Quote:Yes, and without going into a lot of complex details, the 98/99 installation used a self-lapping straight air valve on the locomotive to operate the E part of the braking system. It is to be pointed out that in all E-brake systems, excpet that first one, applying the brakes electrically also reduced the pressure in both the brake pipe and auxiliary reservoir(s). This is for automatic air brake compatiblility should a set of magnet valves fail (or the E-brake circuits fail enroute).
Bring on the complex details. It's been many years since I used to pick the brains of SP Coast guys that actually used that equipment. I recall the separate self-lapping valve for the E-P, but don't remember if it was actually a combined straight air/automatic equipment with straight air through the train.