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Post Info TOPIC: Coal train helpers...


The Forum Celestial Advisor

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RE: Coal train helpers...
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Uke wrote:

...couple Macs shovin' the ass end of another northbound unit train loaded for Roberts Bank in North Vancouver, Canada.

Somebody's buyin' one hell of a lot of Powder River Coal lately! And somebody else is makin' some big bucks on it!



Must be a new wrinkle there Uke. I haven't been trackside for a while
but over the years the coal trains to Roberts Bank never had helpers
or DPU's. BN/BNSF back in the old days used to send these coal trains
over Stevens Pass. Usually they split the train into 2 parts and it took
6 units to get a half a train over the hump. This went on for a while and
then they got wise and routed all the coal via the old NP/SP&S route from
Spokane to Vancouver WA and then northward to Seattle and the
Bellingham Sub to Roberts Bank. Basically a flat route except for 3
notable grades, Providence in Eastern WA, Napavine south of Centralia
WA and the hill leaving Bellingham WA. The coal trains were in the 14,000
ton range years ago, probably in the 17,000 ton range these days. DPU's
would make sense considering a train this heavy. Guess I just need to go
watch a few go by in my locale and see if there is a norm.



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Internet Punk

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That's what they tend to be down in these parts, Krink....Loaded Coal averages about 17010tons with 2 on the head and 2 DPU....Real heavy bastards through the hills....

MAC's suck a fat one in my opinion....Real hard riding things....



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Uke


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Funny thing Briz...we rarely, if ever see anything BUT EMDs pulling, and shoving coal through here.

Ya might see a stray GE between the MACs, but the MACS, with AC traction, will crawl...and continue pulling/pushing, while the -9s won't even load...

And I agree on the ride quality. But the earlier MACs of the BN are over 25 yrs. in age...and the 'suspension' systems on 'em are all but worn out... After a few MILLION miles of coal service, I think we'd've all crapped out!

BNsf reserves the GE-9s, and EVOs for 'fast' freight...read containers [which pay shit!] between California and Chicago.

Coal...KING COAL, is the province of the EMD AC power! [And I don't mean air-conditioned!]

The only better power? Six-axle ALCOs with the 16-VT-251 engine, GE alternators, and BIG DC motors!


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Unstable

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I love how the (UP) north end types talk about Napavine like its something hardcore. I tell them about the Cascades or Donner they shut up real quick. Besides all they run is intermodal and garbage up that thing.

-- Edited by Hoghead Bob at 16:32, 2008-10-10

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Purveyor of Positive Attitudes

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Hoghead Bob wrote:

I love how the (UP) north end types talk about Napavine like its something hardcore. I tell them about the Cascades or Donner they shut up real quick. Besides all they run is intermodal and garbage up that thing.

-- Edited by Hoghead Bob at 16:32, 2008-10-10






I used to think we had a couple of really tricky spots around here until I stood at the top of Tennessee Pass. It was like I was looking down a playground slide. I came back home and said "Guys, we ain't got nothing to worry about."

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Force Majeure

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>>>I stood at the top of Tennessee Pass.

Dog, I didn't realize you stopped at RoyalGorgeous Airlines on your way to Bill.

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No, I didn't use RoyalGorgeous Air, and it was a different Men Behaving Badly trip. We drove the "Slam-Bourbon" and suffered alco-tude sickness. Ask Lake Tower about the capabilities of the blue beast.

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500 - Internal Server Error

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Snippy wrote:

>>>I stood at the top of Tennessee Pass.

Dog, I didn't realize you stopped at RoyalGorgeous Airlines on your way to Bill.






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Force Majeure

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I think they call that cumming in a little hot.

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The Forum Celestial Advisor

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Hoghead Bob wrote:

I love how the (UP) north end types talk about Napavine like its something hardcore. I tell them about the Cascades or Donner they shut up real quick. Besides all they run is intermodal and garbage up that thing.

-- Edited by Hoghead Bob at 16:32, 2008-10-10






I would guess why the Napavine is a bit different than any
other grade is that trains aren't given the horsepower
necessary to navagate it. Most trains that have to navagate
a summit are given X amount of horsepower. When the
majority of trains hit the Napavine, they have been traversing
flat territory for 75-80 miles and then they have to hope they
can make it over the hill. It's been a dispatchers nightmare
ever since I can remember. Trains with barely enough horse
power to get over the hill means things slow down to the point
of stalling. Yeah I agee that it's not Soldier Summit but it is
a significant bump in the road.

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Unstable & Irrational

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Sink rate was definately exceeded on that airplane. The one I flew, we weren't supposed to exceed 600 ft per minute.

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Why type of plane did you fly?

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Uke


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A big one. Gray. Four engines.


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Unstable & Irrational

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C-141 Starlifter, Chief Instructor Flight Engineer.

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Enemy of the State

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Cool, I was looking at pics on google and that looks like the plane thats always doing patterns at Wright Patt, sometimes you see one like 5-6 times in an afternoon. You can always tell its coming by the slow high pitch whine. Sounds different then most planes.

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