Where can I find info on stopping a train with regard to speed, weight and length?

Question

I drive a C 30 Diesel for a local company railroad, and I am trying to educate myself more on stopping distances. Our consists are made up of some with 12 gondola cars and some with 20 gondola cars, with an estimated 1200tons to 2000 tons we haul. I can't seem to find any info (diagrams, graphs, etc...) This information would be very helpful, or if there is some mathematical/ physics equation that could be applied which would take into effect weight as part of the equation. I've done some experiments and research on my own while driving as far as stopping distances, but it would be very helpful to have this information.

Answer 1

Andy got here first. He's right. I know that 2,000 tons stops much differently at 70 degrees than it does at 10 degrees. When I was first on the cabs' right side, I followed the advice given to me. Take minimum service well, well in advance. You can fine tune your stop from there. This allows plenty of time to take more air if necessary. If too much, kick off the brakes - coast - and draw down again. And keep in mind, during all this, you want to keep the train stretched out. Practice.

Answer 2

Have you tried How stuff works, logon to  www.howstuffworks.com i hope you can find your answer.

Answer 3

we studied all that stuff in railroad civil engineering class.  find one in your area and attend classes as an audit (which are usually free or a minimal amount), or even as a student if you want.

all these things can and are measureable.  altho', in the end, actual experience will teach you the most.  your railroad should have some of these books and pamphlets available, or even a loco trainer, as someone in the past has made many of these calculations that are specific to your own railroad.

William Hay wrote the definitive book on all this stuff.  Altho' at my univ book store, the book costs 312.00$, so whoo, very expensive.  you can buy the book online at amazon too.  this book is very technical, full of calculations, equations, graphs, etc.  

Railroad Engineering, 2nd edition, by william hay, published by John Wiley & Sons.

Simmons-Boardman books (published in Omaha, NE) also prints many books, pamphlets, training manuals, etc about trains and railroads.  check out their web site at www.simmonsboardman.com, or visit their public library/archives when you are in omaha, its fantastic!

a specifi book would be "The Railroad, What It Is, What It Does", 4th edition, by john armstrong, published by simmons-boardman books.  i bought it, it is very good too, not so engineer-y.

you should also check out my univ's CEE Rail website, you can get some info there, as well as contacts of the researchers and professors in the department.  

http://cee.uiuc.edu/railroad/RREC/overvi...

Answer 4

I've been working 32 years and i have never seen one.That's not to say there isn't one though.I don't know how an accurate one could be made though.There are too many variables.Things such as car type,condition of brakes,weight of the load,terrain,weather(air flows much slower when it's freezing out),speed, and even things like how and when the brakes are applied.If you use PQS on your first set your next reduction is going to work much better reducing your stopping distance.It's really just a matter of experience when it comes to figuring out when to go for the brakes.One thing i can tell you don't go by tonnage alone.I have had trains that weigh say 15,000 tons that would stop in a mile and then have the same weight train another time take a mile and a half to stop at the same place.All because of those variables i mentioned.It's always better to start early til you know how it will stop.It's a bad feeling when you realize you waited too long.

Answer 5

All I can say for sure is that an empty car will stop in 1/3 the distance of a load, rule of thumb, and as Andy pointed out there are many variables at play, including such as TPOB (tons per operative brake, i.e. the weight of each individual car), whether or not you are using dynamic brake, grade, etc.

Train length is an important factor as well.  Propagation Time (the rate at which air travels through the brake pipe) is rounded off to 500 feet per second for service rate of reduction and twice that for an emergency application.

No two trains handle exactly the same.  There is no substitute for experience...