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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: Remote Control Locomotives... When did these come about?
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Stephen Furley
Film God
Posts: 3059
From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England
Registered: May 2002
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posted 01-03-2005 06:23 AM
I can only comment on Britian, I have no experience of overseas operations.
quote: Steve Kraus
There are 3 different things being discussed here:
1) Automatic operation of trains -- mostly limited to rapid transit operation. Always with a human supervising or initiating the movements or able to take over if needed.
The London Underground Victoria Line, opened in stages in late '60s-early '70s uses automatic train operation. Operator sits in the front cab, closes doors, presses buttons and train then runs under automatic control. Operator has full controls, and can drive manually if required. Before the Victoria line opened this system was tested on a short section of the Central line, between Woodford and Hainalt, which at that time operated as a shuttle, not running through to the rest of the line. The ATO system was taken out of use on this section long ago.
The whole of the central Line was modernised in the '90s, with new trains designed for ATO, but for several years they operated in manual mode until the modernisation was completed. This operates like the Victoria Line system, i.e. with someone in the cab.
I'm not sure is the Jubilee Line extension, opened in 1999, uses ATO, or not.
The Docklands Light Railway, initially opened in 1987, and since extended several times has always used ATO. There is a member of staff on board, originally called the 'Train Captain', since renamed 'Passenger Service Agent', or something similar. there is no drivers cab, they walk through the train, checking tickets, and close the doors using control panels located near each door. Once the doors are closed, the train will move when it receives the ready to depart signal from the control system.
The DLR has been almost totally re-built since it opened, The original trains were replaced as they were not suiitable for running on a tunnel section on the first extension, all of the stations have been extended, most totally re-built. One, Canary Wharf, was built, but never opened in its original form, and was demolished soon after the system opened. A much larger station was later opened on the site. One location is now on it's third station, and this is due to close soon. South Quay originally had the same minimal station design as was used elsewhere on the system. After a few years this was demolished and a larger one built. Soon afterwards this, along with much of the surrounding area was blown up by the IRA. A third station was built, but this is too short for the longer trains due to be introduced, and cannot be extended due to very sharp curves at both ends, so the closure notices have gone up.
The original signalling signaling system was replaced by a moving block one. there is a control panel at each end, under a locked cover, from which the train can be driven manually. Under the original system there was a four position key switch:
Off: Nothing works.
ATO: Train operates under automatic control.
ATP manual: Train can be driven manually, at full speed, but automatic train protection system still in use.
Emergency shunt: Train can be driven manually, at very low speed, without any ATP signal being received.
I'm not sure about the manual controls under the new signalling system, but I think they're basically similar.
The first extension of the DLR was to Bank statiion, where the trains run into the arrival platform, then run empty beyond the station to reverse into the depature platform; Think PATH at Newark, but in deep tunnel. There was a proposal that the trains should be able to make this movement, without passengers on board, without the train captain, i.e. unmanned, but I don't know if this was implemented.
quote: Steve Kraus
2) Remote control of freight helper locomotives either at the rear or cut in somewhere in the middle of a long train.
We don't have anythiing like this; Freight trains have a locomotive, rarely two, at the front end. We do have some 'push-pull' passenger trains, where the locomotiive will be at the back in one direction, but locomotive hauled passenger trains are not common now, most are multiple units.
quote: Steve Kraus
3) Remote control of a switch engine by someone wearing a belt mounted remote who will operate the manual switches, coupler cut levers, join air hoses etc.
This was tried out, with control from the control tower, in at least one hump shunting yard during the BR modernisation plan, in the late '50s. Hump shunting is long dead here, there's not much shunting of any sort, our railways are mainly a passenger operation, only about 6% of freight moves by rail for any part of it's journey. What freight there is is almost all full trainloads, with no shuntiing involved.
Power station coal is still carried from pits, or increasingly from import docks, by 'Merry-go round' trains which discharge at power stations while moving at a constant speed, 0.5 mph I think, under automatic control. That's about all we have now, and the future of that must be in doubt; the last coal-fired power station was built in 1974, almost all of the ones built up to the '50s have closed iin recent years, and some of the more recent ones have been converted to gas firing.
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