OK, are all mainline steamers going to have to have PTC boxes? Or will the one on the helper engine be OK?
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Non of us have any idea yet.
Okay, I am going to be the idiot and ask what a PTC Box is? Is it the box in the steam loco cab to control the diesels behind it?
Originally Posted by CarGuyZM10:
Okay, I am going to be the idiot and ask what a PTC Box is? Is it the box in the steam loco cab to control the diesels behind it?
No. PTC, or Positive Train Control, is the new Federally Mandated system to protect against train to train collisions, which involves satellite GPS information along with positive train speed control and train stop. The new PTC systems are being test in various locations around the U.S., but last I read the railroads have received a "stay of execution" from the FRA,i.e. from implementation in 2015 (?) to who knows when.
Installing PTC on a steam locomotive will not be easy nor CHEAP!
Originally Posted by Hot Water:
Installing PTC on a steam locomotive will not be easy nor CHEAP!
I guess it would depend on how "deep" the system would have to go on a steam locomotive.
I don't see any feasible way for PTC to control the throttle or reverse gear in a steam locomotive, but it would be very easy trigger a penalty application. That would stop the train, which would accomplish the objective.
Originally Posted by OGR Webmaster:
I don't see any feasible way for PTC to control the throttle or reverse gear in a steam locomotive, but it would be very easy trigger a penalty application. That would stop the train, which would accomplish the objective.
Correct, Rich. That is exactly the way all the cab signal systems, Automatic Train Control, and Automatic Train Stop systems worked back in the days of steam, i.e UP, C&NW, PRR, AT&SF, etc.. It was always up to the Engineer, or whomever in the cab, to shut the throttle off. Of course there was no GPS stuff involved with all those "old" systems.
