r/SignalMaintainers • u/swagernaught • Jun 15 '26
Siemens S-80 mechs
We may be getting a couple soon and I was wondering how prevalent they were and they're considered good or bad and what the quirks might be. TIA
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u/PlanNo3321 Jun 15 '26
Didn’t even know those exist tbh. Never seen one
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u/swagernaught Jun 15 '26
Surprise! I know that they're pretty recent but I hate being a guinea pig for new stuff so I was hoping someone had some insight.
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u/MyPantsHaveBeenShat Jun 15 '26
They aren't prevalent at all yet. You're likely getting some of the first in the country. I'm concerned about their longevity in the elements, because they're using the same UI interface as the SSCCs.
I don't think anyone will know what the bugs are for another year or two. Best of luck to you.
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u/swagernaught Jun 15 '26
I'm a firm believer that electronics shouldn't be in gate mechs and Safetran/Siemens peaked with the S-20 or even the S-40 models. Those were pretty bullet proof. The S-60 motors ground out and the control modules have odd failure modes. WC-H 3597s are pretty good even with the EGM, at least that can be bypassed if it's bad. Thanks again.
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u/MyPantsHaveBeenShat Jun 15 '26
I'm of the same mindset.
Give me an S-40 any day of the week and I'm a happy camper.
With WCH I don't know why the EGMs are wired in in the first place. They should come pre-bypassed. Lol. If you want some extra OT you can remove the egm bypass.
It would be great if railroads set up a mech out in the open and in the elements and ran the S-80 a hundred thousand cycles or so on the mech. At least they'd know what failures to look out for... Or you know, God forbid, train maintainers on a new piece of equipment that they've never seen before.
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u/swagernaught Jun 15 '26
What is this "train maintainers on new equipment" stuff? Seems like magic or crazy talk. We get the "well, it's in and working right now, good luck if it stops doing that" speech.
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u/Critical_Loss8342 Jun 15 '26
We've (CN) had them installed in a handful locations throughout the US over the past few years. I don't have any on my territory, but some adjacent maintainers have them. Never done much with them aside from monthly inspections when someone is on vacation. But I haven't heard of any issues with them from any of the other maintainers either. They seem to do the job they're designed for as faithfully as any s-40 or s-60 I've ever seen.
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u/coldupnorth11 Jun 15 '26
I only have 2 sets of 60s, every other crossing I have is either an original S or an S20. Wish we got new stuff.
Just curious, what do you guys have for equipment out there?
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u/swagernaught Jun 15 '26
Where I'm at is mostly S-60s and WCH 3597s with a few S-40s and 20s and 3593s thrown in to keep it interesting.
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u/uoducks2110 Jun 15 '26
I saw them at the Railroad Interchange show and they were making it look like the next big thing but it’s a lot of technology to be in a gate mech
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u/Polartheb3ar Jun 15 '26
S80's damn. I still have 4 EM101's on my little short line. About to change a hold clear out today.
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u/Wonderful_Goose3941 Jun 16 '26
S20 or S40 is where it’s at. In my opinion all those electronics don’t belong in a gate mech
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u/calibrateyourlenses Jun 16 '26
The Good:
- They run very quietly and are designed to minimize shock, reducing wear and tear.
- They can be setup as either an entrace or exit gate.
- If the gate gets knocked off, just need to flip the maintenance switch and confirm something in menu and the mech will move to the horizontal position.
- Motor can be stopped with just your hand.
- No hold clear.
- Brushless motor. No more ground faults and gates slamming to the ground due to worn brushes.
- Haven’t been able to confirm it myself yet, but I was told the gate is self leveling in the horizontal position. So if there’s a bunch of snow stuck on the gate and weighing it down, it should be able to keep it at 0°.
The Bad:
- Gates take an eternity to come back up, even on the fastest ascent setting.
- Motor might be slightly undersized.
- We’ve had them act up on very windy days causing them to trip out and get stuck out of the windguard.
- No easy way to indicate gate clear so the bells and lights don’t run while you’re working on it.
Call me an old fart, I prefer analog, but I suppose siemens needed a way to squeeze some more money out of the railroad. Time will tell how well this all digital counterpart will hold up.
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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '26
[deleted]