Setting Up Distributed Power Units (DPU) and Starting A Train On A Grade With DPUs

[@SamBrickell]

This is the perfect stuff to watch at 3am with work (in any other industry) the next day.

[@povertyspec9651]

It's just amazing the work that goes into simulators like this.

[@bogeygolfer2479]

Ex- TS20XX / TSW3 veteran and Run8 V3 noob for 2 weeks here. So much more to learn and do with Run8. Love it and this very informative video. Tried to start from a dead stop with a 9500 ton train, 4 ES44's on the front, 2 on the back, 2% grade somewhere on the Mojave Sub. I could not succeed without using the "Fence". I had to keep the DPU two notches ahead of the lead and then "cheat" by watching the "Coupler kLBs" on the HUD. When that dropped to around 270 - 280, I'd advance both Lead / DPU throttles by a notch until both were in notch 8. Nice . . . never would have given any thought to the guys in back pushing harder than the guys in front pulling. Kudos to the Run8 "Devs" and Depot Community.

[@realscoob2x951]

One thing I want to add about the real world dpus is a train check! Also your take off the first time was perfect! I don’t think it would’ve been a knuckle in the real world!

[@gregwhiley4438]

An excellent video providing a clear understanding of braking. Thank you.

[@speed150mph]

Great video. I’ll throw in my experience. First I’ll give you my experience with engine set up for DPU service. I can’t say for other railways but at CN, locomotive mechanics are responsible for setting up all locomotives for service. We do this before they are coupled on a train. For a DPU we check all lights on head and tail end, set up the units for lead, trail, and dP. we do a full brake test, one guy in cab, one on ground, making sure brakes are applying and releasing properly during automatic and independent apply and release, bail, penalty, emergency. We test the EOT emergency switch. Then we check loading and dB in both directions, do a push pull test and sign the inspection sheet. Then either the train crew or yard crew will grab the consist from the locomotive storage tracks, hook it on to the train in the positions listed on the manifest, do their air tests, and head out. Another thing I’d add, one of the depot plus guys who gave me my check ride gave me a good rule of thumb that has never let me down. 1400 amps on the head end in the magic number. If you let them build above the 1400,s then your pushing the limit and risking a break apart. otherwise I do my trains in similar fashion as yours. I handle my brakes a little different but otherwise It’s pretty close.

[@arlonbaas4273]

How do you handle the brakes differently? I was told by a professional to release slowly on the INDY to prevent too much Draft Forces from building up. Is that a common technique?? Do you always stay only 1 notch up while in asynchronous (Fenced) mode, or do you start 2 or more notches up? Sometimes om RUN8 while starting on a hill, especially at Cliff or Bealville, I will go 2 notches up. What is the railroad teaching on that? While starting on the Walong Loop, what are the rules for scenarios like that? That seem like a VERY different scenario.

[@NSHorseheadSD70]

When starting, I always try to keep the DPU at least one notch above what I'm doing on the head end. This keeps things bunched and reduces the forces on the knuckles. And when I'm making changes to throttle settings, I do it slowly. I make a move and then let things settle down a bit and then make another change. Doing too much too fast can cause serious issues like I experienced in this video.

[@grizh4583]

So you know, I’m on the railroad right now, haven’t had to run around a DP in a year, you just made my night 3 times quicker 😂 I needed to set up a fence

[@grizh4583]

Like real railroad

[@TrainScott]

I appreciate the information about getting going on a hill. I would go notch 8, now I see that's not the best way to do it. You're the best Chris.

[@myrnawashington9057]

Sounds like you definitely have to know what your doing to setup, operate a train. It's good to hear from the people that know the business first hand in the comments.

[@matthewjon561]

When I worked out West on heavy grade, I always kept the fence up and hand on the throttle climbing steep grade. That way if the head end started slipping, I could notch off and hopefully keep the train together. Notch off the front but kept the DP shoving in 8. Also, sometimes I’d have to ramp up the DP to 8 in order to get things moving in the correct direction while starting out. A heavy on steep grade will start moving as soon as the air is released. So it’s vital to make sure the rear end don’t roll out and get a knuckle, so ramping up the DP is important. On a DP train we have to do a Train Check. Train Check verifies that the brake pipe is open and unrestricted between the lead and the DP.

[@bill7493]

Appreciating these tutorios,thanks

[@paulwarner5395]

Thanx for the informative video. What happens to the DPU if the radio link is lost. To they shutdown to idle??

[@kingjames8283]

Here on the Monon Line (Indy-Lafayette) 90% of CSX is DPU (mid-train), and all BNSF trains using this line are DPU (trailing). I know DPU's use radio transmission for communications between units but what I don't know is what keeps the radio signals per set locked together, and what keeps cross talk between parallel train sets on different tracks from interfering with one another if both are using DPU's especially with the same railroad company. I think the main reason CSX began DPU operations in Indiana was due to autoracks constantly busting knuckles breaking trainsets in half.

[@TheDepotServer]

The head end unit and DP lead unit are linked together. They're not on a general radio channel or anything.

[@nickhalman93]

What is the setup for a DPU Brake Head (valve)? Trial or lead cutout?

[@ryanveyr9195]

Does the DPU respond to the brake commands of the head-end exactly the same regardless if there's a fence or not?

[@ellisjackson3355]

That Loco has the older style screen graphics

[@radmaximus]

As a rule I always notch up the DPU's first, even when rolling, just to keep the coupler forces down. Let them push up a bit, before the head end starts pulling on the couplers.

[@stuff_n_thanngs7552]

There are certain times to do that, sure. But definitely not always.

[@BossSpringsteen69]

The bump test.

[@bjarnenilsson80]

This might be a silly qyestion, butvdoes rhe fence only efrect power or do youballso have to controll breaks indipendantly?

[@PRL2204]

Interesting, I'll have to see if this set up for DP is the same with DP at NS.

[@roblabbe629]

What TS is that?

[@lifetimedreamvideos985]

This is fascinating to me. I'm a retired airline pilot. 50 years ago, I worked as a switchman with BN for about 18 months. I've always been fascinated by trains. I've been very curious about how DPUs worked. Especially the radio communications between the lead and DPUs. I kept looking at the lead dashboard display. I could never find where you were talking about coupler load. You kept talking about 300, but I didn't see it. What was I missing. How hard would it be for an intelligent novice to do this once, assuming he had a good sense of mass?

[@beno996]

He was talking about force calculated in-sim at the top of the screen (those in red)

[@yardlimit8695]

neat, i really enjoyed this video.......

[@bigjuliechc]

I would like to know, once you have set up your DPU fence with a power setting/notch, can you then take the fence out and work all Units as a single control, but with the different settings staying as a percentage between your Lead Unit, your mid DPU and your rear DPU?

[@matthewjon561]

Nope, once the fence is dropped, the DP will go to whatever notch the lead is in.

[@feralshe-male6858]

Great guide! It really helps!

[@TrainScott]

I notice your dispatcher screen for Mojave is different than mine. Yours has the Southern Pacific logo and Union Pacific logo.

[@donaldswink6259]

Does the slave unit automatically follow what the DPU is doing or do you have to set that one also.

[@TheDepotServer]

Any units MU'd to the DPU lead unit will respond accordingly with that unit.

[@pqhkr2002]

1st time in Run8, I realized I set wrong DPU direction after break apart my train several times.

[@allenfugelseth6859]

So how does the DPU and MU loco controller in the lead loco address each remote loco and not talk to other remote locos on its train or other nearby trains? I have heard that some lead locos and their slave locos communicate thru a "78 pin" hardwired connector. I am interested in the electronics aspect. Thanks to all who answer. Technical answers are OK.

[@quaildogusa]

Wish you had stated the weight of your train. I took a 9600 ton train with 4 ES44's on the front and 2 on the rear. And that was too heavy. I had the head in N3 and the DP in N5 before it would move forward. It was after the 3rd tunnel before I got it to 10 MPH. I did most of the trip up with the head at N6 and DP at N7 and 12 MPH. Every time I would take the head to N7 the coupler force would go to 335 so I would back it off to keep from breaking the train.

[@paradoxicalcat7173]

It's 10000 tons in the video, and 8200 ft long.

[@ifunk4ucgb]

I want to join in. which pack should i download. I like heavy freight Can anyone walk me through what I need to get up and running.?

[@mikefitzpatrick5209]

GREAT VIDEO

[@gillyggee4085]

What about the two Up engines at the front of the train behind the lead unit are they set up as dpu's as wel?l

[@therealsnow]

No they're slaved to the lead locomotive you're driving.

[@railfanbobby5905]

I have a question so I was in a bnsf inermodel then the notch went to 0 and I said thats weird

[@quaildogusa]

what simulator are you working with?

[@TiredDodMedia]

What game is this it looks better than the train sim game i have

[@railspike7057]

I never heard any mention on a COMM test. I know railways can have different software on the same system so I could be wrong about UP's DP. But basically from what work with you cannot make DPs do anything including braking until certain commands are completed to ensure brake pipe continuity, even on the shop track, otherwise you just have a 200 boat anchor. The Air Flow is CFM not PSI, it is volume not pressure. Once you quailify that on a Brake Test why would you ever wait till it dropped to 60cfm again, even on a conventional train, unless you are looking at a steep down grade. And the DP trains are allowed a very much higher combined threshold of Air Flow then a 60cfm. I would not even think about a one notch differental. 3 notches I would start to get motivated. Biggest problem on a hill is to get all locomotives to load at once. Some of them take so long to reload you are sliding backwards. Interesting and a great video, looking forward to more.

[@herberttidwell9708]

When did westbound at Bealville become an ascending grade?

[@TheDepotServer]

The train at Bealville at 14:00 is headed Eastbound, not Westbound.

[@CamManTheWise]

I'm just a layman here, so take whatever I say with a heavy dose of salt. I've re-watched this video several times to see what was different between attempt number 1 and attempt number 2. In the first attempt, the train really struggled to get moving, and it broke in two at nearly the exact moment the amps on the lead unit exceeded 1500 Amps. Do you Engineers use the current draw as a gage for how much forces are being exerted on the train? The second attempt was successful, so what was different? The narrator doesn't say that the train was any lighter, but it did pull away with much less effort. The only thing that I could see was different was that the flow rate in the break-pipe was lower. Could it have been that a few of the cars had dragging breaks in the first attempt? Again, I'm just a layman with zero knowledge of trains, but I did find this video very informative and entertaining.

[@Dickpeterballs6969]

Engineer here. Were the handbrakes left on? and how many cars did you have? Let's start with the basics first

[@deronwilliams338]

What game is this.

[@AJtheRatty]

Run 8 Train Simulator