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Control car (rail)

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Railway transport

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   A control car is a generic term for a non-powered railroad vehicle that
   allows operation of a train from the end opposite to the position of
   the locomotive. They can be used with diesel or electric motive power,
   allowing push-pull operation without the use of an additional
   locomotive.

   Trains operating with a locomotive on one end and a control car on the
   other do not require the locomotive to run around to the opposite end
   of the train when reversing direction at a terminus.

   Generally, the driver controls the train through a Time-Division
   Multiplexer (TDM) connection. In addition to the driver's compartment,
   which has all the controls and gauges necessary for remotely operating
   the train's locomotive, control cars all have a horn, whistle, bell, or
   plow (as appropriate), and most importantly, all of the lights that
   would normally be on a locomotive. Control cars can carry passengers,
   baggage, mail, or a combination thereof.

   Railroad vehicles that function as control cars go by several different
   names throughout the world, as below.

North America

   A Cab car is a special sort of passenger car used in push-pull
   operations. Most of the cab car is indistinguishable from a regular
   passenger car, but a full driver's compartment is built into one or
   both ends of the car.

   Cab cars come in a variety of forms. They can be very similar to
   regular railcars, to the point of including a passageway between cars
   so that they could be used in the middle of a passenger train like a
   regular car if necessary. Some commuter rail agencies in the United
   States routinely use cab cars in place of regular passenger carriages
   on trains.

   During the mid- 1990s, as push-pull operations became more common in
   the United States, cab-cars came under some criticism and scrutiny for
   providing less protection to engine crews during grade crossing
   accidents. This has been addressed in two ways: providing additional
   reinforcing in cab cars, and the development of Cab-Baggage or Cabbages
   by Amtrak. Cabbages are essentially F40 locomotives with the engine and
   motors removed and a large door cut into the side; drivers are thus
   afforded the protection of a cab unit while additional space is created
   for baggage transportation.

   Coaster cab car in San Diego (www.trainweb.com photo)

   New Jersey Transit cab car in West Windsor, NJ

   Tri-Rail cab car in Delray Beach, Florida

   Pacific Surfliner cab car in Carlsbad, CA

United Kingdom

Driving Brake Standard Open

   A Driving Brake Standard Open or DBSO is type of control car in use in
   Britain. These were previously specially converted passenger cars. It
   is expected that the last DBSOs will be withdrawn from mainline service
   in mid- 2006.

   DBSO 9710 at Norwich

                       DBSO in different livery

Driving Van Trailer

   A Driving Van Trailer or DVT is a more modern type of control car in
   use in Britain. These are purpose-built models that have space for
   baggage and contain a guard's office. The DVT was developed from the
   DBSO and originally designed to be used with British Rail Mark 3 and Mk
   4 coaches. DVTs are in service in the UK with GNER (Mk 4), Virgin
   Trains and 'one' Anglia (both Mk 3). Iarnrod Eireann in Ireland has its
   own design of DVT, classified Mk 4 and built by CAF.

   Mark 3 DVT at Norwich station

   Mark 4 DVT at Leeds station

   CAF DVT in the Republic of Ireland, 2006

Continental Europe

   The German term Steuerwagen translates as Control car. Another
   commonly-used translation is Driving trailer. There are many examples
   of this type of vehicle in operation in Germany, Switzerland, and
   elsewhere in Europe.

Germany

   The first German attempts to use control cars and remote
   control-equipped steam locomotives were before the Second World War by
   the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DRG). The driver's control instructions were
   transmitted by a Chadburn-type machine telegraph (similar to engine
   order telegraphs on ships) from the control car to the locomotive,
   where the order had to be acknowledged and implemented by the automatic
   firebox controllers immediately. This indirect control was judged as
   unpractical and not sufficiently safe because although the driver
   controlled the brake directly, the danger existed in emergencies the
   locomotive would continue supplying "push" power for some time and
   possibly derail the train.

   Attempts to use electric locomotives (beginning with a converted E 04
   class model) were more promising, since the engine driver could control
   the locomotive directly. The test program could not be finished by the
   Second World War, despite good successes. Only after the war would
   control car operations become generally accepted, albeit slowly, when
   locomotives and cars with the necessary equipment were available.

   The length of train consists in push-pull operations was originally
   limited to 10 cars for reasons of guidance dynamics. A speed limit of
   120 km/h was also imposed, which was raised in 1980 to 140 km/h. This
   was not an operational hindrance, since push-pull trains were generally
   first used in commuter trains, which were rarely longer than six cars.

   Only since the middle 1990s have long-distance trains, which can
   consist of up to 14 cars and travel at speeds up to 200 km/h, been
   operated with control cars. A special circumstance is the ICE 2, which
   may operate with the control car in the lead at up to 250 km/h on the
   recently built high-speed lines.

   Modern German InterCity Steuerwagen

   ICE2 Steuerwagen at Cologne-Bonn Airport

   Different livery on a double-decker German Steuerwagen

   German InterRegio livery in Heidelberg

   Another version of a German double-decker Steuerwagen in Remagen

   Modern German version in an older livery

   Frontal view of the German model

   A German commuter train clearly showing the locomotive driving from the
   rear

Switzerland

   Swiss control cars operate in many different configurations. There are
   several models currently in service on S-Bahn networks as well as
   regional, InterRegio, and InterCity services. These are operated by the
   federal railway system ( SBB) as well as various private railroads
   throughout the country (including narrow gauge lines) and into France,
   Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, and Italy.

   Among the models used are the Bt (second class), BDt (second class +
   baggage), ABt (first + second class), and Dt (baggage). The Bt model
   also exists as a double-deck version for the IC 2000 trainset and Re
   450.

   As of 2006, locomotives used in Switzerland with these control cars
   include the Re 420 and its derivatives (including the Re 430), the Re
   440, Re 450, Re 460, Re 465, RBe 540, and RBDe 560 and its derivatives.
   The BLS operates several of its locomotives with control cars,
   including the Ae 415, Re 420, Re 425, Re 465, ABDe 535, and RBDe 565.

   The Zentralbahn narrow gauge locomotives in operation with control cars
   include the Hge 101, De 110, and Deh 120.

   The Rhaetian Railway (RhB) and Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn (MGB) also use
   several different control car models with their locomotive fleets.

   Swiss regional train Steuerwagen near Wil

   The Swiss EW IV model in Zürich

   Older Swiss MThB Steuerwagen in Konstanz

   Double-decker Swiss IC 2000 Steuerwagen

   A Steuerwagen of the narrow-gauge MGB

   Double-decker version used with the Swiss Re 450 trainset

   Swiss NPZ Steuerwagen in Biel

   Older MGB example at Stalden in the Valais

   The BLS EW III control (former Swiss Express)

   A modern narrow-gauge Steuerwagen on the RhB network

Austria

   Austrian NPZ Steuerwagen of the Montafonerbahn in Schruns

   The Steuerwagen of the Austrian CityShuttle in Lower Austria
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_car_%28rail%29"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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