Head End Power Products
From Northwest Rail Electric
Phone: (503) 231-4808, Fax: (503) 230-0572, E-mail
Head End Power is a system of electrical power distribution on a passenger train in which a power source in a central location on the train (usually a locomotive or a generator car) generates all the electricity for "hotel" power (non-traction, or non-motive power uses) needed by the train. Virtually all modern passenger trains have their electrical needs met in this fashion. The acronym HEP is in common usage.
Providing power on a passenger train requires some careful design for electrical distribution:
- Each car must be designed to carry the full electrical load of the train, because each car has the potential to be placed directly next to the generator car or locomotive that supplies the electrical power.
- Each car must have compatible electrical plugs and sockets at each end.
- These plugs and sockets must still be compatible with each other and must still work should one of the cars be separated from the train and turned around and rejoined (except for the case of some tourists railroads who don't exchange cars with any other railroad companies and never turn their cars).
- The jumper wires to go between the plugs and sockets must be designed to withstand operation in a very harsh environment.
- The jumper wires must be long enough to provide enough slack for connection and disconnection, but they must not be so long as to drag on the ground while the train is moving.
Due to the need for compatibility between the various cars on a train, as well as common safety concerns (a safety problem on one car can be a problem for the entire train), Amtrak has produced a series of passenger car standards. These standards cover the various requirements for HEP (as well as other areas) that need to be followed to produce a railroad car that can be added into an Amtrak passenger train without any compatibility or safety problems.
Other HEP systems are also in use in North America outside of Amtrak. We have a list of various HEP configurations used. Northwest Rail Electric equipment has been used on all of the systems mentioned on that page.
HEP Products From Northwest Rail Electric
We have a list available of the materials and parts required to convert a railroad passenger car to head end power. This list only gives those parts for conversion to operate on Amtrak, and does not include such things as mechanical inspections, converting electrical systems on the car to operate off of the HEP power, and air conditioning conversion.
The following products are distributed by Northwest Rail Electric for use in the Head End Power market:
We also distribute a number of communication and multiple-unit electical products.
An Adobe Acrobat version of the brochure for our HEP products is available in the PDF Files area.
Related Products from Northwest Rail Electric:
For those doing a complete upgrade on a railroad passenger car, we also offer:
Electrical Locker Control Package List of Products and Services nwrail@nwrail.com