MRL Laurel-Missoula stalls on Mullan Pass
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ธ.ค. 2024
- The story: The Laurel - Missoula (LM) takes a good run at Mullan Pass, as can be seen at the start of the clip. However by Skyline the crew are calling saying insufficient power has them stalled. Unfortunately a coal train had already started out up the hill, and did not want to stop at the Austin siding, so no helpers could get up the hill to help. In the end a crew coming eastbound had to set their train in the Blossburg siding and bring their locomotives over the pass to assist. And of course the rain was getting serious by then. Apologies for the poor panning and zoom, but one hand was occupied holding the umbrella. Feel like Mike Beckett here!!
Man, that was a tough start! Wet rail, plus the whole train is stretched out on the hill, no pulling the slack there, you gotta start the whole train at once. Good job by the crews, and great video. Thanks for braving the rain for us!
Wonderful job. Superior camera work with no fast pans, seasick stunts or any of the common stunts on TH-cam. Perfect audio, no idiotic background blather. Perfect in every aspect and the sound of the rain was a wonderful Bonus.
THOSE BIG JETS INSIDE THAT BIG ENGINE CAN BE HEARD MILES AWAY, I'VE ALWAYS LOVED THE SOUND OF DIESEL ENGINE'S AND THE POWER THEY POSSESS.
I just love those big American engines. Fantastic ! Thanks a lot, Colin UK 🇬🇧
This grade must be steeper than it looks, it was a short train. Great job on the camera, even as bad as the rain was coming down.
That's an awesome video and shows what the railroads go through to "get the goods to market". Few people realize or stop to think of how important the railroads are and how much trouble they go through to get the job done. I like how you stuck it out to the end and even filmed in the rain. This is awesome mountain railroad action! Thanks for the vid!
This video confuses me. There is no camera shake. The videographer followed the train without jerking movement. The sound isn't muddy. The shot is clear. Nice job Scott (if you are the photographer)
Boss302fan Thanks Boss. I appreciate you taking the time to comment.
Boss302fan that's a nice compliment. Oh and....that is a cool username too. :)))
Can't forget you Scott, for standing out in the rain for the terrific shots you captured and shared. Very nice indeed.
Boss302fan new stabilization equipment makes this possible.
New stabilisation equipment, like a tri-pod maybe? Excellent video and tip top effort out in that weather. Videos like this which are rock steady and don't have a zoom in, then out, then in, then out are so much nicer to watch. Love this stuff and the great technique is much appreciated while balancing an ubmrella. I think there are many people posting videos who should look and learn. By the way, I/m not one of them. I just don't have what it takes to get all the parts of making a good video like this so don't do it out of frustration.
Relax, it is called a tripod and skillful camera handling...
This is old school railroading up Northern Pacific's line over Mullen Pass. Kudos for a great job on capturing this fantastic event. I turned up the sound and it was GREAT!!! Lived in Helena, MT for 6 yrs and it is a great railroad town.
Scott, this reminds me big time of when I worked on the Milwaukee Road back in the 70's. I was with Signal Maintainer Elton Treible on the west side of the hill.
We had a westbound sitting at East Portal and there was a slow freight coming eastbound. We were about halfway between Adair and Roland at a set-off awaiting the trains. Time dragged on when the power of the westbound came by. I couldnt tell you now but only that they were deisels. We knew that something had gone wrong with the slow freight and hoped it wasn't another of the many derailments. It turned out that the eastbound was being pulled by a single boxcab that had stalled out somewhere below us(we pretty much only called them helpers) and the other power was used to get it to the top. As they came by us uphill I really got the feeling that the helper was an old lady being manhandled uphill by the new deisels. On another note I have written a record of my time on the Milwaukee and would be more than willing to share this with you. It is about 54 kb in length. Am working on Vol 2 now. You can let me know if you want this at jonnmiller@msn.com I really want to keep memories of the Milwaukee alive as best as I can.
@killsalive1 im 9 years late to your comment unfortunately, but ever since I discovered the Milwaukee Road about 15 years ago, I've been in awe of their electrified division. Their 1915 vintage boxcabs, the bipolars, the Quills, & the Little Joes showed how impressive electric traction was 109-50 years ago. I wasnt born until the 90s, but man if only I could go back to witness those motors climbing a grade with that low hum among the Montana mountain landscape...a far cry from my native area of north Florida..
Excellent video, it feels like I was there on site, while watching it on my home computer in a dry warm house.
Awesome video man! As an East Coast railfan I've never had the chacne to shoot anything MRL but it has always been one of my favorite railroads!
I agree. Yet the crew specifically said they were stalled due to a lack of power. Thanks for commenting.
I couldn't tell if a bearing cap was turning or not. You guys got some good eyes. All I can say is, Look at the choo-choo. For a rainy day and holding an umbrella while filming, you did an excellent job Mr. Hiddelston.
I love the Montana skyline. Great videos my friend. Trains and mountains...
Nice story and video! I was surprised like other posters here that three more engines were required to hall the stalled train up the grade. Must have been heavy - the five units really had to crank the power up to climb the hill from a standing stop on wet rails. My compliments to you for standing out in the rain through the run. As others have mentioned - good stability and panning!
Cheers from Montreal.
Thanks Frederic
Clean, steady video.
Good work.
Interesting problem.
I would have thought that two DPUs would be able to pull that small train.
It's insane how much power it takes for that little train. Great catch.
Thanks Gregg. 2.2% there, and about a mile from the top.
Gentlemen... that is how you lift a train on the ruling grade. Nicely done without any wheel slip on the wet rails, and nicely shot too!
Well filmed the moment of coupling and then the superb route of the freight train!
Loved the sound of the rain. Added atmosphere to the shots. Hope the carrier did not lose too much money on the trip!
insane camerawork, cool action, no road noise or light pollution, .... his is why I love watching your videos. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks BCOL. Appreciate it.
Must be really steep as that was a short train.
Wet rails don't help. Wheel slippage.
Maybe cooked a motor on the way up?
@@selwyncarter3227 Possible, but that seldom happens unless the engineer exceeds the short-time amp rating for quite a while.
I loved this video, love the rain and the train sounds.
What amazes me is the strength of the car couplers. The first one has to take the stress of all the rest of them.
DW Hilman they do break
Glad to see the 290 still on the roster and in new paint. Great catch.
Pretty miserable day to be railfanning!
Thanks for putting up with the weather.
Bill rouleau thanks Bill. At least the wind wasn’t blowing
Excellent Video, from Australia ! No shakes, great shots and i just love listening to the rain in the background... wish i could be standing there ! Keep it up and thanks for posting.
Beautiful Video!! The Rain 🌧 make's it even more awesome!!!
Great bit of work, thanks. Also like the explanation you gave. All thumbs up.
Always love seeing that old warbonnet paint, even on the blocky new units :D
Very good video and audio. It almost felt like being there. Thanks for the reference quality clip.
Aaron Summers Thanks Aaron. I really appreciate you taking the time to comment
Listening to the rain drops, sounds like your cooking bacon :-)
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, bacon
Love that sound.
Damit now i want a blt!
Raindrops on umbrella sound.
The bearing cap is turning on the 759 unit, watch it again. The ones of the 6550 are mostly covered by plates for mounting other equipment. Not hard to understand this train stalling with power problems, wet rail, curves and the grade. All combined proved too much.
This is absolutely phenomenal footage.
Thank you Kevin.
that was a awesome video of the Mrl sd70ace and Burlington es44ac locomotives powering up and taking off, all that horse power is sweet!
Hello Scott. New subscriber. Can’t believe how super clear the picture and sound is in this video compared with other sites. It’s nice to hear the big diesels, even when ticking over. Looking foreword to catching up with your other videos. Hope you didn’t get to wet it was well worth it. All the best. Mick🇬🇧
No need to apologize, great catch and very nicely executed. Nice to see things other than monster lash ups and mile long trains blasting by.. Good one.
Thanks Snowy. Appreciate the comment
Learned a lot from This-Fine-Video and It's Story... The Comments are An Education for a Trainwatcher like myself.... Here just West of Boston out in, Gardner, There are Super-Grades.. I'll keep my eye on Late-Fall and Winter icing problems... Thank-You One and All.....
Well now it took 5 diesels to get this train up the grade when 1 Big Boy would've been more than enough to walk that train right on up the hill like it was nothing; long live Big Boy.
Probably didn't need all three additional units, but it would've been much quicker not to have to deal with disconnecting all the MU cables and hoses and stuff. And too, while it wouldn't take much more power than the MRL pair had to *move* the train over the grade, getting it *started* again on the grade (no slack when your load's dangling downhill of you!) must've been a cast iron pain in the neck.
A Big Boy would not have even come close to moving this train. A single modern SD70ACe is capable of developing more tractive effort. The trains that the Big Boys hauled consisted of freight cars a little over half as heavy as those of today, on grades half as steep as Mullan Pass.
Even the cab forward has more power than the big boy and one single unit like a dash 9 can out do a big boy. Haven’t u seen how long one unit wonders are?
diddlebug72..... I don't want to "burst your love bubble" with the UP's F-E-E-F "Big Boy".... but don't confuse the "romance " of steam, with actual facts. I love steam (& the bigger, the better!!)... but the facts are what they are. The UP 4000 class (aka "Big Boys"), of the 1st & 2nd groups (#4000 to 4019 / 4020 to 4024) could develop 135,375 lbs of starting effort, an EMD SD70ACe develops 191,000 lbs starting, and 157,000 lbs continuous at 12 mph.
PS: During its restoration, the 4014's cylinders were bored 1/4" over, increasing them to 24" (from 23.75") while retaining the 32" stroke (same B&S as B&O's EM-1's [2-8-8-4] and SP's AC 10/11/12 classes w/4-8-8-2 wheel arrangement).... which increased its starting tractive effort to 138,240 lbs
Take it from a seasoned Engineer, there's nothing like cracking the throttle on 16,000+ horsepower and feeling those traction motors bite into the rail and having however many tons of train behind you start to roll. It becomes a part of you. Like getting on a hot rod Harly and cracking the throttle hard as you make thunder as you roll.
Yeah, and you also had to very carefully crack that throttle with 16,000+ horsepower to avoid getting a knuckle and a pissed off conductor.
Loved seeing the old War Bonnet livery .
Thanks for sharing and great job with the umbrella too!!!!!!
Thanks Airman !! I've since figured out how to mount the umbrella on my tripod so both hands are free!
Nice job! Excellent cinematography and a compelling story to go along with it.
NICE sharp video. Rain makes it even better. Yep; Five tough engines made short work of that HEAVY train.
Nothing beats railroading in bad weather! Great work...
Hope you brought your umbrella! Looks like it would get pretty chilly out there without one!
I love the parts in this video where the train stops, then unstops again. Great.
Absolutely phenomenal camera work and such majestic scenery. Doesn't get any better than this.
Thanks Rebel. The old warbonnet had a nice growl to it.
kudos for your dedication, out in the rain like that - it's a good clip, interesting, and well-enough shot (certainly better than mine :)
Thank you very much Moonwolfe. I really appreciate your kind words. Glad you enjoyed the video
We were at Disneyland, riding the steam train in the rain. It stopped at one station to pick up passengers, on a slight uphill section. It took several attempts to get out of that station, due to wet rails.
GREAT catch Scotty !!!
Interesting video and really good quality. That must have been quite a grade or a really long one.
0:12 I could watch those vent covers flapping around all day. Reminds me of the radiators on MLWs
Good job! I don't know if I would be in the rain filming this...
Nice clear video. Thanks for sharing! Keep them coming!
Love your video, outstanding video quality and great drama! Thanks
Lyn Durga Thanks Lyn.
I know that gate at 2;00 min!! Great work again.That camera is crisp Scott, nice and clean lines! I have got the free trial of FC Pro, as FCE couldn't handle a full SD card and kept crashing! After 30 days I'll buy it, I have had a quick go and I will get used to it I guess, it's a little less "Pro" looking but has lots of features! Will send you an email soon.
Cheers Gregg.
FishplateFilms Thanks Gregg !! I'll think you'll enjoy FCPX. Where are you now?
Scott Hiddelston AT home now Scott! Busy putting the kitchen in and plastering a bedroom. I'm looking forward to your drone clips Sir. I'll send you an email soon mate.
Cheers Gregg.
Mullan Pass grabs another. It got us when we had a passenger extra and MRL had to send a helper up to push us over the pass. It was questionable with two good condition Amtrak locos but we only had 1 and a 1/3rd or thereabouts. All the passenger cars were on their own generators long before we hit the grade but we watched the GPS slowly go down toward 10 MPH and knew we were going to stall. With helper, we went over the grade doing 40.
First, great job. And to answer some of the comments, 2.2 %, 10 Degree curve and 7500 hp. in the rain, with little momentum, physics gents. 759, boys I see these aging GE's on a an almost daily basis, usually huffing hard and with one or more bearings still. But great video Scott, really glad I subscribed.
Joe Saurina Thanks Joe. I appreciate your comments.
I realize this was a number o years ago on The Mullan. Once the power units r added where they controlled from is there a remote on the lead unit to control the whole package. James Dean. Ayrshire UK
Great video. Thanks. The cavalry engines come to the rescue. Ya done good, mate!
your freight trains are always amazing. Much longer and heavier than in germany even the locos. We have only a few 6 axles diesel engines. I am always happy to see 6 axles :-)
Wonderful video, Scott!!! An interesting story! Maybe one of the engines MRL broke down and they did not have enough power to continue the movement? Thanks for braving the weather for us!!
Lots of empty bulkhead flat cars that are used to haul lumber, as well as all the empty A frame cars used for the same purpose.
Loved the sound of the rain.
holy shit, I've need seen an sdp40 in service ever. cool! :)
Thanks, great film, all atmosphere, maybe the open cars were actually loaded with flat sheet metal? great scenes and sounds!
Nice video, not too many War Bonnet units left in 2019.
That wasn't much of a train for those two units to stall out with... and several of the cars were visibly empty.... Must have had mechanical issues?
My thoughts exactly. That SDP40 was 47 years old!
The insufficient power may be due to the SD40-2. Being an SD40-2 it has DC traction motors, and if you go to slow they will overheat and the locomotive will drop its load. AC traction you can take down to a crawl and keep going without overheating the traction motors.
wolfen216 Except that all locos used to have DC traction motors and still used to be able to get over here, and this is a very short train, with at least 6 empty cars. The ACe should have been able to take this one by itself, even with a dead SD40 in tow. The ACe probably failed.
Steve Young The grades and the curves are enough to stall 1.25 Amtrak P42DCs with 11 passenger cars even on a dry day. It was a MRL SD40-2 that came to our rescue. The crew on the following freight wanted to bring two locos but the dispatcher said no. :-) With it, we did 40MPH up and over and thru the tunnel. Dropped the helper there so it could go back to the freight.
wolfen216 true but sd40's are very powerful but dc sux they are direct power hit the throttle instant but shiuld not couple in mountains to the ac's he probably got her hot
I wish I had waited Hans, as I saw the coal train coming up the hill further down as I was leaving. Engines screaming and going about 10mph tops.
Thank you, great video and nice explanations especially considering the weather! - Ciao, L
Great video! I'm a huge GE locomotive fan. But one of my favorite parts of this vid, is the opening sequence and the mean sound of the 2-stroke prime movers in both that SD70ACe and the SDP40-2XR. Awesome stuff! It's a shame that EMD is switching over to 4-stroke prime movers, in response to the EPA's Tier 4 regs. We already have enough mean sounding 4-stroke prime movers with the GE platforms. The EMD 2-strokers provide railfans with an additional mean sounding platform. Look at me getting all emotional! LOL Again, great video Scott!
EMD is still building and selling LOTS of 710 G powered locos internationally... at least railfans & engineers and other train crew can still enjoy the sweet sound & power of the 2 cycles.
I love the photo-quality of the video. Thanks for posting.
Thanks, specR. I appreciate the comment
Excelente video viendo desde Paraguay felicitaciones saludos
Thank you Delia !
Great video, and excellent work with the background info. Thank!
Looks like they had Kadee couplers, not the NMRA plastic horn couplers, so they could stand that pulling power.
I know that standard max grade is 1%. The one near my house is greater than that. Guessing about a 2% grade. The UP 844 stalled one day behind my house They used a diesel helper after that. Any idea what the grade is here?
John Bango it looks to be a 1% inclination grade after the diesels couple up and pull westward. That’s just a guess though brother
Yeah ! Heard the rain on your brella. They just put too many cars on those trains, thought they had a foolproof formula for power to load and gradient, weather cond. etc. Guess not!🙀Thanks, was fun watching!🌈
There were only 32 cars on that train.
Great video! I appreciate your work.
Very nice shots!
Wow..... jjjjust enough power to pull that lot.
You got patience....and the reward ....excellent footage.
I liked the way you followed the units descending then zooming in on them matching the speed close up.
Cool Hand Luke.
Bing bing bong bong thanks bingbong
Those rail link engines are CLEAN
Train wasn't even that long how did it stall
Presumably steep grades, insufficient power, & rain all conspired against the crew.
Probably banana peels
It’s not the length of it, but the weight of it. (as the actress said to the archbishop)
EMDs don’t like wet rails. They seem to slip more than the GEs do. Just my experiences.
Clearest and sharpest video ever!!! Even better than the movies:)
Aussie Rob thanks Rob. Glad you enjoyed the video.
@@ScottHiddelston Keep on uploading. Awesome quality . . . How many loco's would come past on any given day. One an hour etc
Aussie Rob about 30-35 a day Rob. And if say half of those are westbound then you get the helpers returning to Helena also.
Wonderful video, it really shoes how it is done.
Robert
man, that must be a steeeeeeeeep grade for there to be 5 engines on such a short train
Very nice video Scott
Mark Duxberry Thanks Mark. It really is hard to screw up Mullan Pass !!
kind of confused, i mean it wasn't a very long train, can't see why two units weren't enough, unless one was having mechanical issues!
I just happened to hear him on the scanner saying he was stalled. Don't know why though. Thanks for the comment.
Was motoring on the level, but 32 cars going uphill at what angle. Who can say wwhat the problem was.
The rain doesn't help.
GM's and rain don't do well together. GM's are terrible for slipping and sliding and dropping their load. Beautiful video.
Thanks Matt. That wasn't really that long of a train, so I'm guessing every car was loaded. Wish it hadn't rained though!
great video, i say those engines really sunk into the red taking off
It boggles my mind to think what would have been involved if these were steam locomotives! (I REALLY miss that!)
Very nice vid considering the rain. Cheers
When I was a boy,I got a Hornby train set for my Christmas.There was an oval of track, five wagons and one diesel engine.Now I am all grown up,I see that is not the reality, at least not in America.Big is boss eh?
Are you referring to the US having multiple mile-long trains? I've always thought those super short ones in Europe looked strange
@@BON3SMcCOY They may look strange my friend but as sure as heck-fire,they don't stall and produce ridicule-fodder for TH-cam,like the train in this here video.
Yeah, and with so much haulage load, five locos pulling the train, no wonder that they have coupling failures. There should be a limit, and not one determined by despatchers, on the length/tonnage of a train to prevent stalling and coupling failure.
Great video! Really enjoyed it.
Thanks CSZXACe. Well worth a trip!!
I imagine that MRL 290 wasn’t helping much here. It’s a SDP40-2xr. If I remember correctly, SDP40s were designed for passenger use and had different gearing.