I saw on this Morning that did not have a pusher. Anyone know if a certain numbers of hoppers are required before a pusher is added?
Depends on the territory being traversed.
Balt, his address is “US”…that should narrow it down!
Actually, you should listen to him. On CSX, I suspect that you’re talking about real pushers, because I haven’t heard much about distributed power being used by them.
The outfit I used to work for credited distributed power with allowing longer trains, and basically that meant lengthening the trains from around 110 to over 130 cars, over terrain that has little in common with the grades of former C&O and B&O coal routes. So if you’re seeing a train without pushers when you’re used to seeing them, odds are it was a shorter train (shorter means lighter, as most such trains are made up of 263K or 286K cars–a bit different from times when they could have 50-ton, 70-ton, and 100-ton cars mixed freely).
CSX has several ‘standard’ sized trains - 80 cars, 90 cars, 100 cats & 130 cars.
The normal power for any coal train on the system is 2 AC units. The 2 AC units can handle any of the trains until they get into grades. On my territory, we operate 80 & 130 car trains. Both trains need crewed helpers over Sand Patch Grade. 80 car trains operating from Cumberland to the tidewater at Baltimore are good to go with the 2 AC’s. 130 car trains will required a crewed helper over the grade at Plane on the Old Main Line.
Other territories, with other grade problems will have their own solutions.
The 800 & 900 series AC engines are equipped for Distributed Power operation. I am not aware that CSX is currently using DP on any territory - they may be, but I don’t know of it.
I said pusher but they do run DPU’s on most coal train that I see here at Waxhaw or Monroe, NC.
All coal trains out of Bostic use DPU and sometimes on Grain trains.