DEVELOPMENT OF A SYSTEM TO DISPLAY AND RECORD SLACK ACTION IN FREIGHT TRAINS
This report summarizes the development of a system which senses, displays and records the slack action or inter-car movement in freight trains. The system, called the Draft-Buff Indicator (DBI), was developed to serve as a train-handling aid. It provides the user (railroad training officer, accident investigator or locomotive engineer) with a real-time display of the draft-buff distribution within a moving train and also provides a record of the information for later analysis. The report discusses the development of the sensors, transmitters, receivers and display which make up the system, as well as alternative versions of the system which were considered and rejected for various reasons. The report also discusses the various applications of the system in revenue service and in accident analysis up to the time of publication.
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- Record URL:
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Corporate Authors:
Transportation Systems Center
55 Broadway, Kendall Square
Cambridge, MA United States 02142Federal Railroad Administration
Office of Rail Safety Research, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Authors:
- Vrabel, J D
- Sussman, E D
- Ofsevit, D
- Publication Date: 1977-8
Media Info
- Pagination: 62 p.
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Crash investigation; Data collection; Detectors; Freight trains; Information display systems; Instrumentation; Locomotive engineers; Locomotive operation; Monitoring; Motion; Railroad cars; Railroad trains; Sensors; Tension; Train operations; Training
- Uncontrolled Terms: Interaction
- Old TRIS Terms: Locomotive engineer's tasks; Slack action
- Subject Areas: Education and Training; Freight Transportation; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00167379
- Record Type: Publication
- Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
- Report/Paper Numbers: DOT-TSC-FRA-77-2 Final Rpt., FRA/ORD-77/53
- Files: NTL, TRIS, USDOT
- Created Date: Dec 27 1978 12:00AM