Just before I left on my trip I saw SP unit 251 (yes, still in SP paint) leading a coal train here in North Little Rock. (Even tho it has been about 7 or 8 days or so I remember the number well–how can an Alco fan forget 251 [:D] . )
We can use this thread to keep posting what we recently saw. I usually can’t remember numbers tho.
While I was at the farm (getting treatements) [:D] I saw a TFM unit in the KCS paint scheme.
btw I now feel great. I have stopped drinking, smoking, chewing, gambling, spitting, and cursing. And if you believe all that, the swamp land in Arizona is still for sale, price reduced to only $2489.99 an acre. I will gladly subdivide into 10 acre plots. [:D]
Recently I saw a strange lash-up on the BNSF River Sub by my house. Here’s how it went:
SD40-2 — BN
SD70MAC — BNSF pumpkin
SD50 — Oakway leasing, still in full EMD paint
C44-9W — BNSF pumpkin
I couldn’t figure out why BNSF would running an A.C. unit in the middle of 3 D.C. units espically since D.C.units have the transition phase with the traction motors, and A.C. units do not. Also, why they would be running a single GE in the midst of all those EMD’s ( GE’s have a much different transition phase than EMD’s [much rougher] and just one GE in a lashup of all EMD’s can screw up the transition of the EMD’s). A friend of mine suggested that it was a power shortage because he saw a SUPER odd lash-up himself, It was a coal train running in DPU, up front;
SD70MAC
GP35
GP28M
in rear:
SD70MAC
How 'bout them apples?![8D][wow][;)][yeah]
[8D]
A pair of brand new SD70Ms in CSX’s new all blue scheme, on Christmas Eve morning, at about 08:00.
[:)][:)]
They were blasting away Northbound on the “B&O via Reading” (Septa’s R8) line out of Philadelphia, with only a short train of TOFC and boxes.
Sunshine was glistening off the new paint – you could smell that “new car smell” from a hundred yards away !!
And don’t those EMDs sound so much better than the GEs ??
[:D][:D]
Dont see where the AC/ DC makes that much of a problem.
We get them all mixed up here every day.
A SD70Mac, followed by a few Dash 9s, then some SD40-2s.
What it boils down to is, if it can pull, use it.
In a big, heavy train, the difference wouldn’t even be noticed by the crew.
And the difference in the transistion between GE and EMD matters not one bit.
When your using a piece of equipment that weights 400,000 lbs, you dont notice it at all.
We get grain trains in here all the time from BNSF and UP, with a Dash 9 leading a SD40, 60 or 70, or vice versa, it makes no difference.
Notch 5 is notch 5, be it on a GE or a EMD.
On your coal train, why worry that the rear remote is a AC unit?
All it is doing is pushing, and providing braking effort.
Stay Frosty,
Ed
There is a reason to be concerned if an AC is leading DC locomotives because the AC will load up to more than the DC locomotives may be able to stand. It can overload the DC traction motors. Particularly if the DC’s are older units with a low short time rating.
On the other hand an DC leading an AC will never be able to overload the AC locomotive.
Other than that, you are absolutely correct, you can mix and match as much as you like.
A sd 60 50 40 will change transition roughly no matter what is in the lead. i have had ac traction motor units in the lead over dc units you still feel them change at 22-26mph but i will say this if the ac unit is in the rear and the dc unit is in the lead they will run better.
Mitchell sent me a video tape that he made around his home in Canada. One of the trains he videoed (CP I think) had about 4 or 5 newer GEs with an SD 40 leading. When I viewed the video I wondered why they didn’t have a newer unit on the point. Now I know why. Thanks guys. It just goes to show that if you keep your eyes and ears open you can learn something new everyday. [:)] [;)]
[8D]This morning I saw four NS SD80 MACS on A up autorack unit train bound for sanantonio from chicago thers An every day sight with NS or D&RGW loco on the lead
I also seen KCS 2001 2004 2005 & BNSF 4895
In that order pulling A string of loaded coal buckets to beaumont Tx where it
will be dumped At A power plan TUGX Is the reporting marks on the cars
TXU ELECTRIC Is the power plant they will dump At
when I lived in North east Texas there was A Local coal train every day
except weekends It was A KCS train A 65 mile round trip lcaol from the sutface mines In Como To The Monticello TXU power plant
Near Lake Monticello It usually has 3-4 SD-50 or A mix of SD-50/SD-40
sometimes It would have A GP40-2W or A SD45-2T
sometimes At home In jackson I can see some old MIDSOUTH locos
onthe KCS gulfport route Which Is old ICG line
every mornig about 4-5 am In jackson’s CNIC yd (cnic does’nt sound right to me Its to canadian) (no offence Its just Canadian RR’s in southern Miss that dont seem right)
You can see the mornig local from Mobile Ala 1 per day leaves Mobile @ 8PM
arives In Hattiesburg Around midnight Anorther IC local Leaves Jackson @8PM
and arrives In Hattiesburg around midnight Both trains meet there And after switching some cars They will switch trains The crew from Jackson takes The train from Mobile
And the crew from Mobile takes the Train from Jackson And the Jackson bound arrives Around 4AM at the same time the Mobile train arrives And Unloads the piggybacks And containers the Jackson train goes on to Memphis with Another train
On Dec. 16 I saw UP 8473, BNSF 6863, and UP 5050 on the old Gainsville Midland (now CSX) line in Georgia.
What was really crazy was that the Santa Fe was still in its original paint scheme. This is the first and probably the last time that I’ll see this perticular paint scheme, being this far out of their territory. And to have UP and BNSF together was kind of interesting as well.
This thread is tantamount to a language foreign to English.
I noticed BNSF is using more pushers. Usually they’ve been all Dash-9s on the rear but this time it was a Dash-9 and a green BN SD40-2. I guess all pushers are 6-axle diesels?
When I go to the farm in Missouri I have noticed a lot of EMD units on BNSF coal trains. I have some pics that I might add here later. They will run anywhere from 2 to 5 units on the point and between 1 to 3 on the rear end. Most I have seen are EMD. When they come down from the K C area they have the pushers. When they return headed back all the engines are on the point.
Didnt “see” them, used them to switch instead…
A UP SD60M and a Dash 9, (all our switch motors were out of the yard)
They dont stop very well, but when you wind them up and kick,
well, that was fun.
We didnt even bother to make cuts, just came out of the receiving yard, shoved around and started kicking with 80 cars.
Never noticed the “transisition problem”, but you better be ready to get the pin.
Stay Frosty,
Ed