The Bombardier Bi-levels are coming to a station near you.

While the first meeting between the Ergonomics Committee representatives and Bombardier occurred in August of 2003 the first pilot cars destined for testing in Pueblo, Colorado will not be completed until August of 2005 and, in fact, were not completed until June of 2006 when the cars were sent to NJ for further testing on NJ Transit property. That's more than a two year time frame from first conception to assembly of the first six cars; perhaps the longest development timeframe in the history of transit equipment construction.

The picture and schematic drawing below show an interior shot and an interior/cross section of the car. The Bi-level cab car is a behemoth. It is 85 feet long, 14 feet, 6 inches in height, and 10 feet, 6 inches in width. The cab car weighs in at 139,000 pounds or 32,000 pounds (16 tons) more than a Comet V cab car.

The 100 car order will include:
15 cab cars with 128 passenger seats.
37 toilet trailers with 132 passenger seats.
48 trailer with 142 seats.

All cars will have room for standees and their luggage.

This is a $243 million dollar order that was awarded in March of 2003. Entry into service is now scheduled to start late in 2006.

Update: 6/15/06: Pictures from Pueblo, Colorado

ALP-44 number 4410 has been renumbered for the test

Multilevel cab car 7001 at the Pueblo, Colorado test track
with Pikes Peak in the background

Had it up to 107 mph going for 135 when I was told to slow it down...Rats!

Interior view with the two by two seating



Simulated passengers, weight that is.

What are our concerns as engineers?

Some of the items of interest to engineers are the seats (height and forward and back adjustment), visibility out of the windshield, Switchology or placement and type of control switches, heat and air or Hotel Amenities, Radio/PA/IC configuration, and the arrangement of controls on the desk top.

The engineer's seat:
I think the mechanical department has found a viable seat for the multi-levels cabs. This is a modified version of the ALP-46 seat (the schematics below show an air ride version of the actual seat. Both the ERGO committee and the mechanical department eliminated the air ride seat as a maintenance headache and a seat who's features would not last long given the number of clowns on the property who like to break things for whatever reason). Bombardier has moved the rear cab wall back enough to fit the seat and the engineer in the cab comfortably (eliminating a passenger seat in the process). When the ERGO committee last visited Quebec to view the latest Bombardier modifications we took along two engineers to act as "Crash Test Dummies" to test the seat for comfort. Both Lorraine Depugh and, by far the larger of the two, Chris Wickizer (6' 8", 320 pounds) found the seat comfortable with plenty of leg room. Ed Prawdzik and I both tried the seat for comfort and found it far superior to any cab car seat we have yet tried.

If Chris can fit into it, then I suspect anyone can. Got any complaints about the seat? See Chris, I dare ya!

This seat answers all our concerns about seating in the multi-level cabs. If this seat can be adapted to all the cab cars now in service it may become the "Agreement Seat" we have been trying for years to find.

Below are some of the pictures taken during the Committee's last venture into Bombardier Land at their La Pocatiere Plant in Quebec, Canada. My comments after the visit are included below:

In front of one of the prototype Multi-levels:

Left to right:
Luc Fouquette, Bombardier Director, Project Management
John Squitieri, Project Management NJ Transit  Director, Rail Equipment Design and Engineering
Steve Kay and Ed Prawdzik, ERGO Committee members
Jim Donlen, Deputy General Manager, Transportation NJ Transit
Dave Wetmore, General Superintendent, Field Operations, NJ Transit
Lorraine Depugh and Chris Wickizer, BLE "Crash Test Dummies"

Switchology:

Left side of the cab. Note that the bell valve and the engine shutdown switch have once again been separated and the resets have been more conveniently placed than in the Comet V cabs. Labels will be photoluminescent and the labels that are shown under the resets and bell will be placed so that they can be read from a normal sitting position. The Committee is still working with the design team to get a separate radio and PA head.

The headlight and ditch light switches are designed similar to the ALP-44 switches but larger.
The sander switch is to the left of the light switches and has separate cab and loco sanding positions and has a twenty second timer.
The windshield heat button (Red button on the panel) will light when the windshield heat is on. There is no timer for the windshield heat.
The windshield wiper switches are mounted just above the headlight switches.
The EP and Engine run/Generator Field switches are just above the windshield wiper switches.
Overhead lights, order light switch and dimmer, cab heater switches, pantograph switches are all on the right panel in easy reach of the engineer.

Of the eighty odd gripes the committee members had concerning the Multi-level cab the Bombardier and Transit design team fixed 70+ items, the seat and leg room being one of the major items.

All the metal sheeting in the cab will be dull black to eliminate reflections and glare. The metal will not be painted black, it will be black all the way to the other side. Due to the car body being more narrow than the Comet V car the cab is also narrower and the space more restrictive.

All the switches that an engineer would normally need from the pan down switch to the marker light, EP, windshield heat, etc. are now conveniently placed so the engineer can use them while seated.
 

Final Comment:
The BLE Ergonomics Committee has received cooperation from the NJ Transit project team and Bombardier design team that is unprecedented in the railroad industry.  No other railroad in the country has worked so hard or responded so well to concerns of the engineers in designing a locomotive cab and so the Ergonomics Committee wishes to thank all the design team members at Bombardier and NJ Transit, especially John Squitieri at NJ Transit and Luc Fouquette and Nancy Lessard at Bombardier for their help on this project. While this cab configuration may not be idea for every engineer we have made large strides forward in cab design given the constraints of the space allowed. We will build on this work for all cabs to be designed in the future.

The ERGO Committee welcomes all comments, additions, and corrections in errors of fact. The members of the BLE Ergonomics Committee believe a continuing open forum and cooperation are essential for a quality product that meets the needs of the engineers, NJ Transit, and the riding public. 

For feedback please email the Ergo Committee members: Steve Kay, Ed Prawdzik, Dave Crossley, Gerry Thomas, Stan Bizukiewicz, or Bill Guimes.

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