page_title: Distributed power
section_title: Users
hierarchical_section_title: Distributed power / Users
caption_attribution_description: English: BHP Billiton Iron Ore EMD SD70ACe no. 4345 (left) and GE CM40-8 no. 5647 Abydos (right), marshalled as distributed power units, in a loaded train at Nelson Point yard, Port Hedland, the northern end of the Mount Newman railway, Western Australia.
context_page_description: In rail transport, distributed power is a generic term referring to the physical distribution—at intermediate points throughout the length of a train—of separate motive power groups. Such 'groups' may be single units or multiple consists, and are remotely controlled from the leading locomotive. The practice allows locomotives to be placed anywhere within the length of a train when standard multiple-unit operation is impossible or impractical. DP can be achieved by wireless or wired means. Wired systems now provided by various suppliers use the cabling already extant throughout an ECP train.
context_section_description: Distributed Power (as 'Locotrol') is used in the United States and Canada, China, Australia (Queensland, the Pilbara region of Western Australia, and in the southwest of Western Australia), Brazil, Germany, Russia, Japan  and South Africa.  It is also (or has been) in regular unit-train operation in India, Mauritania, and Mexico, and 
  almost made it into operation in both pre- and post-revolutionary Iran.
  In the south of Western Australia, Locotrol is used in the 'top-and-tail' configuration rather than specifically for long-train operation. With the recent advent of electronically-controlled pneumatic brakes (ECP)—either hard-wired or radio-controlled—and integrated electronics for locomotive control and operator's cab display systems, DP can now be provided via the ECP brake communication media, and other manufacturers are able to provide this capability. A recent DP system from Wabtec, called PowerLink (which can be either wired or wireless) is in use in Queensland on narrow-gauge coal trains and in the North of Western Australia on standard-gauge iron ore trains.
  Distributed Power in a wired configuration (using the ECP trainline) is becoming increasingly common in North America and Australian heavy-haul unit-train operations.
caption: BHP Billiton Iron Ore EMD SD70ACe no. 4345 (left) and GE CM40-8 no. 5647 Abydos (right), marshalled as distributed power units, in a loaded iron ore train at Nelson Point yard, Port Hedland, Western Australia, April 2012.
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