Unit Train Indexer

[Terry Akuna]

Unit Train Indexer use to position the cars in a Rotary Dump.

Unit Train Indexer (Car Positioner) by Terry Akuna, on Flickr

Indexer_Video by Terry Akuna, on Flickr

[Roadmonkeytj]

@Terry Akuna

So IRL they would uncouple the cars and just hump them into the dumper so Im assuming this does similar ... Ive watched your video in the other thread but missed this part ...  Does this work on the loco end or the tail end?  If Im understanding correctly this is what actually drives the consist through the dumper and not actually the motive power of the engine correct?

[zephyr1934]

Wow, impressive, can move up two cars at a time without a locomotive. That is all done manually with an IR controller, rather than automated in some form, right?

The link to the video might be of interest to some.

[Terry Akuna]

1 hour ago, Roadmonkeytj said:

@Terry Akuna

So IRL they would uncouple the cars and just hump them into the dumper so Im assuming this does similar ... Ive watched your video in the other thread but missed this part ...  Does this work on the loco end or the tail end?  If Im understanding correctly this is what actually drives the consist through the dumper and not actually the motive power of the engine correct?

In real life indexers are whats used to feed or pull cars through the rotary dump. originally I designed mine to feed the rotary dump. Right now I'm redesigning the conveyor belts and indexer so it pulls the cars through the rotary dump, which is actually more practical to be able to unload the last car. 

52 minutes ago, zephyr1934 said:

Wow, impressive, can move up two cars at a time without a locomotive. That is all done manually with an IR controller, rather than automated in some form, right?

The link to the video might be of interest to some.

The Indexer actually moves the entire unit train at one time ... however, it's designed to load only 1-2 cars into the Rotary Dump at one time, but all the cars are still connected together. Here is a video of cable driven indexer pulling cars through the rotary dump. 

 

Edited September 19, 2019 by Terry Akuna

[Man with a hat]

That is brilliant.

Deceptively simple but I am impressed with how smoothly and effectively it works. And I had no idea in real life they do it the same way.

[Terry Akuna]

Here is what the Indexer looks like with the Rotary Dump. NOTE: All the red brick is a substitution for PF parts. I had to strip them for another project until my order for more PF parts comes in.

Train Indexer by Terry Akuna, on Flickr

[Roadmonkeytj]

9 hours ago, Terry Akuna said:

In real life indexers are whats used to feed or pull cars through the rotary dump. originally I designed mine to feed the rotary dump. Right now I'm redesigning the conveyor belts and indexer so it pulls the cars through the rotary dump, which is actually more practical to be able to unload the last car. 

This was refreshing to watch! That is awesome ... Last I had seen it was labor intensive ... The conductor would uncouple the string ... 2 or three depending on the size if the car. (The taller cars he would do two the shorter three) then signal the engineer and he would give a short push to get the car to roll into the unloader.  Once in brakes would stop them then latch the wheels and roll.  

When I was there a second unit would pull the empties out.

Looks like this is more technological then what I seen several years ago lol.

[zephyr1934]

21 hours ago, Terry Akuna said:

The Indexer actually moves the entire unit train at one time

Yes, that was what I meant, entire train, two cars at a time. And while the two cars are being emptied, the indexer resets to move the next two cars. The video of the real thing makes clear how spot on your build was and the photo of the IR controls shows that indeed, it is manually driven. This is an amazing build.