Yesterday, a unit grain train came by, that piqued my curiosity. It was loaded, running at track speed, about 45 m.p.h. om level track, and had 3 6-axle units on the head end, all running. What was different about this train, was that it was just plain roaring. The only other time I’ve heard a train this loud, it was a loaded coal train climbing a hill, and I was in the valley nearby.
Can anybody offer an explanation about this train being so much louder than usual? Thanks
Maybe they had been stopped at a red signal and were still accellerating.
Murphy:
Possible solotion ?Engineer in a hurry to get home for Christmas??[swg]
Short time a go, I was doing my scullery chores, anything to speed the means of production![dinner][yeah]
My wife is making her Christmas goodies! While I was standing there doing pots, pans and other implements, there were were three trains going southbound/westbound ( Towards Wellington,Ks). First was a coal drag three on front and two in DPU, running about thirty mph or so, and then a couple of Container trains(poss one was a Z train-UPS,FedEX and JBH on board), with three engineson head end and a couple running in DPU, and they were just draggin along- not the usual around here. With no scanner, I’m guessing things are backing up in Wellington, or some kind of slow order down that direction.
Myabe the extra speed on your end is a crew excercising their perogative to push to get home early??
You cavalierly, recklessly, ignored the safety warning on the package that morning, and you inserted the cotton swab into your ear canal?
RWM
atmospheric pressure.
It was masking the sound of sleigh bells and reindeer…[swg]
Thunderstorm!
EMD 8 & sand ( or maybe 2 dash 8s on a 12% grade and the crew yelling)
Get that around here on cold nights—air tunnels[:-^]
Yea, but when God was making the earth, he decided that South Dakota should be an example of dead flat!
Run 8 from a stop-also know as-the sheriff this after us, let’s get out orf town!
Are implying that Murph was suffering from a waxy build-up???
Coincidently enough, just this past wednesday I saw an Eastbound NS on the former Wabash that had 5 dash 's on the head end …all running.
Frequently the know-it-alls try to claim that such consists are mere ‘power moves’, but in fact on this day all 5 were hoofing it. I wonder if the freezing rain had anything to do with it?
I’d suspect so----don’t know why there would be an issue with all under power
Note that all railroads have a HP to tonnage ratio.
There might be 5 locomotives on the head end, but there might have been only 3 pulling and two isolated.
Or, all 5 might be pulling, but I doubt that all 5 were assigned to the train as regular motive power.
And your right, (sarcasm aside)odds are the additional locomotives were on a power move…but just because your moving them to balance available power doesn’t mean you cant use them to pull a train, the additional locomotives could be simply working their way back home.
Personally, if I had a exceptionally heavy train, and two extra locomotives in my consist, and using that extra power makes handling my train easier…then I would have them all on line.
Track grades can be deceiving. That grain loader you saw actually may have been pulling a hill. Or, possibly, the train was approaching the bottom of a slight grade and the engineer opened the engine consist to full power in order 1) to keep his train stretched and 2) to get a run for the next hill.
If the units sounded loud at 45-mph, wait till they get down to 11-to-15 mph with the entire train on an ascending grade. That’s when you’ll really hear 'em roar!
[(-D] I read that first as a serious answer!
I have to wonder, if a train sounds that loud from a few blocks away, what does it sound like from the cab?
How far away from it/ the track were you ? 10 ft., 100 ft., 1,000 ft. ?
Temperature / air density ?
Humidity/ dampness = sound transmission ?
Wind direction ? Sound is transmitted by and in the air.
Plus the above responses.
Convected one I can gaurentee you and bet you 1million in cash, that if all 5 units were on line Huffing it, that this guy was in the wrong and that NS is watching just for that type of violation. Now you can have 5 units in your consist and not be using them all, and while it might sound like the engine is being used a dash 8-9 at idle will rev to 470rpm to help maintain air pressure. In my train the other day i had 8 Engines 5 running 3 drained. and out of the 5 running 2 were on line the other 3 was FRA dead,
Just because the engines are in the consist dose not mean they cant be used if they are a power move, I have hauled 8-10 engines west to St.louis left 3 on the out bound train the rest to the round house and these get used on grain trains help power for other out bounds.
Also here is a formula to insure the engineer is in compliance with the rules, On the NS there will be no more than 24 powered axels online on a train unless it is bulk commodity train they it will be no more than 32 powered axels. And as far as the freezing rain goes that has no effect on the engines or traction, all they will do is ice up on the outside the ice breaks under the wieght of the drivers. not a problem.
Whenever I had extra units, if topography, train makeup, and track conditions allowed, I would isolate the lead unit (makes for a nice, quiet ride).
that might have been the case, I suppose. I’m fairly used to hearing “in tow” engines idle as they pass, while all the locos on this particular train sounded like they were marching to the same beat, and I WAS close by.