[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 49, Volume 4]
[Revised as of October 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 49CFR229.25]

[Page 427-428]
 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
       CHAPTER II--FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF 
                             TRANSPORTATION
 
PART 229_RAILROAD LOCOMOTIVE SAFETY STANDARDS--Table of Contents
 
                     Subpart B_Inspections and Tests
 
Sec.  229.25  Tests: Every periodic inspection.

    Each periodic inspection shall include the following:
    (a) All mechanical gauges used by the engineer to aid in the control 
or braking of the train or locomotive, except load meters used in 
conjunction with an auxiliary brake system, shall be tested by 
comparison with a dead-weight tester or a test gauge designed for this 
purpose.
    (b) All electrical devices and visible insulation shall be 
inspected.
    (c) All cable connections between locomotives and jumpers that are 
designed to carry 600 volts or more shall be thoroughly cleaned, 
inspected, and tested for continuity.
    (d) Each steam generator that is not isolated as prescribed in Sec.  
229.23(b) shall be inspected and tested as follows:
    (1) All automatic controls, alarms and protective devices shall be 
inspected and tested.
    (2) Steam pressure gauges shall be tested by comparison with a dead-
weight tester or a test gauge designed for this purpose. The siphons to 
the steam gauges shall be removed and their connections examined to 
determine that they are open.
    (3) Safety valves shall be set and tested under steam after the 
steam pressure gauge is tested.
    (e) Event recorder. A microprocessor-based self-monitoring event 
recorder, if installed, is exempt from periodic inspection under 
paragraphs (e)(1) through (e)(5) of this section and shall be inspected 
annually as required by Sec.  229.27(d). Other types of event recorders, 
if installed, shall be inspected, maintained, and tested in accordance 
with instructions of the manufacturer,

[[Page 428]]

supplier, or owner thereof and in accordance with the following 
criteria:
    (1) A written or electronic copy of the instructions in use shall be 
kept at the point where the work is performed and a hard-copy version, 
written in the English language, shall be made available upon request of 
a governmental agent empowered to request it.
    (2) The event recorder shall be tested before any maintenance work 
is performed on it. At a minimum, the event recorder test shall include 
cycling, as practicable, all required recording elements and determining 
the full range of each element by reading out recorded data.
    (3) If the pre-maintenance test does not reveal that the device is 
recording all the specified data and that all recordings are within the 
designed recording elements, this fact shall be noted, and maintenance 
and testing shall be performed as necessary until a subsequent test is 
successful.
    (4) When a successful test is accomplished, a copy of the data-
verification results shall be maintained in any medium with the 
maintenance records for the locomotive until the next one is filed.
    (5) A railroad's event recorder periodic maintenance shall be 
considered effective if 90 percent of the recorders on locomotives 
inbound for periodic inspection in any given calendar month are still 
fully functional; maintenance practices and test intervals shall be 
adjusted as necessary to yield effective periodic maintenance.

[45 FR 21109, Mar. 31, 1980, as amended at 58 FR 36614, July 8, 1993; 60 
FR 27905, May 26, 1995; 66 FR 4192, Jan. 17, 2001; 70 FR 37939, June 30, 
2005]