11-21-2009, 03:14 PM
Yes they do that as well. I think that modern technology also gives the engineer more control over the entire train than the steam engine operator ever had. The railroads also use simulators for training engineers much like airlines use them for pilots. I read an article in the Warbonnet a few years ago about the Santa Fe's use of a simulator to train engineers to run the Seligman district on the Santa Fe. That district in the area between Kingman and Flagstaff has a lot of up and down hill and mountain running. They used to have a big problem with trains bunching and slacking and breaking couplers and drawbars trying to get through that district. The engineer needs to balance braking and throttle to keep from "snapping" part of the train from bunched to slack which would break the train apart.