Its the moment you've been waiting for!

+ How do we attach two trains together?

In this thread I'll answer this and many more of your questions.

#railwayfamily #railway #trains #RailwaysExplained

When the front portion of the train arrives, it must stop at the far end of the platform and not it's usual stopping place.

This is to allow space for the rear portion to arrive behind it. – bei Horsham Railway Station (HRH)

The first thing we check is the state of the coupler.

We're checking that the cones are clear of debris (which is usually birds) and that the electrical cover is closed. – bei Horsham Railway Station (HRH)

Class 377s are fitted with Dellner Automatic Couplers, designed to enable trains to couple without manual assistance.

It consists of a mechanical coupling head and air reservoir, data and electrical connections.

When we see the rear portion approaching, we enter the rear cab of the front portion and call the driver using the cab-to-cab phone.

We instruct the driver to:
- Make a safety announcement
- Close the doors
- Turn the master key off
- Call back to confirm it's done. – bei Horsham Railway Station (HRH)

Now the rear portion is here, we speak to it's driver. We first inform them that the master key is off in the front portion.

If the train attaches and two master keys are on, the onboard computer goes into meltdown! – bei Horsham Railway Station (HRH)

We then instruct the rear portion driver:
- Make a safety announcement
- Close doors.
Then:
- Draw forward to 2ft and stop.
- Draw forward and couple up.

This is what happens

The train moves forward to 2ft and stops, before coupling up. This is so the speed is kept low and the movement is controlled.

As the two couplers come together they mechanically latch together, the electrical head covers fold down and the electrical heads come together.

Next we instruct the driver to perform a pull-away test.

The driver puts the train into reverse and pulls against the front portion. This ensures that the latches have engaged properly. (Difficult to see in the video as there isn't much slack in the couplings)

The final instruction we give to the driver is:
- Press the couple button.

When the driver presses this button, the electrical connections are made. If successful the button on both trains will light up.

We tell the driver if the button is lit up on the front portion.

The two trains are now coupled together successfully and the driver of the rear portion now hands the train over to the front driver, using the cab phone.

They confirm how many carriages have been attached, the computer has reconfigured and that their master key is off.

The driver at the front can now put their key on and start preparing the whole train. On the train's computer, the new formation will show on the screen (image below is from a simulator and is a representation of a 4 car only).

While the driver is setting up, we need to convert the cabs that have just attached, into a corridor.

First the panel that has the DOO monitors and the GSM-R on it, swings across to the left.

Next we open the weather doors (labelled P)

These doors form a weather-tight seal to prevent wind and rain coming into the cab.

Then the fly doors are opened. These are the yellow doors that you can see from the outside on the end of the corridor. They're called fly doors, because they're usually covered in flies!

We repeat this on the rear portion, but in the reverse order. Fly door, weather door, then swinging door.
Now we can see right through from one unit into the other. When the swinging door is in the corridor position, the corridor light comes on automatically.

Lastly, we switch on the automatic gangway doors (known as "Star Trek" doors). This is done by a switch in the panel above the door.

The doors act as a 30 minute fire barrier and stop smoke filling the whole train, in the event of a fire.

Thats the attachment process complete. We have to get it all of that done in just 4 minutes!

Sorry this has been a long thread, but I wanted to get as much in as possible. If I've missed anything or you have any questions, leave a comment.

#railwayfamily #trains #railway