Foot pedals on a train

[strange6]

Any reason why trains don't have foot pedals like a car as opposed to hand levers? And a tip-tronic style gear leaver maybe???

 

[asylumxl]

I imagine holding a pedal down for long periods of time would be quite uncomfortable.

 

[NSEFAN]

Isn't the 'dead man's handle' on the floor already?

 

[driver9000]

I imagine holding a pedal down for long periods of time would be quite uncomfortable.

The DSD is a foot pedal and it's not uncomfortable to keep it pressed.

 

[starrymarkb]

Any reason why trains don't have foot pedals like a car as opposed to hand levers? And a tip-tronic style gear leaver maybe???

Because you don't need your hands on the steering wheel. Aircraft have foot-pedals too, but they are not for the throttle.

As for gears, everything either has electric transmission or is Automatic

 

[strange6]

Because you don't need your hands on the steering wheel. Aircraft have foot-pedals too, but they are not for the throttle.

As for gears, everything either has electric transmission or is Automatic

I know that but I wonder if it would make the train a little bit better and less boring to operate. The brakes on a jumbo are foot operated and engine power is the grab handle in the centre of the console
1st gen units are fun and enjoyable to operate because there's quite a bit more to do on them in terms of driver input and although I haven't been at the controls of a second gen unit, I would imagine they're quite boring to work, especially something with just a power handle.
It's just a bt of fun to have a think about

 

[es373]

Google VACMA.

My sets have it and its pretty much 2 foot pedals.

 

[Pacerpilot]

The DSD is a foot pedal and it's not uncomfortable to keep it pressed.

Not a 14x Driver then? Bloody horrible. The pedal is rather stiff ( and very small) and I usually have to drive up with on foot on the pedal and the other foot on top of that foot. With no vigilance, you cant tell if the pedal is pressed down completely. As Pacers and jointed track dont mix particularly well and its easy to get bounced of the pedal at speed and not know about it soon resulting in an EBA.

 

[strange6]

Not a 14x Driver then? Bloody horrible. The pedal is rather stiff ( and very small) and I usually have to drive up with on foot on the pedal and the other foot on top of that foot. With no vigilance, you cant tell if the pedal is pressed down completely. As Pacers and jointed track dont mix particularly well and its easy to get bounced of the pedal at speed and not know about it soon resulting in an EBA.

What lines do you work? No greater test of this than the section of track from Burscough Bridge to Meols Cop on a fast at 70mph. Seem to manage ok though

 

[es373]

Not a 14x Driver then? Bloody horrible. The pedal is rather stiff ( and very small) and I usually have to drive up with on foot on the pedal and the other foot on top of that foot. With no vigilance, you cant tell if the pedal is pressed down completely. As Pacers and jointed track dont mix particularly well and its easy to get bounced of the pedal at speed and not know about it soon resulting in an EBA.

You must have leg muscles like a bulls! Haha

 

[Pacerpilot]

What lines do you work? No greater test of this than the section of track from Burscough Bridge to Meols Cop on a fast at 70mph. Seem to manage ok though

Ex Valleys, now all lines West of Cardiff....The Penarth Branch (usually between Penarth and Dingle Road) was a favourite

 

[asylumxl]

You must have leg muscles like a bulls! Haha

That's what I was getting at

 

[ChrisCooper]

I know the Waggon und Maschinenbau Railbuses like the North Norfolk Railway has have a foot operated throttle. I don't know the reason though as it doesn't free up a hand as the left hand is for the deadman, the right is for gears and brakes (same as on normal first generation DMUs). Some more modern foreign trams also used foot pedals too, I think stemming from the US PCC (Presidents’ Conference Committee) Streetcars. The PCC design used pedals for both power and brake. I don't think any trams in the UK have used pedal control though, the VAMBACs which were the UK answer to the PCCs used a lever for power and brake, as do the thyristor controlled Centenaries and Jubilees with Blackpool and all the modern trams.
Just for the total opposite, some early trolleybuses and battery electric lorries used a hand operated power controller!

 

[es373]

That's what I was getting at

LOL brilliant!

 

[driver9000]

Not a 14x Driver then? Bloody horrible. The pedal is rather stiff ( and very small) and I usually have to drive up with on foot on the pedal and the other foot on top of that foot. With no vigilance, you cant tell if the pedal is pressed down completely. As Pacers and jointed track dont mix particularly well and its easy to get bounced of the pedal at speed and not know about it soon resulting in an EBA.

Yes, and I have no problems keeping the DSD down on a Pacer

The DSD is a touch wider than my foot.

 

[Pacerpilot]

You know, they seemed fine when I first signed them....
Most of our 143s got new pedals in the last 2 years or so, and they never been the same. There were rumours of them getting vig. retrofitted...but I wont hold my breath.

 

[driver9000]

I listen for the clunk of the relay behind my head. It's quite distinct on ours.

 

[strange6]

You know, they seemed fine when I first signed them....
Most of our 143s got new pedals in the last 2 years or so, and they never been the same. There were rumours of them getting vig. retrofitted...but I wont hold my breath.

They're probably of a more robust design; having said that, the originals stood the test of time very well. were there a lot of failures with the original pedals / mechanisms that you have heard of?

 

[Cherry_Picker]

As for gears, everything either has electric transmission or is Automatic

Almost everything. The class 121 bubble car has a manual gear box. (I think)

 

[ChrisCooper]

Almost everything. The class 121 bubble car has a manual gear box. (I think)

The 121s are semi-automatic. The driver selects the gear but there is no clutch. The same was true of the majority of the 1st generation DMUs, and also some shunters (03 and 04 for example). On all other types the driver has no need to select gears, the either have electric, hydralic or fully automatic mechanical transmission. Electric is by far the most common for locos, hydralic for DMUs (second generation). Automatic mechanical transmssion is rare, only being found in the Pacers (although 142, 143 and 144s were later fitted with hydralic transmission) and the 172s.