Head End Power Products
Phone: (503) 231-4808, Fax: (503) 230-0572, E-mail
See where our equipment is located on a typical passenger car
Here are some of the HEP products we manufacture for head end power in the railroad industry. These products are built to satisfy all applicable railroad industry requirements for head end equipment. Our equipment is Amtrak approved, where necessary. The same quality materials required for use on main line business cars are used for even the smallest of tourist railroad conversions. The difference is a matter of scope and features. For example, if a tourist railroad is operating on a budget and does not need full Amtrak compatibility, then there is no need for the full scale Amtrak HEP lines, and certainly MU and COMM can be eliminated as well.
Please note that along with these products, we are also a distributor for Amtrak and transit approved HEP power connectors and other HEP products. We have a list available of the materials and parts required to convert a railroad car to head end power.
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- These cleats hold the wire in place and are made of neoprene to fully grip the wire, while still preventing damage to the insulation and to maximize the longevity of the entire assembly. These are usually mounted under the railroad car and hidden by other equipment. However, in one application it was decided to install the head end power system on the roof of the cars. Here are some photographs of our cleats being installed by the customer. After the installation is completed, a steel cover will be placed over the top of the entire assembly.
These cleats are available in several variations to meet various customer demands.
Head End Power Kits
- These kits include enough of our standard neoprene cleats to install HEP on an average passenger car using under-floor mounting. It also includes an Amtrak-approved 480 Volt HEP junction box, HEP Connectors and housings, and other hardware. Wire is not included.
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- These control units are designed to feed HEP and control passenger car generator sets. While some generator sets may come with their own controls, we highly recommend our own line of controls for railroad car use, as certain features do not come on stationary generator sets. For example, there usually is not a time delay for the low oil level shut-down system, but such a system is desirable in railroad service if the reason for the low oil level reading happens to be that the car is going around a super-elevated curve and the oil level sensor is simply not detecting the oil properly because of this. More information is available here. Features of our generator packages include passenger car automatic back-up power starting of the generator set if the HEP trainline or yard power system should fail, HEP trainline feed, and an assortment of instrumentation and automatic shut down on various engine faults. It is not easy to control an under-car generator from a moving train unless you have a special control package to help you do it, and our packages are designed to meet all your needs.
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- The GC-500 series is designed for situations where automatic transfer of power sources is desired. This is used, for example, on passenger cars that have a back-up generator, and automatic start of the generator is desired when the HEP system is disconnected or fails. The GC-135 series is designed for dedicated power car systems, where the generator is only used for feeding the HEP line.
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- These junction boxes are required for passenger cars that are to be compatible with the Amtrak HEP electrical system. A larger drawing of this box is available by selecting the image below.
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- These plates are used to mount the various HEP connector and receptacle housings.
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- For electrical connections, these lugs are required for all junctions.
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- Connections between the HEP train line, HEP connectors, and passenger car taps must be done with these splice boots.
Custom Hardware
- If your HEP application demands hardware other than that required by a standard HEP installation, then Northwest Rail Electric will produce custom HEP hardware for your application. For past applications, this has included: custom wire cleats, custom HEP junction boxes, custom HEP mounting plates, and special order HEP receptacle housings.
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- The easiest way to convert a car that is entirely 208, 240, 220 or some other voltage (such as 575v) to compatibility with the 480 volt HEP standard. These provide a HEP main breaker, 480 volts in, and car voltage out.
Amtrak Approved HEP Connectors
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