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From: roma@uiucuxc.Uiuc.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.railroad
Subject: Re: sand in diesel locomotives
Message-ID: <16900006@uiucuxc>
Date: Wed, 14-Aug-85 01:56:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: uiucuxc.16900006
Posted: Wed Aug 14 01:56:00 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 18-Aug-85 04:37:51 EDT
References: <142@micropro.UUCP>
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Nf-From: uiucuxc.Uiuc.ARPA!roma    Aug 14 00:56:00 1985


> ... and, for the life of me, I can't think of what sand would be
> used for in a diesel locomotive.  In steam, I imagine it has something
> to do with banking fires, but I may be wrong there too.

Sand is used in locomotives to provide traction.  It's usually applied to the
leading trucks of the locomotive by a sander valve operated by the engineer.
It's most useful when starting or braking a heavy train, especially when
the rails are slippery.

Jon Roma
Computing Services Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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