Checklist for coupling and uncoupling power from cars

[qballbandit]

Hello,
I like checklists, and use them all the time in the flight simulator world. Does anyone have, or know of a checklist for "dummies" with regards to all of the in- order steps to follow when ready to disconnect cars from your power (or somewhere back in the cut of cars), and the reverse - when coupling your power to a cut of cars.
I don't do this often enough, and am always fumbling through the steps with angle cocks, air, etc. I want to start switching more, so a smart persons designed and proven checklist would be very helpful

Thanks so much!

[Curt C]

Great idea. I'd like to see one too.

[CSRX]

I always..
set the trainline airbrakes.
Set handbrakes, depending how many cars, this could be up to 15 or more.
Close the angle cock(rear), and break away via the couplers.

When making a lift.
Connect the air hoses
Open the angle cock (rear)
Release the handbrakes.
Notch up to about 4-5 to help pump the air.

And of course swap rear and front as needed depending on what end your cars or engines are hooked up to.

[wwhall]

To go in a bit more of real world detail. When uncoupling, as CSRX noted, set the train line brakes first. Then close the angle cock at the rear of cut of cars staying attached to the locomotive. Typically, the angle cock of the cars being cut away from will be left open--the air will be exhausted out of that train line upon uncoupling, setting the brakes on that cut of cars into emergency. Some RRs have rules that, after the handbrakes are set, the brake reservoirs on the cars being left should be drained and then the handbrakes rechecked for tightness. It also confirms that the handbrakes are holding the cars, not the residual air from the emergency brake application, which can slowly bleed off over time. A train crew may (though typically a rules violation) "bottle the air" on the cut of cars being left for a short time by closing the angle cock on the front of the cut of cars being left. This saves the crew the time to re-pump up the air reservoirs on cut of cars that were left when the train recouples to them. As I say, that is typically a safety rules violation, but I've seen plenty of train crews do it.

Now the part that OR does not replicate well. When coupling to a cut of cars that have all empty air reservoirs and train lines, the trainman must open the angle cock slowly when reintroducing air to the cut of cars. If the trainman does not do this, the drop in trainline pressure as air flows the trainline into the cut of cars may be sufficient to put the whole train into an emergency brake application. Since that immediate opening of the angle cock occurs in OR, quite often the train will do just that--go into emergency, then one has to wait (or use the "initialize brakes" OR feature) to pump the train line back up. That can take quite awhile to do in OR, just like it does in real life, unless the OR "initialize brakes" feature is used.

Finally, about going into Run 4 or 5 to pump up the air more quickly--in real world operation that works with locos with mechanical air compressors; with locos with electric air compressors, not so much. Most EMD locos have mechanical air compressors, most GE's have electric ones. OR still does not model all of that perfectly.

[CSRX]

I will say, pumping air with a modern GE is better than the garbage SD70M-2 series.. worst compressors ever in the rail industry... EMD really dropped the ball hard with those locomotives.

I would have gone in further detail as you mentioned for realistic operations, as you'll noticed I did on some of the videos I posted of the MRL activities, but it is just a sim and everything isn't really there yet for ORTS, so I didn't bother. Such example is opening the angle cock and the train going into emergency starting all over pumping the air..

[=FI=Ghost]

I've thought about this "problem" with trains going into emergency brake application once a new cut of cars has been added to the consist, due to a huge difference in air pressure. It never occurred to me that in real life, one can open the angle cocks slowly and avoid this problem Too bad we can't do that in ORTS.

[qballbandit]

Many thanks Shawn and Wade!!

[wwhall]

I've thought about this "problem" with trains going into emergency brake application once a new cut of cars has been added to the consist, due to a huge difference in air pressure. It never occurred to me that in real life, one can open the angle cocks slowly and avoid this problem Too bad we can't do that in ORTS.

It also depends on the number of cars in the cut, and how much air the locomotive compressor(s) can provide. In real world railroading, only one car going into an emergency application can cause all of the cars to go into emergency. In the U.S., when a malfunctioning air brake on a car causes a complete emergency application of all the brakes, it's called "dynamiting" the train in American railroad slang, and the errant car is referred to as a "dynamiter." Though railroads tend to discourage railroaders from using that slang terminology over the radio (for obvious reasons), you will still occasionally hear, "Yeah, we just dynamited--the Conductor is walking back to try and find the dynamiter."

One thing that I did not mention in my earlier post--in OR it is possible to "bottle the air" on a cut of cars.

[=FI=Ghost]

One thing that I did not mention in my earlier post--in OR it is possible to "bottle the air" on a cut of cars.

I know. I've done that already