Wed 14 May 2008
Conductor Caught Whistling At Attractive Passenger
Posted by TJ under Track 61
A reader asks…
I was wondering; I can occasionally hear this whistling sound from the engineers cab and he slows down. I was wondering if the whistling indicates distance between trains is getting too close or is it generated for some other reason such as schedule time?
Thanks
Joel F.
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If any of the rail fans Trainjotting picked up thanks to our Track 61 expertise can help Joel, I’m sure he’d be appreciative.
May 15th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Are you talking about the beeping noise? I’m not sure what the interval is, but there is a beeping ‘buzzer’ that goes off every 30 seconds or so that the engineer must respond to. If he doesn’t the train will stop. It’s a safety feature to ensure that the engineer is awake and/or alive.
May 16th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
WHAT YOU’RE HEARING IS THE OVERSPEED
WHISTLE. METRO NORTH TRAINS HAVE CAB SIGNALS, MEANING THAT SIGNALS ARE DISPLAYED ON AN APPARATUS IN THE ENGINEER’S CAB INSTEAD OF THE RIGHT OF WAY.
WHEN A CAB SIGNAL DROPS TO A MORE RESTRICTIVE INDICATION, AN AUDIBLE INDICATOR (WHITLE) SOUNDS. THE ENGINEER HAS SECONDS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE WHISTLE BY PRESSSING A BUTTON IN THE CAB. THEN HE MUST SLOW TRAIN DOWN TO MEET THE MORE RESTRICTIVE INDICATION. IF HE DOESN’T ACKNOWLEDGE OR SLOW DOWN IN TIME, THE EMERGENCY BRAKES GO ON. THERE ARE SEVERAL REASONS FOR THE SIGNAL DROPPING I.E. GETTING CLOSER TO A TRAIN UP AHEAD,OPENED BRIDGE, CROSSING FROM ONE TRACK TO ANOTHER.