Moin / hello I would like to know whats about the second car in this train. http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=405322&nseq=19 Baggage-Car transformed for HEP ? Didn´d find better pics and any informations about ist. Can You help Thanks Harald Brosch
HEP is Head End Power. Back in the steam era, cars used Steam for heat and Air Conditioning. Now they use AC power provided by the HEP units.
HEP is short for "Head End Power". Neither the steam engine, nor diesel in that photo has the ability to supply electricity (HEP) for those passenger cars. So that converted car is included to supply power for lighting, air conditioning.... On regular passenger trains a separate generator is not necessary as the engines have HEP built in.
Steam heat lasted well into the time frame when we were seeing "second generation" diesels delivered. EMD FP7, passenger Geeps, SDP45, FP45 and others had flash boilers. These were in use well into Amtrak years.
HEP is still in use on today's passenger trains. At NJT it comes in 2 forms on their diesels. All the GP-40's & F-40's have a Cat3406 truck engine in the engine room. It powers the cars A/C & lights. On the PL-42's, it set up as the original F-40's were. A generator powers everything. The main engine idled in notch 4 to keep up the RPM's. The ALP-44 & 46's also have a generator. They get their power from the overhead wire.
Thanks a lot Are there any informations / photos concerning that special car in the pic ? I´ve modern Diesel-engines - and only one steamer. Would be a baggage-waggon conversion-project for a railfan train with my only steam-engine. Harald
Harald - It's hard to tell by your photo, but I'm guessing that car is NS 39. It's one of my long-term projects - I'm modeling the Norfolk Southern business train. I have found some photos on RRPictureArchives: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2653366 http://markpowell.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2983483
F40Ph engines ran in notch 8 to keep up frequency (60 HZ), most smaller 800 kw alternators had 4 poles with a gear box RPM doubler had to run at 1800rpm or 900 rpm on the main engine. They weren't called screamers for nothing. They could run on standby at a lower RM using the main alternator with 10 poles, I think they ran at about notch 6. Randy
