brakethrow

On 8/9/2019 at 5:07 PM, Italianstallion said:

Not so common nowadays, but it used to be that infrequently used stops were often designated as "flag stops." This meant that if you were waiting for a train, you had to make sure the incoming engineer saw you on the platform by standing and waving, or some such action, so he'd know to stop for you. If he didn't see anyone on the platform he would not stop. Similarly, if you wanted to get off at a flag stop, you had to make sure to tell the conductor so he'd alert the engineer.

Engineers approach these stations at reduced speeds?

Does this webpage, cover word for word the real-life definitions of signal indications found on the LIRR? 

If not, where can I find word for word signal definitions?

For those who have taken the test, are you expected to know each rule number as well as indication names?

How often do engineers forget an indication they're running up on, even if it's for a couple seconds or so?

14 hours ago, NST said:

How would R42s leave the BMT Eastern Division? Aren't they banned from Montague?

Why are they banned from Montague?

Whatever happened to the LIRR engineer that overran the block at Atlantic Terminal ?

First three timers out of Franklin n/b on the Eastern Pkwy exp tracks now have the countdown feature.

I'm probably late on this but I just noticed R142 1205 has LED headlights

So you guys are allowed to go straight to full throttle from a standing still on any locomotive hauling passenger cars?  I always assumed you had to ease your way up to prevent in-train forces (like freights). 

Also are you guys allowed to use dynamic braking in passenger service?

22 hours ago, INDman said:

It is possible to take power while holding a brake. A standing brake test involves dropping your straight air to 30lbs and taking 2 points of power. If the train doesn’t move, your brakes are good. Sometimes when you need to make exact movements when spotting a train, you hold a brake so that when you knock off power, the train will stop on a dime.

wow where have you been? 

22 hours ago, MHV9218 said:

Years ago I had an NJT motorman explain to me that his trick to smoothly braking the Arrow consists was to apply the brakes while power was on. I doubt the maintenance department was a huge fan of his work, but he did operate remarkably smoothly. 

Browsing railroad forums, many of the retired engineers shared their "stretch-braking" stories. Seems to be a popular technique many of them used to keep the slack from running in. Not sure how popular this method is nowadays since the railroads or big on fuel consumption. Maybe @INDman can enlighten us on that.

*bump* because I've been wondering about this for years now.

The 142s/142As seem to have the most solid sounding horns in the system. Perfect tone to it and rarely do they sound off. 

How old  are some of the youngest LIRR engineers ?

Not to mention he was already two minutes behind schedule with a train crawling directly behind it at Franklin. 

"Take the test" was a smart comment that wasn't needed. For the most part we're on this forum to gain knowledge on the system..that's why I asked. 

Of course I'm seeing operations from a different perspective being that I don't work for the system.

4 hours ago, Jchambers2120 said:

If you really want to understand take the next test and make it through school car. 

I’m sure if the T/O in question was moving at an ‘acceptable’ speed for you and overran a station or hit a signal you’d be questioning why was he/she running so fast.

Unless it's rush hour when trains are bunching, 99% of the time trains are moving at max speeds between stations along that stretch (30-40 mph). Which is what I would consider decent.

There was no chance of him hitting a signal as I stated before, his leader was 10 mins away - all greens.

Maybe you thought I was being sarcastic with the school car and 12-9 comments but I wasn't. Those are literally the first two things that come to mind whenever I'm on a train that's running alot slower than usual despite greens ahead.

Braking into stations at 20 mph right at the start of the platforms - I'm pretty sure anyone would question that.

Had a t/o that was running around 20-25 mph between stations from Flatbush to President. Its leader was roughly 10 mins away so I didn't understand why he was running so slow. He was even braking at the start of platforms at those speeds.. 

Maybe fresh out of school car ? Or traumatized by a 12-9 in the past ? I'm just trying to make sense of this..

Living near the Brighton as well I knew I should've just taken the . 

On 3/24/2019 at 2:03 PM, R68OnBroadway said:

Where can I find new and modern routes for OpenBVE that work on Mac? Just downloaded it and all the routes I have seen on BVE station are at least 5 years old.

http://openbveconnect.com//index.php has newer editions of some of the NYCT lines.

Does anyone mind sharing the objects for the  line? I've downloaded it from openbveconnect though many objects such as timers are missing in many areas.

Uptown R68 on the just left 14th St

12 hours ago, Jemorie said:

They've been back in service since Thursday.

Can confirm, definitely remember seeing that set at 14th St during the AM rush that day. I never bother looking/ jotting down car numbers in my head unless there's something interesting about that particular car/set but for some reason I decided to look at this one..

14 minutes ago, Maxwell179 said:

Idk specifics but probably around that or lower , it sometimes reduces to a crawl

Earlier this week while waiting near the front of the Jamaica bd platform at the Junction I did notice a Manhattan bd train crawling out of there. I didn't hear any horn but I still passed it off as maybe some track work going on.

Now that you brought it up I'm wondering what the real issue might be..

38 minutes ago, Maxwell179 said:

has anyone else noticed the Manhattan bound  trains going very slow when leaving broadway junction/entering chauncey ?

Slower than the 15 mph limit ?

The probably has the fastest average speed in the system. Feels like 35-40 between most stations.

First time riding the LIRR yesterday - Atlantic Terminal to Locust Manor. The M7s sway a lot which makes me wonder how much they swayed before modifications were made in the early 2000s due to excessive swaying.

The conductor didn't check tickets until we were approaching Jamaica - is this the norm ? If that's the case it's too easy to catch a free ride from Atlantic to ENY.

If the track ahead is straight and signals clearly visible, why does that 15 mph when bypassing a station rule still need to be followed ?

10 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Becoming all too common... All of these homeless people with mental issues are getting on the trains lighting up. There was one on the  train a few weeks ago in fact.

Yes this year alone almost every week I've been on a train where a homeless person is sparking a blunt. December last year going uptown on the  between 59th and 125th some homeless head is in his own world smoking his spliff meanwhile the train was relatively full with a handful of kids age 12 and under. Being that it was a 46 riders were basically trapped on that 5 min + run.

I remember years ago (7+) you'd find maybe one homeless person in a train car and it was usually during late night hours. Now it is not uncommon to see two sharing the same car during all hours of the day. Late night is a whole 'nother ball game as on some lines going from car to car you'd find them on almost every car.

I don't mind sharing cars with any homeless person though, it is the mentally ill ones that smell of pure ass - engulfing the whole car with that shit smell that irritates me. 

52 minutes ago, Abba said:

I know I’ve been taking about this a lot. However I want to know . Is there anything that can be done about the train With brakes activated. It seems like there is a bunch of emails a day about it, I mean can something be done about it? 

Speaking of which.. A few hours ago I was on a  that went BIE between President and Franklin n/b. Not sure if the t/o hit a timer but the few words I was able to pick up from his radio chatter was "25 mph" and "last car".