Stix, I need to correct you on a few points.
First, I didn’t say that the link was inappropriate. I said that it may not help much.
Second, if you read through the entire thread, the OP’s initial question was, how many coaches would a single E unit generally haul in daily commuter service in the Northeast.
It was only later that he clarified his inquiry and asked about weight.
Rich
In my reading of the original post, the OP isn’t asking how many cars a particular railroad’s E units pulled in commuter service in the Northeast, but more like how many cars could an E unit pull in commuter service. So referencing BN’s commuter service is appropriate. Unless the eastern area is hilly or semi-mountainous where grades would affect pulling ability, any E unit would be able to pull the same number of cars as any others, east, west or midwest.
So your are now a mind reader in spite of the OP’s own words?
Sheldon
Passenger train locomotive requirements often take into consideration the necessary acceleration rates to maintain the schedule.
6-8 cars, depending on their weight/construction would likely be the practical limit for quick acceleration in relatively flat terrain for a single E unit.
The B&O was a big user of E units, but not so much for commuter or local service. And the B&O had heavy passenger cars, with much of their fleet being home shop rebuilds of heavyweight cars into what looked like smooth side streamlined cars.
E units are not great on grades, they only have four traction motors and 1/3 of their weight is on idler axles. They were geared and designed for speed and smooth running.
Yet many roads used them in mountainous regions - they simply used more of them. I have photos of three and four E units pulling B&O trains in the 12-16 car range.
As other have noted, on level track, with modern lightweight cars, a single E unit would likely handle 12 cars with little issue, except maybe not being a sprinter off the line.
Roads like the B&O had to consider grades (stopping, starting and holding the train still on those grades), break downs, and keeping schedules when powering passenger trains. Available steam heat in the winter was another issue. More boilers is redundant security.
No wonder a great many passenger trains were “over powered” on many railroads.
I can’t speak for others cities, on the B&O, or other roads, but Baltimore has never been a “commuter rail city” like some others. To this day, Baltimore only has three rail commuter corridors, Commuter rail on the Amtrak Northeast corridor, a north-south light rail system, and a single elevated/ground/subway route from the northwest suburbs into downtown.
Not a city where you can get around without a car - the bus service is questionable at best.
The B&O provided more “short hall” locals than typic
Sheldon, I don’t need to be a mind reader to understand this.
p.s. I note your answer covered a lot of the same ground as earlier posts - something you’ve liked to ‘troll’ me about in the past…
The OP did initially ask how many coaches would a single E unit generally haul in in daily commuter service in the Northeast, as seen in the quote below.
That was a later reply by the OP in response to our request for more information as to what he was looking for.
Sorry to have to belabor the point, but you need to step back and read the entire thread up to the point when you first replied to the thread.
Rich
[quote user=“richhotrain”]
wjstix
In my reading of the original post, the OP isn’t asking how many cars a particular railroad’s E units pulled in commuter service in the Northeast, but more like how many cars could an E unit pull in commuter service.
The OP did initially ask how many coaches would a single E unit generally haul in in daily commuter service in the Northeast, as seen in the quote below.
Rumpelhardt
Anyone have knowledge/educated guess as to how many coaches would a single E unit would generally haul in in daily commuter service in the Northeast in the late 1940s through the 1950s?
wjstix
Rumpelhardt
I guess a better way to ask would be how many passenger cars would a single E unit haul before a rail road would deem it necessary to add a second because of weight?Sheldon, I don’t need to be a mind reader to understand this.
That was a later reply by the OP in response to our request for more information as to what he was looking for.
Sorry to have to belabor the point, but you need to step back and read the entire thread up to the point when you first replied to
This is not pertinent to the topic of the thread but one of my favorite pictures which I believe was in a John Armstrong book was an E-unit pulling a single coach on a Chicago-Denver train. It was sufficient to protect the schedule of an obviously lightly used train. I think it was a CB&Q which probably would have petitioned to scratch the train from its schedule at some point.