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The NWPC-550 Power Control Package

From Northwest Rail Electric

Phone: (503) 231-4808, Fax: (503) 230-0572, E-mail

See where our equipment is located on a typical railway passenger car

Power Distribution Control for Existing Generator System

The NWPC-550 power control package is designed for cases where a generator control already exists, but a power feed system designed to be compatible with the HEP power system is desired.

This includes:

Ammeter
Volt Meter
Frequency Meter
Meter phase selection switch This switch is used to select which power phase is being measured by the meters.
Power available indicator lamp
This lamp indicates power from the generator is available at the control unit.
Ground fault detection and circuit shutdown Due to the high current and voltage potential of head end power units, it is vital to shut down the system if power from the generator is at all being fed into something other than the 480 volt trainline. This prevents many severe safety problems.
Three phase power monitoring This power monitoring will cause the power feed system to shut down if the three phase power being fed to the head end power line becomes severely unbalanced.
Trainline loop detection This system is used to determine that a complete circuit has been made with the HEP connectors between the cars. If this loop is not complete, the potential of an exposed 480 volt plug exists, and the unit will not feed power into the HEP power line.

This particular package pictured here is also equipped with a main circuit breaker. The circuit breaker can be accessed through a hole in the lid of the NWPC-550 housing. The circuit breaker on the NWPC-550 is optional, in the event that the generator or other existing equipment has a circuit breaker.

Other Generator Control Packages:

We strongly suggest that, if you do not have a generator control system currently in place on your railroad car, that you consider purchasing one of the Northwest Rail Electric generator control systems, such as the GC-130 Series Power Car Generator Control or the NW-GC-500 Passenger Car Power Automation and Power Selection System. Many generator controls are simply not designed with the railroad passenger car industry in mind, and make it exceptionally difficult to handle system monitoring from inside a moving train, or are not designed to avoid nuisance faults caused by vibration.

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