Last night I walked along a bike trail that follows the BNSF line through town. I could hear a train coming a long way off. Because it had an out of tune horn, and was grinding like it was hauling iron ore uphill. I decided to wait and see what came along.
I waited 20 minutes, but it was worth it. The grinding sound was because it was a single locomotive pulling a mile+ unit train of empty ethanol cars. The payoff, was that the locomotive was Central of New Jersey #1071- way out on the upper plains of South Dakota! Is this a Norfolk Southern heritage unit?
Reminds me of the time I was in Rantoul, IL, at the station watching trains.
To the north I could see a headlight (no “auxiliary lights” then), but it wasn’t as bright as usual. There was no other traffic, so it wasn’t because of meeting another train.
It was taking its sweet time, too.
For those not familiar with the Rantoul area, central Illinois may be fundamentally flat, but there are plenty of grades - including the one southbound coming into Rantoul.
When the train finally arrived, it was being led by two units that were clearly on their knees. Considering that most unit coal trains coming south from Chicago normally had two units and were empty, this seemed out of place, so I started counting cars.
As the caboose crept past, the reason the locomotives were laboring so became clear - there were around 190 cars in the train. That would be two unit trains worth of empties.
I can only presume that ICG was experiencing a power shortage on the north end and couldn’t spare enough units to send the cars south in two trains.
It is frustrating…thes NS Heritage units. The best PR and Employee morale value would be to be sure these locomotives ran on “home” or near home rails. Here in the Binghamton area of the Souther Tier Line only the PRR, NKP, and Monongahela unit have visited but in a cloak of virtual secrecy and mostly at night. The Erie unit has come as far east as Sayre, PA and Ithaca, NY. Missing: Lackawanna, Lehigh Valley, NYC, CNJ, RDG…home or close to home units which we’d like to see and would benefit the local railroaders as well as NS publicity. Plus, if NS would post locations and schedules and notify local media they would get full benefit of the Heritage Unit program. Seeing the CNJ unit in Montana but never seeing it or the LV or DL&W or Erie unit in their home territory tells me either the NS did this for lip service or without much understanding of what they have and can do with it to their best advantage.
I, too, saw an underpowered train on the IC–in Wesson, Mississippi, about 1964. The Presbyterian Church is right across the street from the track, and any freight going through can disturb a worship service (the south siding switch and the crossover switches were right across from the church). Usually, the IC ran three Geeps with 180 cars. One Sunday morning, right after Sunday School, I heard a southbound train approaching slowly, and wondered if it would be by before time for the morning service. It had 217 cars, with two Geeps on the head end. Thankfully, it was out of town in time.
I’m in South Dakota. Montana is one state up, one state over. I thought the reason that railroads advertised, was to spread good will and name recognition beyond the local railroad employees and enthusiasts.
Those who assign power to trains only care about having sufficient horsepower & tractive effort to move the train over the intended route - how the locomotives are painted has no bearing, and whose ownership the locomotives are has a limited bearing.
Lip service? They had that big gathering in Spencer. They have been to special events and public excursions. But they are still working freight engines that cost a lot of money and need to be used where it makes sense. I’ve seen a couple of the heritage engines, but that’s because they have been assigned to trains that go through my area. Unfortunately the Tier isn’t that area. Give them time - as more and more engines get delivered they will see more parts of the system. When they first came out, everyone was sure they’d be assigned to coal service on the Pokey and never see other parts of the system.
And I don’t think the media or the general public really cares, despite a casual glance and “oh, that’s sort of neat”.
And I’ve heard other people complaining that you Tier guys were hogging that Erie engine since it was up there for so long.
That Erie unit was on the Lehigh Valley between Sayre and Ithaca which is not local to Binghamton for many. And it wasn’t our decision to hog it. But I disagree with the idea that the public wouldn’t care. It is up the the railroad to make them care, to make a big hullabbaloo and noise. And I’m sure the local railroaders from the ranks of the El, LV, and others would appreciate it. Seeing a DL&W engine in West Virginia and a CNJ unit in Montana and a NYC unit in Georgia don’t mean nothing to the public there, but sure would make those in Scranton, Bingahamton and Corning look up and take notice. Hundreds of millions of dollars collecting coal dust and mountain air instead of attention and admiration from those who actually would care is a waste of effort and money.
No, waste of effort and money would be to not use the engines for their intended service. The tier doesn’t have the trains that usually warrant big AC power. Maybe some day they will… but even so, there’s been a couple Heritage engines up that way, which is pretty remarkable.
One unit a week to the home lines…brag about it…show pictures tot the media…set up a morning or afternoon fo the public to see it, take pictures, have old timers reminsice, hand out Operation Lifesaver flyers…so much they could get out of it worth their while…
CN and CP have one additional consideration. They have older units that are not EPA compliant for use in the US, but can still be used in Canada. The Power Desks have to be sure they aren’t assigned to trains crossing the border.
There a a number of non-attributable stories of CP SD40-2’s sneaking over the border at Portal, SK, past sleepy Customs officials in the middle of the night. They usually get as far as the next crew change point and are sent back on the next NB train. Although, there are reports of some “Canada only” units maiking it as far as Minneapolis.
I’d say outside of a few railfans, be they railroad employees or otherwise, seeing a DL&W engine, or a CNJ engine, or a NYC engine anywhere don’t mean nothing to the public.
In the past, you’ve preached the importance of the railroads advetising to the masses, for PR, and to give exposure and warm, fuzzy feelings to all the masses. But then a CNJ heritage unit shows up in South Dakota (not Montana), and suddenly you’re upset that NS isn’t saving them for your eyes only?
How many railroaders from the ranks of EI, LV, and others are still around?
In my city, I’ve seen exactly 2 Norfolk Southern locomotives, the CNJ heritage one, and one that was black, with a horse on the front. Man- I’m gettin’ all warm and fuzzy just thinking about the heritage unit that I’m hogging.[:o)]
After 50 years in advertising and promotion I view things differently than most of you apparently. I look at this as a missed opportunity for NS to really do themselves some good at community relations and awareness, that investor business don’t always have to be looking at the bottom line but are also looking at their neighbors and, their employees while knowing where they came from and to tell where they are going. You could run SanteFe F units up and down the railroad and people would remember their Lionel set but think nothing about the fact that they are running on NS track. NS has to tell the people that a locomotive painted in DL&W or Erie or LV colors is going to be in the DL&W, Erie or LV hometown in salute to what the hometown means to NS, not what NS means to the hometown…that message comes later. As a fan, I want to see all of the heritage locomotives, but as a local citizen VGN, NW, Mononghela, et al. mean nothing.
A few of the NS Heritage units have been assigned to the oil trains that have been running over the BNSF. I have seen several of them so far. CNJ, Southern, NYC, Penn Central, Monon, Interstate, and Illinois Terminal.
I am not a “foamer” by any stretch of the imagination, but it is cool to see the old paint jobs. Reminds me of the days when my brothers and I were young, and Dad would take us train watching. Sometimes to the IHB tracks where all kinds of power was visible. I remember seeing Erie, PC, and other “East Coast” power as well as CNW, GTW, and what not. Much of this was back in the early 70’s. I remember when we thought it was a treat to see UP power on a CNW train, or an old Great Northern loco on a Burlington Northern train.
While I can see Henry’s point of view, to most of us that railroad for a living, these things are just tools.
Granted, most of us have a “favorite” type of locomotive, but from the railroads point of view, if it has wheels and moves……
I know one of the reasons UP did their heritage series was to protect the copyright, plus as a PR bonus after all the bad press from the merger melt down.
Pretty sure that might be one of the reasons NS is doing it also.
Remember the Boy Scout themed locomotive from a few years ago, when the Boy Scouts had an anniversary?
The scouts were bringing back the railroad merit badge in a big way, so UP did up a locomotive for them, debuted it and promoted it here in Houston.
I have yet to see that locomotive ever again, and I doubt I will…I also doubt it will ever see the inside of a paint booth again either, it served its purpose, and is now earning its keep.
And it is doubtful NS would want to interrupt the way the power desk assigns locomotives simply to keep a heritage painted locomotive “close” to home rails, I can’t imagine holding up a train if one of them were available but it meant sending the locomotive away from home.
No…I couldn’t afford to go and my work schedule precluded it, too. Plus, I like to see railroading as it is done not as it is portrayed in PR or tourist lines. I applaud preservation, etc. but one of the reasons for my ridewithmehenry trips is to ride actual trains in regular service making (or not making) connections for a trip of some kind. Like this Sat. going via NJT from Denville, NJ to NYP with a half hour connection to LIRR for trip to Greenport including change of trains at Ronkonkoma and return. We’ll see how passenger services are run, how the crews do their jobs, experience the equipment in use, see (and ride) some historic routes, and enjoy the day. If NJT or LIRR could do this with heritage type equipment, fine, that would be a bonus, but the idea is to experience the everyday operations of passenger trains.
