Big Bang Theory - Locomotive Manipulation - Some Train Notes

Some train notes from an Episode of Big Bang Theory.

Amy: We’re going to have Valentine’s Day dinner on a fully functioning vintage train.

Sheldon: Vintage? Be specific.

Amy: An Alcoa FA-4 diesel locomotive leading a train of meticulously restored 1915 Pullman first-class coaches.

That should have been “Alco FPA-4”.

Waiter: And for the entrée, tonight’s special is a seafood risotto. Do you have any questions?

Sheldon: Uh, I do. Uh, does this train car have the original link-and-pin coupler or the Miller Hook and Platform?

There are different techniques to couple two rail carriages together. Both link-and-pin and Miller Hook are really old. All still existing trains would use AAR, as the man behind Sheldon points out.

Man: Fun fact, it’s neither. They actually use the AAR type E coupler. If you listen carefully when the locomotive disconnects, you’ll hear the characteristic click-pshht-thunk of the knuckle.

Man: Okay. Here’s my impression of the Amtrak Acela barreling down the Eastern Corridor. Wch-wch-wch-wch-shhhh. Wch-wch-wch-wch-shhhh. Wch-wch-wch-wch-shhhh.

Sheldon: It’s like there’s a train in your mouth. I’ve got one. Um, the Amtrak Wolverine coming into Chicago. Bwch-wch-wch-wch-wch-wch, bwch-wch-wch-wch-wch-wch. Ooo-ooo.

Man: I’ve been on that train. And I just was again.

Those are not realistic sound imitation, considering that the Acela is electric and the Wolverine is diesel. However, they sound nice.

Man: In 1944, the Pacific Railroad built number 6131, which rearranged the drivers and cylinders, solving the problem of the Q-1, creating a duplex-drive 4-4-6-4.

Sheldon: In what world is a 4-4-6-4 a 4-10-4?

Howard: A world I don’t want to live in. Seriously, I no longer want to live in this world.

Man: Hold on to your conductor’s hat. You crank the second and third axles, creating a pair of internal connecting rods, and boom, four-ten-four. If you think about it, the Q-2 was like the 4-10-4 America never made.

The Q-1 was a locomotive built for the limited resources during the war. The Q-2 really existed. The numbers 4-4-6-4 and 4-10-4 are Whyte Notation describing the wheel arrangement in relation to the engine. Example:

4-4-6-4

Disclaimer: I do not know anything about trains, except where to buy tickets. It just miffed me to hear all those numbers without knowing what they were talking about, so I googled around to sort out some of the things out.