Wish I could have had a peek at the amp meter. All three of those motors were running top notch that day. Burning clean, no stuck injectors, no dirty fuel filters, no plugged up radiators & no wheel slip. Talk about putting power to the rail.
papabugs71 Yes these machines are at maximum efficiency when running at full power. It can be a little stressful on the rail below. Check out a Saluda Grade video with diesel engines at full throttle.
I'm from the east coast of Canada. But have visited Tehachapi & Cajon many times. My favorite places. And the EMD SD40 is still my favorite locomotive. Gota love it all.
Ship I was on in Vietnam ( LST) powered by twin 12-567 EDMs. Stood watch right next to them, no sound proofing, no hearing protection. 8-). On one tour, ran for 256 days , 24-7.
Huh, what did you say? I worked where we had 3 of the 567's little brothers. 12V71s running at 1800 RPM. You couldn't stand being near them without hearing protection. 108db. Working near a running 567 was normally no hearing protection on. Funny thing is, we could sleep right next to the 12V71s with hearing protection on. And did when the temps dropped into the 40s at night. ;-)
My ship USS Dixie AD-14 went cold iron for about a week and had a power barge off the fantail. Had to stand watch on it. Hearing protection? We don't need no steeenking hearing protection
You need to call Ernie Lacario....best damn helper engineer i ever knowed! Give im 3 tunnel motors and he could pull the moon from orbit! Thanks Son for your recording on this!
Man...how often do we get to see machines/engines working flat-out at max capacity for so long!? And yet they run and run and run. Amazing engineering and technology. My statistic loving mind has so many un-answerable questions watching this; how much torque are those prime movers puting into those alternators, torque from those traction motors, lbs. of boost pressure, cubic ft of air per minute through those engines, gallons of fuel per minute, temps for this that and the other?...etc!
eSPeeScotty gigantic lazy diesels are never truly flat out even at full rpm its detuned for longevity . remember those diesel engines make around 30,000 ft lb of torque just to spin a generator that weighs 6 tons
Thats a hell of a pull for sure. Im a trucker, ive been up tehachapi many times. start at 60 at the bottom of the mountain, dont make it even a fraction of the way up before youve dropped 4 or 5 gears and running at peak RPM (about 1800) and struggling to maintain 25 mph. and its a loooong pull.
No pushers.... hey no big deal. Distributed power on a widely used basis is a new thing.. how do I know I was a locomotive engineer for 40+ years back then it took two crews to run a pusher. Nope we had to feel the train if not iron was everywhere.. don't forget Break pipe gradient.. plus a caboose. How do you apply brakes on the down hill side and have them released on the uphill side? Yea.. and we didn't have dynamic break
The scenery is very nice and the train running over itself is great to see but if you want to talk train against hill, Rio Tinto in Australia runs a 22,000 ton iron ore train (that's the smallest train they run) over the Robe River Line with 2 GE-AC4400s. Whether you prefer GMs or GEs doesn't matter, this is one heavy drag. It's 5 hours from the mine to the top of the hill in notch 8 all the way. I'll be doing that tomorrow and yes, I'll take a book to read.
What GE brings to the party there, besides serious sustained power output, is "Locotrol" that makes distributed power work. Additional sets of locos separated in train are controlled remotely from lead unit. (It should be noted that AC traction is much more capable of surviving abuse than DC motors of SD-40.)
Middle unit is a g.p.60 actually built for hi speed inter model they maybe more powerful than the 2 sd40-2s but because of only 2 axles instead of three they can be a bit "slippery" thats why on the mountain railroads they prefer 3 axle locomotives
THE GIRL IN THE MIDDLE IS NOT A GP 40. THIS IS A GP 60. THIS GIRL CARRYS A 3800 HP 710 DIESEL ENGINE. SHE IS THE GP 40S YOUNGER SISTER. THE DIFFERENCE CAN BE SEEN IN THE RADIATORS. THIS GIRL HAS LARGER RADIATOS THAN A GP 40 HAS.ALSO, LOOK AT THE DYNAMIC BRAKE BLISTER THIS GIRL HAS A SQUARED OFF BRAKE HOUSING. AND SHE HAS A LARGER FUEL TANK UNDER HER BELLY AND, ON THE LEFT SIDE, SHE HAS A FREE FLOW BLOWER THAT SLANTS OUTWARD JUST BEHIND THE BRAKEMANS SIDE. AND ,A GP40 HAS A REGULAR BLOWER HOUSING ON THE LEFT SIDE ONLY.TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE, LOOK FOR THE DYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEM. AND COMPARE IT WITH THE GP40.THEN , YOU WILL BE ABLE TO TELL THEM APART FROM THE OTHER.
Hey,.....just like the old days.......similar to when a 'brace' of SD9's would slug it up the hill with a heavy train back in the 60's and early 70's. No problem here......only running at 2500 hp.....not full out 3000.....and the GP60 was wired as well for full throttle....but lower HP Put-Out......
That engineer is in for a days work. Only had this happen to me once and it was due to mechanical failure of one unit. SP was always good about giving their trains plenty of punch power-wise. In any case diesel locomotives are equipped with a power-limiting feature that prevents the prime movers from producing full power at low speeds thereby keeping the traction motors from burning-up. A 3000 hp unit may only be running at 2500 hp in this situation even though its in Run 8. That makes for s----l----o----w running!
Really enjoyed the FILM or tape as Digital seems to lose something. BUt then Film does have its drawbacks as we weren't that sharp. Nice memories. Miss the caboose.
What happens? It either makes it or doesn't. The GP60 in the center most likely automatically derated itself as it should or it would have been slipping wheels and everything would have come to a halt.
These locomotives are designed to take only so much !if you overload them, disaster will strike! And if the up had any common sense, you never run a heavy , loaded train up a hill without helpers!this is why they call the up ,the dumbest railroad in America!
The line in the video runs through the Tehachapi Mountains between Bakersfield (in the San Joaquin Valley) and Mojave (in the desert of the same name), roughly paralleling Highway 58. It is famous for the national landmark known as Tehachapi Loop, where the railroad loops over itself to gain elevation as it climbs out of the valley. On maps, the location is called Walong.
It's not much more efficient. Locomotives just use them because mechanical transmission to swiveling trucks would be extremely complicated and unreliable. Hybrid cars still have mechanical drivetrains.
With that kine of situation. One no helpers. I am sure you are in or close to redzone and as my SP hogger mates would say. There is no margin for error. One unit go down or WS54 putting in the hole, no win scenario.
What is the "Red Zone"? What would an error be? Are the motors protected from getting too hot if not moving fast enough to bring in enough cooling air? I assume they had everything figured out and $aved money by not needing one more locomotive. My Great Uncle said his railroad (PA or NYC?) always pushed the limits of his huge 4-8-4 locomotive. But he always managed to make it. Said worst was fall leaves on the rails.
I dont see the problem. It aint going fast, but the loco's dont smoke black like crazy, so to me it seems they still can pull it with some horse power to spare.
Never did understand the fascination with HORSEpower- a fossilized carry-over unit from James Watt & low-pressure steam. Power is work/time, regardless of units. (In fact, mules are better at work output than horses, because of their musculature.) Without putting # on it, units add nothing, to plain old POWER. (1 HP = 550 ft-lb/sec from J. Watt, FWIW)
@@flynnkaisercapewell9163 Yes ,the Toowoomba bound and beyond trains were only 2 locomotives , and yes sometimes they slowed down to a walking pace. Loaded right up to full capacity .
JA Murphy: It kinda does look out of place. I LOVE the EMD 645 series locomotive line...but that 60 packing 3800 ponies, out of place or not, was a big help.
Wouldn't they be afraid of pulling at least one knuckle without the push-pull of some dpu on the backend??? THAT is some serious *slow*... looks like you could damn near walk as fast as that train is going..
Going slow like that makes it easier to hop on and off the freights when your dirt bike breaks down and you need a ride back to camp at Warren. I did it from Mojave back about 1979.
Go back to some of the older posts by those knowledgeable of power. You don't put more power on the rail than is needed. These locomotives are designed for this, that consist is moving along just fine given the grade.
Tom Abraham SP was notorious for putting just the bare power on a train. Watched a train stall coming up the grade between Caliente, and Belleville, back in the mid to late 80’s. All EMD power.
Again, nope. For the record, two SD40-2's and a GP60 would have a combined maximum continuous tractive effort of about 240,000 lb - more than the 212,000 lb of an 8500-hp gas turbine and almost double the 135,000 lb of a Big Boy.
I think the person who uploaded this video doesn't know what he's talking about. There were already 2 extra locomotive acting as a helper. And he said no helper?!
It is obvious, and has been for years, that for moving heavy freight over long distances you cannot beat a train. But something bugs me about trains. With so much new technology why have trains not grown physically larger? I know it wouldn't be a quick thing as all the infrastructure would have to change. It just seems to me that trains would have grown physically much larger over time just as aircraft as well as cargo and passenger ships have. Can you imagine the increase in freight and passengers if a standard boxcar was 5 times larger than in use currently? It would solve a lot of the issues of passengers traveling on trains by offsetting the longer slower transportation time with luxury. Imagine a train that is decked out almost like a luxury ocean liner. I would certainly forgo the speed of aircraft for the relaxation and comfort of traveling across the US in massive luxury train. They could undoubtedly claim the title once given to the massive automobiles that rolled out of Detroit in the 1960' & 1970's, "Land Yachts." High technology tracks could be laid down over existing rail lines. It would certainly be a bold step into the future.
One reason I can think of is reliability. Consider a conventional railcar that can haul a nominal 50 tons of product vs one that can haul 250 tons. Let's say the car gets bad ordered somewhere - the shipper now has 250 tons of product delayed vs 50. Similarly, back in the day when double-engined locomotives were being used, loss of a unit was the equivalent of losing two locomotives. It's a lot easier, more reliable, and more flexible to use more reasonably sized cars and locomotives than behemoths. An exception might be something like the 86' auto parts boxcars. Their commodities are very light so it takes a lot by volume to create a reasonable load.
' that is so super trains machines pulls alot of boxtrailers... but the problem is need to building - fixing better straight track as this +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=... not curve track like this .....-----````'-----......-----````'-----.....-----````'-----.....
Always been amazed at how those SD-40-2s could pull, and pull, and...pull! 😎
The GP-60 is putting on a pretty good show also. 😉
Wish I could have had a peek at the amp meter. All three of those motors were running top notch that day. Burning clean, no stuck injectors, no dirty fuel filters, no plugged up radiators & no wheel slip. Talk about putting power to the rail.
I fixed it. I appreciate you taking time out of your internet experience to highlight my grammatical error.
papabugs71 hahaha
papabugs71 Yes these machines are at maximum efficiency when running at full power. It can be a little stressful on the rail below. Check out a Saluda Grade video with diesel engines at full throttle.
Love it. So many good memories watching trains through the Tehachapi’s from the late 80’s, and early 90’s.
THAT is what a train is supposed to sound like!
I love EMD Full throttle! Amazing sound!
And that right there is the sound that made me fall in love with EMDs as a kid. NOTHING sounds like and EMD 2 stroke in full song.
Especially one with 20 cylinders, such as the SD45.
TrainTrackTrav EMD is to awesome sounding Locomotives as a Steinway is to an awesome sounding piano
too bad we have gevos everywhere now.
Locomotives, heavy jets, tractor-trailers, humongous cargo ships...HOORAY FOSSIL FUELS!!!
Awesome training! It doesn't get any more awesome than this. Cheers!
I'm from the east coast of Canada. But have visited Tehachapi & Cajon many times. My favorite places. And the EMD SD40 is still my favorite locomotive. Gota love it all.
Hoo boy--smell those frying traction motors! Glad I wasn't stuck at the Bealville Rd. grade crossing...
the gp60 may have traction motor management, the 40-2's don't...he is in short time rating on those 40's, 20 minutes below 5 mph, then power down.
Ship I was on in Vietnam ( LST) powered by twin 12-567 EDMs. Stood watch right next to them, no sound proofing, no hearing protection. 8-). On one tour, ran for 256 days , 24-7.
Thanks for serving, Greg. 52B20 14th Aviation Battalion/3rd Infantry. Division here. (1973-1975)
Huh, what did you say? I worked where we had 3 of the 567's little brothers. 12V71s running at 1800 RPM. You couldn't stand being near them without hearing protection. 108db. Working near a running 567 was normally no hearing protection on. Funny thing is, we could sleep right next to the 12V71s with hearing protection on. And did when the temps dropped into the 40s at night. ;-)
My ship USS Dixie AD-14 went cold iron for about a week and had a power barge off the fantail. Had to stand watch on it. Hearing protection? We don't need no steeenking hearing protection
You need to call Ernie Lacario....best damn helper engineer i ever knowed! Give im 3 tunnel motors and he could pull the moon from orbit! Thanks Son for your recording on this!
Man...how often do we get to see machines/engines working flat-out at max capacity for so long!? And yet they run and run and run. Amazing engineering and technology. My statistic loving mind has so many un-answerable questions watching this; how much torque are those prime movers puting into those alternators, torque from those traction motors, lbs. of boost pressure, cubic ft of air per minute through those engines, gallons of fuel per minute, temps for this that and the other?...etc!
eSPeeScotty gigantic lazy diesels are never truly flat out even at full rpm its detuned for longevity . remember those diesel engines make around 30,000 ft lb of torque just to spin a generator that weighs 6 tons
eSPeeScotty but the power is multiplied in each track thats where the numbers get rediculous
L
eSPeeScotty
One word ..... LOTS ....... :)
eSPeeScotty, I hear you... My mind works the same way, marveling at the engineering involved!
Awesome train video
The SP I remember never did this. There must not have been any engines in Bakersfield that day to use for helpers.
Thats a hell of a pull for sure. Im a trucker, ive been up tehachapi many times. start at 60 at the bottom of the mountain, dont make it even a fraction of the way up before youve dropped 4 or 5 gears and running at peak RPM (about 1800) and struggling to maintain 25 mph. and its a loooong pull.
What is your definition of helper locomotive? I thought there are 2 helper locomotives already.
No pushers.... hey no big deal. Distributed power on a widely used basis is a new thing.. how do I know I was a locomotive engineer for 40+ years back then it took two crews to run a pusher. Nope we had to feel the train if not iron was everywhere.. don't forget Break pipe gradient.. plus a caboose. How do you apply brakes on the down hill side and have them released on the uphill side? Yea.. and we didn't have dynamic break
I love that Diesel sound
moving up this grade like a champ
i think i can, i think i can, i think i can
GE="I think I can". EMD="I know I can".
Yeah, really!
What year was this?
Thats pure power!
Nothing like hearing an emd 645 in notch 8
what year?
That's how I always loved my old stomping grounds, I'm surprised he didn't stall!
Do you know what the percentage of grade this hill is?
2.1 i think it is
The scenery is very nice and the train running over itself is great to see but if you want to talk train against hill, Rio Tinto in Australia runs a 22,000 ton iron ore train (that's the smallest train they run) over the Robe River Line with 2 GE-AC4400s. Whether you prefer GMs or GEs doesn't matter, this is one heavy drag. It's 5 hours from the mine to the top of the hill in notch 8 all the way. I'll be doing that tomorrow and yes, I'll take a book to read.
David Rayner my mate dylan simmons works out of karratha. Great place
Is he the Kiwi with the dreadlocks? I have a hard time understanding him. His accent is so thuck. Nice fellow though.
Yep thats the one.
What GE brings to the party there, besides serious sustained power output, is "Locotrol" that makes distributed power work. Additional sets of locos separated in train are controlled remotely from lead unit. (It should be noted that AC traction is much more capable of surviving abuse than DC motors of SD-40.)
I know two of the three units are UP, but that classic EMD whir will always make me think of the SP SD40T-2--even if the middle unit is a GP40.
Middle unit is a g.p.60 actually built for hi speed inter model they maybe more powerful than the 2 sd40-2s but because of only 2 axles instead of three they can be a bit "slippery" thats why on the mountain railroads they prefer 3 axle locomotives
THE GIRL IN THE MIDDLE IS NOT A GP 40. THIS IS A GP 60. THIS GIRL CARRYS A 3800 HP 710 DIESEL ENGINE. SHE IS THE GP 40S YOUNGER SISTER. THE DIFFERENCE CAN BE SEEN IN THE RADIATORS. THIS GIRL HAS LARGER RADIATOS THAN A GP 40 HAS.ALSO, LOOK AT THE DYNAMIC BRAKE BLISTER THIS GIRL HAS A SQUARED OFF BRAKE HOUSING. AND SHE HAS A LARGER FUEL TANK UNDER HER BELLY AND, ON THE LEFT SIDE, SHE HAS A FREE FLOW BLOWER THAT SLANTS OUTWARD JUST BEHIND THE BRAKEMANS SIDE. AND ,A GP40 HAS A REGULAR BLOWER HOUSING ON THE LEFT SIDE ONLY.TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE, LOOK FOR THE DYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEM. AND COMPARE IT WITH THE GP40.THEN , YOU WILL BE ABLE TO TELL THEM APART FROM THE OTHER.
In my diesel Pete 579,i can let it run from Monday to Monday, drive over 2500 miles and not ever turn it off. Powerful.
No burned out traction motors ?
Lumber on those flatcars from Willamette Industries ... that’s been a few years ago!
Train:1
Gradient:0
East American Trains i
Thats because they are SD40s. SD40s are the chuck norris of trains.
Post of the decade goes to you.
The old GE power would outpull the emds with no problems.
Sidney Wallace you wish
Chuck Norris? Then, why do they need two?
So they use a lot of makeup and hair dye and live off a phony legend of being a bad ass?
Hey,.....just like the old days.......similar to when a 'brace' of SD9's would slug it up the hill with a heavy train back in the 60's and early 70's. No problem here......only running at 2500 hp.....not full out 3000.....and the GP60 was wired as well for full throttle....but lower HP Put-Out......
Wow, poor SDs! Why didn't they have helpers? That's why they exist! There is no shame in using them! Cool video though!
That engineer is in for a days work. Only had this happen to me once and it was due to mechanical failure of one unit. SP was always good about giving their trains plenty of punch power-wise. In any case diesel locomotives are equipped with a power-limiting feature that prevents the prime movers from producing full power at low speeds thereby keeping the traction motors from burning-up. A 3000 hp unit may only be running at 2500 hp in this situation even though its in Run 8. That makes for s----l----o----w running!
On csx the c30 locomotives had a power limit switch. Only here helpers are almost never used or DPU. Helpers are used on part of the B&O though.
Really enjoyed the FILM or tape as Digital seems to lose something. BUt then Film does have its drawbacks as we weren't that sharp. Nice memories. Miss the caboose.
why were they no helpers?
What happens? It either makes it or doesn't. The GP60 in the center most likely automatically derated itself as it should or it would have been slipping wheels and everything would have come to a halt.
Wow!!! I never new i could be so bored. Thanks!!!
Geez Anthony, have you nothing better to do than policing Internet grammar?
What scale is this track?
12 inches = 1 foot
R scale, 1:1
Someone got their money's worth out of those three power plants.
What is the grade there?
MikeInPlano 3%
Coming out of Bakersfield, CA.
5:40 - It took 22 seconds for the locomotives to pass, and they are a combined 197 ft in length. That works out to 6 mph!
These locomotives are designed to take only so much !if you overload them, disaster will strike! And if the up had any common sense, you never run a heavy , loaded train up a hill without helpers!this is why they call the up ,the dumbest railroad in America!
Outstanding!!!! And to think that 60 was not a good seller?
sand blast out?
Well, this would have been a great train to hop as a hobo... but you'd probably get there faster walking!
ok, so I live under a rock, but where is tehachapi?
California...
Marge Watts central ca, east of Bakersfield
The line in the video runs through the Tehachapi Mountains between Bakersfield (in the San Joaquin Valley) and Mojave (in the desert of the same name), roughly paralleling Highway 58. It is famous for the national landmark known as Tehachapi Loop, where the railroad loops over itself to gain elevation as it climbs out of the valley. On maps, the location is called Walong.
whiteknightcat thank you!
Whew! lotta suspense there! You should NOT have given away the ending in the description.
Emission wise still better than all those road trucks :)
David Thijs I'm surprised that they haven't gone to diesel electric systems yet. They seem to be more efficient.
It's not much more efficient. Locomotives just use them because mechanical transmission to swiveling trucks would be extremely complicated and unreliable.
Hybrid cars still have mechanical drivetrains.
Comparing apples to oranges.
Love era
*POWAAAAH!*
With that kine of situation. One no helpers. I am sure you are in or close to redzone and as my SP hogger mates would say. There is no margin for error. One unit go down or WS54 putting in the hole, no win scenario.
What is the "Red Zone"? What would an error be? Are the motors protected from getting too hot if not moving fast enough to bring in enough cooling air?
I assume they had everything figured out and $aved money by not needing one more locomotive.
My Great Uncle said his railroad (PA or NYC?) always pushed the limits of his huge 4-8-4 locomotive. But he always managed to make it. Said worst was fall leaves on the rails.
Robert Gift See krugtales.50megs.com/rrpictale/p030224/p030224.htm and cs.trains.com/trn/f/741/t/164149.aspx
In India helpers are called banking locos or bankers .
Those traction motors are getting pretty toasty.
I’m shocked that them sd40s and the sd50 even made it up the mountain lol
Most likely with the help of sanding. If there were no sands, it would have stuck already.
EMD locomotives don't need no stinkin' helpers.
I dont see the problem. It aint going fast, but the loco's dont smoke black like crazy, so to me it seems they still can pull it with some horse power to spare.
jpsholland umm, smoke literally means nothing about horsepowee
Never did understand the fascination with HORSEpower- a fossilized carry-over unit from James Watt & low-pressure steam. Power is work/time, regardless of units. (In fact, mules are better at work output than horses, because of their musculature.) Without putting # on it, units add nothing, to plain old POWER. (1 HP = 550 ft-lb/sec from J. Watt, FWIW)
...good way to cook those old DC traction motors...
DC traction better or AC traction?
like going up the toowoomba range back in the 80 s
haha im from toowoomba
@@flynnkaisercapewell9163 Yes ,the Toowoomba bound and beyond trains were only 2 locomotives , and yes sometimes they slowed down to a walking pace. Loaded right up to full capacity .
That GP60 in the middle looked out of place.... She's not exactly made for slugging grades!!
JA Murphy: It kinda does look out of place. I LOVE the EMD 645 series locomotive line...but that 60 packing 3800 ponies, out of place or not, was a big help.
I agree.... She may have been just enough, to have saved that train that day!!
yeauhhhh...
Yep GP60 not good on heavy freight. They won't hold the rail under a heavy load. Have run enough of them. Great on van trains though!
American muscle 💪
Wouldn't they be afraid of pulling at least one knuckle without the push-pull of some dpu on the backend??? THAT is some serious *slow*... looks like you could damn near walk as fast as that train is going..
well if they didn’t use yard power and put 3-4 ac6000cw on it this wouldn’t happen!
will he make it, will he make it
LOL .. Well atleast its well Sanded .. lol ..
What happened to the helpers? In my opinion, that ain't great railroading. That's trying to run it on the cheap for some reason.
1996
OK, everybody get out n push!!
Going slow like that makes it easier to hop on and off the freights when your dirt bike breaks down and you need a ride back to camp at Warren. I did it from Mojave back about 1979.
well someone should have woke them up and told them to start pushing
I expected to see flames from the traction motors or engine room! It was grossly underpowered!
Go back to some of the older posts by those knowledgeable of power. You don't put more power on the rail than is needed. These locomotives are designed for this, that consist is moving along just fine given the grade.
Underpowered. Suppose the consist looses a locomotive. They're stuck!
Tom Abraham SP was notorious for putting just the bare power on a train. Watched a train stall coming up the grade between Caliente, and Belleville, back in the mid to late 80’s. All EMD power.
Would be a great pull for Big Boy, with little to no trouble
Nope. The tractive effort and horsepower of those three diesels exceeds that of a Big Boy, by a significant margin..
A Gas-turbine would have matched those three Hoods easily...
Again, nope. For the record, two SD40-2's and a GP60 would have a combined maximum continuous tractive effort of about 240,000 lb - more than the 212,000 lb of an 8500-hp gas turbine and almost double the 135,000 lb of a Big Boy.
How do they not lose traction,I know,sand,how do they not lose traction?
David Dowling they are very heavy, and multiple units help with overall tractive effort.
Answer...nothing
That's because they were EMDs
lol
THIS Is Smash Mouth Railroading at its finest!
Then tell us then??....what happens to a train with no helpers??
I think the person who uploaded this video doesn't know what he's talking about. There were already 2 extra locomotive acting as a helper. And he said no helper?!
It is obvious, and has been for years, that for moving heavy freight over long distances you cannot beat a train. But something bugs me about trains. With so much new technology why have trains not grown physically larger? I know it wouldn't be a quick thing as all the infrastructure would have to change. It just seems to me that trains would have grown physically much larger over time just as aircraft as well as cargo and passenger ships have. Can you imagine the increase in freight and passengers if a standard boxcar was 5 times larger than in use currently? It would solve a lot of the issues of passengers traveling on trains by offsetting the longer slower transportation time with luxury. Imagine a train that is decked out almost like a luxury ocean liner. I would certainly forgo the speed of aircraft for the relaxation and comfort of traveling across the US in massive luxury train. They could undoubtedly claim the title once given to the massive automobiles that rolled out of Detroit in the 1960' & 1970's, "Land Yachts." High technology tracks could be laid down over existing rail lines. It would certainly be a bold step into the future.
One reason I can think of is reliability. Consider a conventional railcar that can haul a nominal 50 tons of product vs one that can haul 250 tons. Let's say the car gets bad ordered somewhere - the shipper now has 250 tons of product delayed vs 50. Similarly, back in the day when double-engined locomotives were being used, loss of a unit was the equivalent of losing two locomotives. It's a lot easier, more reliable, and more flexible to use more reasonably sized cars and locomotives than behemoths. An exception might be something like the 86' auto parts boxcars. Their commodities are very light so it takes a lot by volume to create a reasonable load.
Classical UP Thinking. jk
Quit screwing with the zoom.
what happens a train has no helpers up tehachapi? CANT SPELL STUPID WITHOUT U.P.!
Me the whole time: "SLIDE BACK! FALL! FALL! FALL! FALL! FALL!"
see Union pacific and southern pacific are being a little stupid be cause dpu is 99% needed in the mojave cause there are so many friking hills XD
'
that is so super trains machines pulls alot of boxtrailers...
but the problem is need to building - fixing better straight track as this +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=...
not curve track like this .....-----````'-----......-----````'-----.....-----````'-----.....
hi AS...
yea alot of it...
straight level track is easily and normal...
down grade track is more easily...
up grade track is more hardily
these are the old, less powerful locomotives.That's why they are struggling so much.
So what happens it makes it up the hill???? Lame
Locomotives, tractor-trailers, heavy jets, humongous cargo ships....HOORAY FOSSIL FUELS!!!