confused train

[brownliner]

I saw a rather confused train yesterday morning, at washington & wells. It was, according to its annoucement, a purple line to Linden (and it was operating on the right loop tracks for it). The signs of the 3200 cars said Kimball. The 2669 car and its mate said Harlem. Missed the run number, it was about 9:15.

[sw4400]

I saw a rather confused train yesterday morning, at washington & wells. It was, according to its annoucement, a purple line to Linden (and it was operating on the right loop tracks for it). The signs of the 3200 cars said Kimball. The 2669 car and its mate said Harlem. Missed the run number, it was about 9:15.

What you saw is a Harlimden-bound train, although judging by the 2669-2670 set you saw, it must've been a Howharlimden-bound train. :lol:

[BusHunter]

I saw a rather confused train yesterday morning, at washington & wells. It was, according to its annoucement, a purple line to Linden (and it was operating on the right loop tracks for it). The signs of the 3200 cars said Kimball. The 2669 car and its mate said Harlem. Missed the run number, it was about 9:15.

Some cars in the #2600's don't appear to have purple line signs, (#2669 was a loaner off the Red line, the #3200 car is also not native to the purple line. That sounds like another loan) At Clark/lake you always see riders getting on these loaner cars thinking there getting on a Green line, when it is a purple. Of course they have several stops to find there mistake, but i can imagine it is confusing to the rider. Unfortunately that's what happens when cars start to shuffle around. Blue line was running some cars with white signs also when they first got the #2600's, because those cars were transfers. (since it has been fixed) I believe also #2511-12 doesn't have Brown line signs and will run with blue line signs. Again not a native car and was filling an extra run at the time.

[brownliner]

<br />Some cars in the #2600's don't appear to have purple line signs, (#2669 was a loaner off the Red line, the #3200 car is also not native to the purple line. That sounds like another loan) At Clark/lake you always see riders getting on these loaner cars thinking there getting on a Green line, when it is a purple. Of course they have several stops to find there mistake, but i can imagine it is confusing to the rider. Unfortunately that's what happens when cars start to shuffle around. Blue line was running some cars with white signs also when they first got the #2600's, because those cars were transfers. (since it has been fixed) I believe also #2511-12 doesn't have Brown line signs and will run with blue line signs. Again not a native car and was filling an extra run at the time.<br />

Do all the cars have all the announcements? I've seen trains that have the wrong destination signs, either because of loans like this, or rerouting (the first couple times the brown and orange ran as one route this summer they didn't have announcements recorded. They did later; I forget the exact wording "Brown line to the Loop and Midway", I think?) and the driver makes an announcement. This train had the proper recorded Mr. CTA voice saying it was a Purple Line Express to Linden, which is why I noticed the green line signs (I was looking to see if any of the cars were right.). I don't know anything about how the destination announcements work on trains.

[Busjack]

The announcements are based on something being programmed in the cab's console based on the run number. I'm sure that someone else could say whether any console recognizes any run number.

On the other hand, the sign rolls depend on what signs are on what type of roll. Usually, Purple Line was not on Blue/Green Line rolls. On the other hand, it usually was on Red/Brown rolls, so the second foulup is probably harder to diagnose.

[T8H5307A]

The announcements are based on something being programmed in the cab's console based on the run number. I'm sure that someone else could say whether any console recognizes any run number.

All announcements are universal. Every car in the system can play any line announcements. The only hiccup I came across was not too long after the new stations and Morgan/Lake and Oakton/Skokie opened, we had some Northside 2400s (2407-08, 2409-10) for a few days on the Green Line and their OCU's weren't reprogrammed to reflect the new station stops at the time! And of course those cars didn't have Green Line signs or the proper marker lights and Tower 18 gave that train a brown line route and the operator took it! OOPS

[Busjack]

...

All announcements are universal. Every car in the system can play any line announcements. The only hiccup I came across was not too long after the new stations and Morgan/Lake and Oakton/Skokie opened, we had some Northside 2400s (2407-08, 2409-10) for a few days on the Green Line and their OCU's weren't reprogrammed to reflect the new station stops at the time! And of course those cars didn't have Green Line signs or the proper marker lights and Tower 18 gave that train a brown line route and the operator took it! OOPS

I was thinking more about the display in the console in the cab. IIRC, there are buttons on either side, and the messages for the particular run line up along the buttons, i.e. Thorndale here, Granville next, etc. Similar for the white buttons along the side of the door control box. Also, there is apparently a way to differentiate "Transfer to Brown Line trains at Belmont" from "Transfer to Purple and Brown Line trains at Belmont" without the operator scrolling through the whole list.

I thought that chicago-l.org explained how the Operator's Control Unit worked, but I couldn't find it, and I am sure someone is going to say that I don't know what I am talking about without explaining it herself.

[T8H5307A]

I was thinking more about the display in the console in the cab. IIRC, there are buttons on either side, and the messages for the particular run line up along the buttons, i.e. Thorndale here, Granville next, etc. Similar for the white buttons along the side of the door control box. Also, there is apparently a way to differentiate "Transfer to Brown Line trains at Belmont" from "Transfer to Purple and Brown Line trains at Belmont" without the operator scrolling through the whole list.

I thought that chicago-l.org explained how the Operator's Control Unit worked, but I couldn't find it, and I am sure someone is going to say that I don't know what I am talking about without explaining it herself.

Yes Busjack, when you enter your run number you have to add a prefix to it and the different prefixes which are for different times of the day determine which announcement is made at the transfer points. Usually 1 is weekday Rush, 2 is weekday/sat/sun base, and 3 would be Sunday Early AM or PM, etc. Some lines have many prefixes. I know 7 along with a Kimball or Midway run number gives you the Midway-Kimball through routing sequence. Other than the prefix, there is nothing else on the OCU which allows the operator to vary the announcements besides playing special announcements for delay, etc.

[Busjack]

Yes Busjack, when you enter your run number you have to add a prefix to it and the different prefixes which are for different times of the day determine which announcement is made at the transfer points. Usually 1 is weekday Rush, 2 is weekday/sat/sun base, and 3 would be Sunday Early AM or PM, etc. Some lines have many prefixes. I know 7 along with a Kimball or Midway run number gives you the Midway-Kimball through routing sequence. Other than the prefix, there is nothing else on the OCU which allows the operator to vary the announcements besides playing special announcements for delay, etc.

Thanks. I knew it had to go somehow in that direction (i.e. run number has to be entered, and you say variation prefix, which resolves the "transfer to" question).

Of course, on the 5000s, something has to be entered into the gps to do the job.

[T8H5307A]

Of course, on the 5000s, something has to be entered into the gps to do the job.

On the 5000's you enter the prefix + run number, select the origin and destination just like all the rest, but in order to to put it in auto mode, the doors have to be open and you have to play the initial classification announcement, then the GPS pics up where you are and does the rest. If you run the announcements manually, it doesn't matter. It works just like the rest.

[aaron]

Well, the destination lights don't lie. If they were white, the train was going to Linden...