I just caught this comming into Needles from the west. Not the typical 3-4 GEs.
Nor is this, caught earlier today.
Hey, Chad:
On the first photo … Wouldn’t it be great if the lead locomotove broke down, and they put the second unit in the lead?
K. P.
Now that would be something to see
I do hope they have enough power on that train. [:P]
Brings a whole new meaning to “A Little Help From My Friends”
That’s a very interesting foreign power move.
Wow! Nice catch.
If the rule is 1 loco= 30 cars, how long would that train be…
If the thats the rule, BNSF better revise that. Around here most coal drags are 125-135 cars long with only 3 locos.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_lU7SrNjRzE
(The 2 SD75Ms are helpers 
)
For a while they were running 2 on the point with 2 DPUs and 2 helpers:
…Boy Chad, that sure is quanity and variety. Needles…Hottest place I’ve ever been…{many years ago}. I remember of a small soft freeze or something similar we stopped at and under a sizeable palm tree a big round thermometer {in the shade}, was sitting on 120 degrees.
…Of course I believe tonnage and grades dictate the amount of power put on a train to run a certain district.
Of course sometimes you just need to do something to fix something else and then something weird happens.
Many years back watched a up train roll by 2 SD 40’s 100+ cars, the engines never throtled back, never got to more than 30MPH. Chased it for fun. The next train behind it 3 SD 40’s, 2 GP 9’s, trying to remember what else a total of 14 engines all hooked together & running. 3 carloads of scrap steel. 15 cabbooses.
When I asked about it the conductor on train # 2 bitched & groused because they had had to follow the other train & taken all day.
Turned out the 2nd train was someones idea of moving some equipment around & noone thought about putting all that power on the 1st train. Of course they were not complaining about getting paid for it.
rgds ign
looking close you can see the reporting marks of a couple of the engines is taped out meaning “dead-in-tow”…why they are willy nilly in the consist???..i conductored a coal train from Plymouth MI to Grand Rapids MI about 9 years ago with a MP15AC in the lead…lead AC unit died and the DPSR wouldnt let us cut it in…“tie on test and go!”…