Brake maintenance is one thing I keep on top of all the time with our streetcar #21 here in Fort Collins. In the event of a brake system failure however one thing I train most of my motor men to do is to open the circuit breakerand then put the controller in reverse and full parallel. This will bring the car to a crawl in a real hurry. Doing this turns one motor into a generator which bucks the other motor.
Roger Mitchell
Master Mechanic: Fort Collins Municipal Railway

Would doing something like you mentioned damage any of the motors? I realize that stopping the car is paramount, but just curious to the outcome of something as dramatic as you illustrated.

Robert
FVHRS
http://www.fvhrs.com

I have done this many times with our #21 with no ill effects. You might skid the wheels a little but because they will still be turning it will be unlikely you will cause any large flat spots.
Roger Mitchell

Hi,

"Slugging" the car and the motor damage question. It would really depend on many factors; what overall condition are the motors in, what condition the gears are in, how fast is the car going when it's slugged, the total distance involved (say you were going down a long grade) to bring the car to a slow speed. And what condition the rest of the propulsion system is in, the reverser fingers and segments, wiring....

The car's electrical system takes quite a jolt when this "slugging" is done. If everything is maintained in good working order, the slugging at high speeds are not done often, the car should recover with no ill after effects.

Having the operators preform this in training is a good idea. It doesn't take more than 3 or 4 MPH on a short section of track to demonstrate this.

Sorry to hear of their accident. It sounds like no one was injured, which is very important.

Karl johnson

What are the particulars of the failure? Mechanical problems with the rigging, valve problems or somebody wasn't watching the air gage?

dave

General Motors did not sell any EV1 electric cars to the public. They didn't want to have to support parts supply for a car where every single part was custom. They felt if people tried to drive them anyway, lack of parts would lead to deferred maintenance and safety problems.

I see an analog here to historic pieces of equipment. What do you do when there are no parts? With steam engines or wooden schooners, you make the parts. But what about when the technology starts to make that tough, because it's a little more advanced than you can make in your shop?

When ever you operate a historic piece of equippment such as a street car or steam locomotive, you had better have the infastructure avaliable to support it or at least the access to it. Here in Fort Collins, When we needed new brake shoes, Roger Smith made a pattern so we could have new brake shoes cast by Marlin Urich in Strasburg, Colorado. We had new wheels made for our #21 by Pennsylvania Machine and Tool Works in Pennsylvania. Bernie Watts of Back Shop Enterprises brokered that deal for us. I have my own machine shop at home which includes a CNC Bridgeport milling machine and lathes up to 16 by 72 inches. As to any parts we need, one way or the other we get them made.