Full throttle !
The throttle is fully open in the eighth notch and the train is travelling at its maximum
'booked' speed. The other black lever near the throttle is the motoring/braking lever.
Moving the motoring/braking lever away from the driver, causes the loco to perform a 'MT'
or 'manual transition' whereby the motors are connected from series parallel to full
parallel. Further movement of this lever causes the next transition where the the motors
connect in the full parallel shunt (weak field) position. Normally the transitions occur
automatically and the 'MT' facility is used only to gain advantage during the
acceleration.
Only when the throttle is in the zero notch, the motoring / braking lever can be brought
forward towards the driver, activating the dynamic brakes. The dynamic brake effort is
maximum when the motoring / braking lever is fully forward.
Note the circuit breakers on the side of the control stand for connecting the generator
field, fuel pump motor and auxiliaries. The box on top of both the control stands is the
flasher, which switches the yellow flasher light near the headlight. The flasher is meant
to attract the oncoming train's attention in event of an emergency or hazard.
Just visible in front of my fellow footplater's thigh is the 'fireman's emergency valve'
which directly opens the brake pipe to atmosphere, thereby destroying vacuum and stopping
the train in event of the driver being incapacitated.