06-19-2012, 09:46 AM
Mike Kieran Wrote:So I guess that it's safe to say that the only way tahat a caboose shoving platform would be used would be a unit train that keeps the same consist, such as a shuttle unit train. Then you could operate it push pull.
No. A caboose up front as a shoving platform would typically only be used for long shoving moves during switching. The guy controlling the locomotive in that case would normally be located in the locomotive.
Has nothing to do with unit trains - they don't generally need a shoving platform, since unloading and loading often will be organized as a continuous loop which also will turn the train back towards where it came from.
Passenger trains sometimes operate in push/pull mode with fixed consists. In this case, they would not use caboose, but a cab car - either a converted passenger car or a locomotive without it's prime mover or something like that.
A remote control platform (as opposed to a remote controlled locomotive) is some car, a flat car or whatever, that has gotten radio control equipment and MU cables, so you can hook it up directly (via the MU cables) to a locomotive that doesn't have remote control, and which will function (seen from the other locomotive, via the MU cables) as the lead locomotive of the consist. A remote control platform is typically used in a yard for switching, where the person controlling it is on the ground, using a belt pack.
Smile,
Stein