Traction system for railcar movers

1. A traction system for a rail draft vehicle including an engine with a driveshaft, at least a pair of rubber-tired traction wheels, at least one rail guide wheel pressurized relative to the vehicle by at least one fluid-powered cylinder, the system comprising:

a processor connected to a driveshaft speed sensor, a rail guide wheel speed sensor, an engine throttle controller, a fluid-powered cylinder controller and a vehicle control panel;

said processor being constructed and arranged for automatically adjusting said engine throttle controller in coordination with said fluid-powered cylinder controller for achieving movement of said rail draft vehicle from a dead stop position by increasing applied vehicle weight upon the traction wheels by said at least one fluid-powered cylinder and adjusting engine RPM's until the vehicle begins movement as detected by said rail guide wheel speed sensor.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein said processor is programmed to gradually decrease engine RPM's through control of said throttle controller and increase vehicle weight applied to the traction wheels through control of said fluid powered cylinder controller until the vehicle begins movement.

3. The system of claim 1 , further including an ENGAGE button on said vehicle control panel which initiates operation of said processor, which in turn monitors said driveshaft speed sensor, said rail wheel speed sensor, and performs said coordination of said fluid-powered cylinder controller and said engine throttle controller on an automatic basis until the vehicle begins movement, after which the system reverts to manual control of the vehicle.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein upon actuation of said ENGAGE button, said processor is programmed to automatically increase engine speed to a preset RPM through said throttle controller, and to determine whether driveshaft speed increases, through monitoring of said driveshaft sensor, greater than rotational speed of the rail guide wheels, through monitoring of said rail guide wheel sensor.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein upon sensing of rotation of the rail guide wheels, said system holds said RPM value and reduces applied vehicle weight to the traction wheels through operation of said fluid-power cylinder controller.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein upon said processor sensing that said sensed applied vehicle weight reaches a preset standard, an indicator is generated by said processor to the operator to resume manual control over said vehicle.

7. The system of claim 4 , wherein upon sensing an increasing driveshaft speed and sensing a static, zero rail guide wheel speed, said processor is configured for decreasing engine RPM through said throttle controller, and increasing applied vehicle weight to the traction wheels through said fluid-powered cylinder controller.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein said processor compares the enhanced applied vehicle weight against a preset maximum applied vehicle weight, and if the enhanced weight is less than the preset maximum, the system is cleared for further RPM increase, and if the enhanced weight exceeds the preset maximum, an alert is generated for the operator on said control panel.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein as said throttle controller is activated by said processor for increased RPM, said processor also monitors said rail wheel speed sensor to determine if the vehicle has begun movement.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein said processor is configured for incrementally decreasing RPM through said throttle controller and optionally incrementally increasing applied vehicle weight to the traction wheels until said rail wheel speed sensor shows movement.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein once the vehicle is moving, said processor monitors whether the driveshaft speed at any time is faster than that of the rail guide wheels, taking into account a cushion factor, and if so, said processor generates an indicator that the train weight is excessive, and if not, said system provides an indication to the operator that manual operation can resume.

12. A rail draft vehicle, comprising:

an engine with a throttle controller, a driveshaft and a driveshaft sensor;

at least a pair of rubber-tired traction wheels powered by said engine;

at least one rail guide wheel constructed and engaged for engaging rails traversed by said vehicle, said at least one rail guide wheel having at least one speed sensor and being pressurized relative to the vehicle by at least one fluid-powered cylinder;

a fluid-powered cylinder controller;

a control panel in operational relationship to said engine;

a processor connected to said driveshaft speed sensor, said rail guide wheel speed sensor, said engine throttle controller, said fluid-powered cylinder controller and said vehicle control panel;

said processor being constructed and arranged for automatically adjusting said engine throttle controller in coordination with said fluid-powered cylinder controller for achieving movement of said rail draft vehicle from a dead stop position by increasing applied vehicle weight upon the traction wheels by said at least one fluid-powered cylinder and adjusting engine RPM's until the vehicle begins movement as detected by said rail guide wheel speed sensor.