Why does this car have extra pneumatic connections on it, in addition to the standard brake pipe?
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| Posted by North49 on September 23, 2013 | |
Those "extra connections" are locomotive MU(multiple unit) air hoses. This car would have been placed between two locomotives and the connections were required so that the locomotives braking functions would work correctly. You will also notice the electrical MU cable connection on the left side above the MU hoses.
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Hello!
This car is supposed to be 'sandwiched' between 2 engines. You can also spot the blue MU-hose (for the electrical connection in MU-Operation as additional to the pneumatic pipes)
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Because it is spliced between two locomotives, it needs all the connections that another engine would need, including a full set of triple air hoses for the independent brake and main reservoir as well as the blue MU cable connector.
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There is some interesting plumbing on both the lower right side of the tank, as well as the black area to the right below the end walkway, adjacent to the yellow fitting. What these parts are for could only be related to the plumbing and controls governing the actual fuel transfer hoses. And more importantly he emergency shut off of fuel flow in case of a derailment. I have a color print of a fuel delivery car that I took in the Louisville & Nashville's Lexington. Ky. yard. The car was painted silver with black L & N markings. The car Had been damaged at some time and carried a large circular plate patch on one of it's ends. The reason that I burned some frames on the car was because there were 28 pin MU fittings on both ends of the car. To my knowledge the L & N never tried this concept for over the road power. I have always thought that the car I found that day was probably used between switching units, most likely hump power some where on the system.
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