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Do Trains Have Odometers (...) ?

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whhistle

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I know the anwer is yes, but the real question is:

Do trains have odometers that are in the cab, plainly for the train driver to see?

I guess:
1) In newer stock with a computer, yes, it could be accessed by the train driver.
2) In older stock, no. But it'll be recorded elsewhere on the train.
 
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t_star2001uk

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Class 68s have a digital odometer in the speedo head, 165/168/170 and 172 dont. Most milages are calculated within depot maintenance software of the TOC/ FOC.
 

gimmea50anyday

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Based on engine running hours as opposed to mileage. So an A exam may be every 50 hours, B exam 200 hours, C exam 800 hours - for examples. That was how BR did it, i would imagine that hasnt changed much since
 

AMD

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Also control keep an eye on mileage through GENIUS, mainly so that something doesn't run out of fuel half way through a diagram.
 

ComUtoR

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I guess:
1) In newer stock with a computer, yes, it could be accessed by the train driver.
2) In older stock, no. But it'll be recorded elsewhere on the train.

I have the opposite experience. In the modern stock I drive, I have no clue how many miles its done and have no direct access to an Odometer. In the older unit I drive, I can just tap a button on the dash. (both emus) Would it be something that is dependent on what spec the TOC requests ?

It will be stock dependent, rather than age. I have never used it other than out of pure curiosity and haven't even done that for years. Does a Driver need/use it ?

How would it be worked out by the unit ? If it was done by wheel turns what happens when you get wheelspin ? I believe ours are worked out by the mileage on each diagram worked.
 

Minilad

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Why would I need to know how many miles a train I am driving has done. I'm not exactly going to advertise it for sale on autotrader
 

PaxVobiscum

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Does an Odometer detect when the toilet is getting smelly?

(I'll see myself out.)
 
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Richard Scott

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Seem to recall a number of locos had odometers on one axle. I know 45149 has one (know it reads to 6 figures so guessing it's been 'round the clock' a few times), no 1 end I believe on secondman's side.
 

DarloRich

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Why would I need to know how many miles a train I am driving has done. I'm not exactly going to advertise it for sale on autotrader

For sale: One Cross Country Voyager, 1 careful owner, 27000000 miles, full service history. £1.5m ono. buyer collects
 

43096

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The OTDR will also record distances travelled.
How does it do that if the vehicle has no other mileage recorder on it? OTDR/OTMR - at least on retro-fits - records data from other systems.
 

anamyd

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For sale: One Cross Country Voyager, 1 careful owner, 27000000 miles, full service history. £1.5m ono. buyer collects
:lol: i wonder how many miles Pacer 141-108 had done when it advertised at £30,000 including VAT...? :p
 

Llama

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How does it do that if the vehicle has no other mileage recorder on it? OTDR/OTMR - at least on retro-fits - records data from other systems.
It records indirectly from speed/time. Obviously dependent on calibrations of other equipment. The GPS systems recently fitted to even basic traction such as Pacers also record location very accurately, information about this system has been withheld from drivers so details are not widely available but I suspect that the system fitted in recent years gains information from speed probe signals as well as GPS receivers.
 

t_star2001uk

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How does it do that if the vehicle has no other mileage recorder on it? OTDR/OTMR - at least on retro-fits - records data from other systems.
Most of the current traction uses the speedo drive to record distance traveled to the OTDR. There will be some exceptions though.
 

vidal

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So what kind of mileages are we looking at over different units or locos?

Pendolinos must rack up a pretty hefty mileage? I seem to recall HSTs in the millions of miles?

James
 

43096

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So what kind of mileages are we looking at over different units or locos?

Pendolinos must rack up a pretty hefty mileage? I seem to recall HSTs in the millions of miles?

James
The highest mileage HST power cars (43238/239) are now getting close to 10 million miles. Should they remain in service until the autumn they will hit that figure.
 

westcoaster

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The highest mileage HST power cars (43238/239) are now getting close to 10 million miles. Should they remain in service until the autumn they will hit that figure.
I would have thought it would have been much higher than that.
 

43096

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I would have thought it would have been much higher than that.
Nope. Roughly 80% availability (290 operational days per year), average mileage per day 825 (they weren’t diagrammed as intensively initially under BR), and over 40 years.

It does mean that the entire power car fleet has covered over 1.6 billion miles since new.
 
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Based on engine running hours as opposed to mileage. So an A exam may be every 50 hours, B exam 200 hours, C exam 800 hours - for examples. That was how BR did it, i would imagine that hasnt changed much since
Well someone must have managed to work out that (and when) 55010 was the first Deltic to have done a million miles back in the 70s. I know it's true 'cos I read it in a book :lol:
 

SansHache

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So what kind of mileages are we looking at over different units or locos?

Pendolinos must rack up a pretty hefty mileage? I seem to recall HSTs in the millions of miles?

James
The highest mileage Pendolino is 390122 with a reading of 4,576,165 miles at the start of today.
The Fleet Planners do a good job at balancing the miles across the fleet with 28 trains at more than 4.4 million miles and all the original build trains with more than 4.2 million miles on the (virtual) clock.
Even the four "new" trains (390154 - 390157 from 2012) are now at well over 2 million miles each.
The average annual mileage is just over 300,000 miles per train.
I reckon that there is a reasonable chance of some of these trains reaching 10 million miles in their service life.
The fancy paint job will hopefully distract any new owners from examining the mileage too closely!
 

Cherry_Picker

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So what kind of mileages are we looking at over different units or locos?

Pendolinos must rack up a pretty hefty mileage? I seem to recall HSTs in the millions of miles?

James

The Chiltern 68s are up to about 300k at the minute, and they are quite lightly used.
 

Richard Scott

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The Chiltern 68s are up to about 300k at the minute, and they are quite lightly used.
Would imagine 68006/7 are really quite low mileage looking at their utilisation. Hardly racking up the mileage on those turns even with quite a lot of empty running.
 
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