Cab ride an EMD ML2 : Australian locomotives and railroads

[johnnyfarnham]

Hi rocketboy...great vids, I hate to sound like a newb but can you tell me what transition is? Thanks

Peter

[Rocketboy1950]

@johnnyfarnham Trying to keep this really simple ( you can Google it ). To get maximum power from a diesel electric locomotive it starts off with the main generator wired up to the electric traction motors in series or series parallel. At a predetermined speed switches and contactors are altered to send power to the traction motors in parallel. Series gives high AMPS for starting. Parallel gives high voltage for speed. Locos also make backward transition if they get slowed by a grade.

[johnnyfarnham]

@Rocketboy1950 Ok, That makes sense if I compare it to the difference between torque and horsepower, correct?

[Rocketboy1950]

@johnnyfarnham At the risk of somebody with a better grasp of this stuff giving a better answer, I guess so.

[applesweeter]

Was this train engine made in Australia?

[Rocketboy1950]

@applesweeter They were built here but all of the running gear is EMD from the US.

[applesweeter]

@Rocketboy1950

So, the final assemble is in Australia and the part manufacturing is in Australia. Am I correct?

[Rocketboy1950]

@applesweeter No, the engine and electrics came from the US. The body was built and the entire unit assembled in Australia.

[applesweeter]

@Rocketboy1950

I see!! Does Australia have its own brand of train?

[Rocketboy1950]

@applesweeter Not really, we have unique locomotives and railcars but they are all powered by off the shelf power and equipment from the big manufacturers in the US and Europe.

[roadwolf2]

Now that's a sound I miss. A screamin 12pack at full bore

[Rocketboy1950]

@roadwolf2 That'd be a 16 in this instance. We didn't have any 12 cylinder non turbos in Victoria.

[31144]

Listen to thats roots blower start to sing a 1:00

[johnnyfarnham]

I love trains but the EMD units, particularly the A,B,S,GM etc all seem to have a personality

[johnparkimp3]

Rod my comment was not meant as a poke at anyone or anything in particular. I was a Kiwi loco Engineer and before that I travelled the world extensively observing such things about positions of drivers controls and which side of the cab or centre or wherever they are situated on. Up until last year I lived in the UK for 7 years and have been to Japan 3 times and over a year in the USA plus Europe. I use universal English because a lot of people can understand better than the Queen's English.

[Rocketboy1950]

@johnparkimp3 I should have checked your country of origin. I just assumed that the comment had come from a person in one of those places that aren't aware that there are other places. I think you'll get my drift. No offence taken and none intended.

[johnparkimp3]

I could never work out why the had the Loco engineer on the left hand side in most Aussie and UK loco's. Most railway systems elsewhere have the driver's position on the right hand side.

[Rocketboy1950]

@johnparkimp3 Been to the UK or Japan ? We drive on the left hand side of the road and the railroad. A great deal of the world does. And with locomotives being phased out in favour of self propelled passenger trains all over the world the driver is going in to the centre of the cab. Note that I'm spelling in English and not US English. The driver does sit on the right on our iron ore roads as we buy US/Canadian built units straight off the shop floor or used. We have ex UP SD90's on the way now.

[tpvalley]

@johnparkimp3

drive on left, have signals on left so driver sits on left, it comes from steam days when the driver only got a clear view from his side, and vice versa.

[formidable38]

Is that as bumpy as it looks Rod??

[Rocketboy1950]

@formidable38 Just a few bits of uneven track, generally not too bad.

[FeiBenZhu]

Love the sound of these old EMD's... Brings back memories of when I was a kid watching freights go past my grandfather's house in Newport. (probably watching you drive past!)

[4theglade]

Yes, very nice one Rod

[tpvalley]

when u say "transition" is that the switching between series and series paralel etc?

I know on some older locos it was manual, used at different speeds and loads.

or was it a traction motor field divert ?

[Rocketboy1950]

@tpvalley yes, the switch from series to parallel on this unit. This particular unit has no field shunting. The older manual switching goes back to the 1940's, maybe early 50's. This loco was the first ever EMD type to have six traction motors. It ran three pairs in series and six individual motors in parallel. Forward transition was at approximately 30mph and backward occurred when the main generator was making 2500 AMPS

[formidable38]

@Rocketboy1950 Always wondered why the generators make that strange noise on 567's, im guessing but it must be the cooling vanes moving air on the armature or flywheel?

[markieman3000]

Very cool...loved it.

[SpeakerPolice]

Wow, what a fantastic sound from inside the carbody! I just love that 567 engine sound. Have you by any chance got any more videos inside engine compartments? 8D

[Rocketboy1950]

@SpeakerPolice There are a few in my site but taken whilst at rest. I covered ALCO and GE units as well. Look in the playlist "from the cab"

[SpeakerPolice]

Excellent. =)

[JuanManuelGrijalvo]

Please tag this as "cabview", it helps those of us as look for this sort of clips.

Wonderful diesel sound!

[Rocketboy1950]

@JuanManuelGrijalvo Will do now that I know the term that is used

[JuanManuelGrijalvo]

@Rocketboy1950 - You have a lot of truly fascinating stuff here

[Rocketboy1950]

@JuanManuelGrijalvo Check my playlist

[1jackdk]

Fantastic footage Rod. Love the sound in the engine room. Thanks for sharing. Jack... 5*****

[st2fairmont397]

man that was great i love them old girls well done cheers

[iRECKONER]

AMAZING! Ha when do you foresee SD70M-2s or SD70ACe's taking over ?

[Rocketboy1950]

@iRECKONER Not in my wildest dreams

[cuzinitr]

Sweet!  Loved the sound out that motor winding up! Well done! Rich

[S311]

we gotta have more of that mate, next time can you film S303

[Rocketboy1950]

@S311 There is S class cab video on the trip back from Wycheprooff

[whatthehellisthisbit]

Thanks for the video Rod. Can you please put some more cab ride videos on youtube. I love the sounds.

[rajnikantsharma]

That was terrific terrific especially the motor whining!

Has to be the best in terms of video quality and sound.

Talking of sounds, how bad is it working on those locos with all that noise? How often are you required to visit a physician to gauge fitness to continue working as a loco pilot?

Thanks!

[Rocketboy1950]

@rajnikantsharma

It aint bad once you shut the doors. Trips to

the doctor depend on ones age.

[shazam75]

very good video Rod - can you video more of the driver like when he is applying the brakes and coming to a stop.

Thanks

Shelton.

[OSCALETRAINGUY]

Thanks for taking me on Cab ride..

I love it..Sweet Sound to me Ears!!!

A+A+A+A+ Steve In Canada

[9035]

Great job. Well done.

[981smithy]

Good Footage 5*

[0815tobey]

That looks quite bumpy.

[fordfreak1967]

Great video

[P1cwh0r3]

Awesome footage!

A question on driving and colour blindness...

If a traineeship happens to come by and I apply for it I'm worried about the colour blindess test. The colour tests always throw me out as I cannot seem to make anything of the numbers yet I can tell the difference between red, green and yellow on traffic lights and other areas. Is it a simple matter that you must pass the colourblindness test or will they look at individual cases?

Any help is much appreciated.

[Rocketboy1950]

I really have not got a clue how it would be assessed under those circumstances.

[ozhardcunt]

my ol man was a driver for 27 years and he reckons no chance. im colour blind to, i cant tell the difference in traffic lights and the number cards are just dots so i would have no chance.

id give it a go if i were you, i have but never made it to the medical.

kinda sucks, i wanted to be a train driver my whole life.

[P1cwh0r3]

@ozhardcunt Thanks for your reply. As mentioned I have no trouble with R/Y/G on traffic lights and the tests are in colour for me, it's just on some of the ones they show me I can see 2 sets of numbers on the one picture and I'm not sure which one to pick :/

[roadwolf2]

good old B class there eh dude