I still don't see why pulling away from a stop on slippery rails wasn't shown and re-iterate my earlier post that this is an important part of training.
Any drivers able to give an insight in what is briefed to them about this rather than the stopping part which was covered on the programme?
Well first of all it was an entertainment/documentary programme, it wasn't a driver training video that was being made. And secondly taking power in skippy conditions is pretty boring to watch. Stopping it is dramatic enough to show on a non-training video. They put the brakes in, lost everything and skidded out of control until the train stopped. That is far more interesting than watching 10 mins of a driver opening power gently, loosing traction so shutting off, resetting power and taking power again.
As far as taking power on skippy rails it depends on the type of train. Generally the rule is to open up much slower and rather than have full power open by say 10mph you build up power so may still be in half power by 30/40mph. You can manually lay sand when sliding occurs on acceleration but I tend not to as i don't like the thought of depleting the sand supply's on traction, I'd prefer to keep the sand in reserve incase I need it on braking. I'd prefer to run 20mins late and be able to stop easier.
On some units like 455, 313, 315 etc you can hand notch or sub notch which basically kills off resistances slower so you open into shunt power and over time knock the power handle quickly into series then back to shunt which gives a more gradual acceleration. After about 6 series notches you take it into parallel and back to series or shunt quickly depending on the stock and once again notch it back and forth a few times.
You can also sort if do this between full power and weak field power on a 317 (317s can be a real nightmare to get power on in poor conditions).
