How does loco pooling work between railroads and how is it paid for? I notice alot of units from other class 1’s running on the BNSF and CP, but almost never on the U.P. . Would this indicate a shortage of units on the BNSF and CP. It seems odd because they have a lot of units stored, or am I mistaken about that?
A ‘power pool’ is when two or more railroads ‘pool’ a set of locomotives. A good example would be unit coal train that runs from the PRB to a power plant. There may be BNSF and NS engines in the pool. The hp/hours are calculated and the railroad that has the highest difference pays the other railroad.
Leases can be a little more complicated, and besides the hp/hour cost, the cost of scheduled servicing may be calculated in. A power shortage is usually the reason for structured long term leases. BTW, you will usually see lots of ‘off-line’ power in UP trains east of Baily Yard at North Platte.
Jim