PRR 5841 posted:Hot Water posted:PRR 5841 posted:Number 90 posted:
* With the Alco-GE PA series, the two mechanical shutdowns would stop the train's progress, but the ground fault might not do so. The high voltage ground would be worked around by resetting the ground relay and using the traction motor cutout switch -- something the EMD unit did not have (or need) -- to cut out either the No.1 or No.2 truck, whichever had the grounded traction motor, by trial and error. If each truck had been independently cut out and the ground condition was not found by doing so, then the ground would be elsewhere in the system and any of the three en route failures would leave the PA and its train stopped, awaiting rescue.
Are you suggesting that the E unit engineer did NOT have the ability to reset or isolate traction motors or trucks?
The Engineer could NOT accomplish such a task from his control station. However, the Fireman (remember that railroads still had Firemen back in the days of E Units) could "Isolate" either the front engine generator set or the rear engine generator set, from the respective control panel back in the Engine Room. Although the EMD E Units did not have "Traction Motor Cut-Outs", a resourceful crew member could center the big compressed air operated Reversing Switch and cut out the offending traction motor for the remainder of the trip.
In fact, even on modern units, the Engineer still does NOT have the ability to cut-out a traction motor from his/her operating control station. He/she would have to stop, or the Conductor would have to first Isolate that unit, and then try cutting out traction motors.
This does not seem right to me, could you expound further?
Thanks, I suspected the crew MUST have had at least one option. I ran an F7 once and remember that the generator field had to be turned on (Flashed) by a switch over the engineers side window. Did the E unit have one or two such switches to turn on their respective generators?
No. The Engineer had one set of controls, which was also trainlined to other units MU'ed in the consist. Such as "Generator Field" for instance. Also, no "flashing" was involved.
