel A. Mitchell" wrote in news:pRlOe.279$ snipped-for-privacy@news.itd.umich.edu:

Thus the conductor's old refrain: "Passengers will please refrain from using restrooms while the train is in the station!"

Sure, but we all need to be concerned for the train crew's well being if the lights are on permanently! ;-)

Regards, Greg.P.

I can only guess that you rode in F units in the very late 70s or early 80s. Long after they were gone from any kind of regular service on the nation's rail system. They must have been rebuilt or refurbished machines like the MBTA F units that were rebuilt from GM&O F3s; the so-called F-10s. Federal law had mandated chemical toilets by that time, which could have been installed in the nose compartment. None of the F units I ever rode in on several different railroads, had anything other than the dry hopper that I described in another post. Every one of them was in the back corner of the loco. We were very Spartan in my day. If you wanted some water to drink, you'd better bring it with you, and so it was for almost everything.

Froggy,

You can build a signal generator that can be used to superimpose a 15KHz low-voltage AC to the rails. Some auxiliary capacitors will keep the DC off the lights, and the motors cannot see the AC because the frequency is too high. Some people can hear

15Khz and dogs and cats will go nutz if the amplitude is too high. They can hear it just fine.

In the "old days", back in the '50s & '60s, articles on building these sorts of things were quite common. Transistor throttles and the famous Twin T signal system were of this era as well. The advent of DCC has so reduced the audience receptive to this sort of thing that you almost never see them any more.

Froggy,

More like the mid 60's and later. "F" units were in decline, but still in service lots of places. It was certainly BEFORE holding tanks or chemical toilets were common on the passenger cars (post Amtrak's beginnings).

And, Yes, the F-units were certainly spartan by modern standards.

As regards the toilet, even the F-unit hopper was pretty civilized compared to a steam loco ... THERE, you just used the coal scoop, and heaved the waste into the firebox! Like I said, even the early Diesels were a LOT more creature friendly than the steamers.

But also keep in mind that in the steam era, over much of the country, there was NO indoor plumbing. Everyone used outhouses, or just 'the bushes' as needed. It was a different time, with different standards of comparison.

Dan Mitchell ============

LOL, Yeah, I know, I was there.

Froggy,

Especially those of us who were sonar operators.

I've always wondered what SOP was in this case. I thought They'd exit stage right or left.

60 mph into unknown territory and then have a train fall on you???? The human body generally isn't up to that!

Some blokes get lucky. There was a major collision here in 1997 when a coal train ran up the clacker of the one in front at speed. One of the enginemen stepped off at about 62kph. He spent many months in hospital. His mate stayed on the loco, and also survived his injuries. The luckiest person involved was a passenger on the adjacent station platform - he out-ran a 100 ton hopper that was chasing him...

Racing motocyclists regularly fall off at speeds up to 200km/hr. The trick is to not hit anything other than the ground until your speed diminishes to about walking speed. Also loco platforms/walkways tend to be higher than motorcycle seats and tracksides tend to have more solid accessories than race tracks!

I would have thought the trick was to not fall off in the first place!

Granted. I would not recommend stepping off a loco at any speed greater than walking pace, but if it's the least worst option available to you, you *might* be lucky.

I reckon I'd have some JATO-like assist from solids leaving my body at the rear as I ran from the thing...

CL

LOL! You and me both!

I've got some photos of the scene, which I'll find and post a link to. When you see the damage, you'll be amazed that no-one was killed...