I worked in the railroad industry for 17 years and I have operated all kinds of locomotives. In my opinion the SD 70 MAC's had the best low end tractive effort. The SD 40-2's were a true work horse very reliable. The ES 44 AC's are the Cadillacs of the rails they are so smooth and with all the technology built in to them, they could basically run themselves.
EMD would be my engine of choice. I am really surprised to see those GE’s get up that grade without falling out. I worked on those engines for years as a Machinist for CSX South Louisville Shops. They seem to have improved the quality of the GE engine a Bunch since my day!
Thanks man, thats pretty cool to have a mechanic that worked on one of the locos I filmed comment on my video! I'm a big fan of EMD, love the sound they make when they wind-up!
My grandson drives engines on this route, after wanting to do that since he was about 2 years old. His stepdad also works on those trains, and they occasionally ride together from Bakersfield to somewhere east, sometimes as far as Needles.
Awesome. Loved it. They must have been at restricted speed by that track crew. They began speeding up passed them. Cool video ❤️👍I’m a retired locomotive engineer but I still love these locomotives. ❤️
Yeah, I'd read about them using things like this in the Alps, sometime with numerous loops within a short space to gain altitude to cross the mountains. There are several where the track is basically tunneled in a corkscrew up the inside of a mountain for several miles, coming out at the top to descend the other side. Amazing the investment they put into building these railways back in the day; even more amazing is how quickly and well they returned on the investment!
Whenever I see these trains with rear helpers I can't help but imagine that there is theoretically some point in the train that has no tension on a coupling.
There is a point on the train where that occurs and it can vary back and forth due to slight changes in grade, change in friction from a curve or tangent rail and other factors. The pulling force is called draft and the pushing force is called buff. The head end power will pull a given amount of weight (cars) and the rear locos (helpers) will push a given amount of weight depending on the horsepower at each end and more if entrained (cut in) helpers are also used. If you get the opportunity to look at a class 1 railroad's "special instructions", you will be amazed at the complexities of assigning the number of locomotives and their placement.
This is the sort of environment where the Southern Pacific Baldwin 4-8+8-2 cab-forward single-expansions were right at home; the Loop being rebuilt with the latest 180# rail, same would apply to the Union Pacific American 4-8+8-4, Class BB-1 (the UP is in the process of bringing #4014 to Cheyenne for a complete rebuild, as of this post), or the UP Electro-Motive DDX. Especially in the helper role, as mile-long unit trains at capacity always need a push going uphill here.
Nice video, always wanted to make a trip to the "loop." Not to be critical, invest in a tripod and make sure it has a "fluid head." I've been taking movies/videos for years. Hand held shots are okay for short clips but long shots like yours really need a tripod to cut down on the jiggle. If you're using a cell phone to shoot with, tripod adapters are made for those too. I'll sometimes set up a couple of cameras, one down low (usually the cell phone) to get a dramatic perspective and a video camera on a fluid mount tripod to get the regular shots. Keep up the nice work.
Funny you say that, my friend and I are always making that sound when we are railfanning. Shoot, I sometimes make that sound at random times for no reason at all. Lol
Cool man, love the last unit UP 8588 that was the first locomotive I've worked on at EMD. Back in May 2007 had to change out turbocharger at the London Canada plant. The locomotive was ready to ship and we pulled it back in to replace the turbo. Nice catch add to favs.
Boy I sure love the "experts" that come on here and express their uninformed opinions. First of all, the engines on the rear were not in dynamic braking mode, as they were pushing hard on the end of that train to get it to the summit. The summit on that line is not for several miles yet from that location. If they had been in dynamic braking they would have been fighting the lead units and brought the train to a stop. Second, while notching up the throttle does increase the horsepower being developed by the prime mover, it also increases the RPMs powering the generator or alternator as well as the amperage sent to the traction motors which actually power the train. Depending on the setting it also regulates whether the electrical power being sent to the motors is in parallel or in series. It is this amperage and the electric motors that do all the work. The diesel engine powers the generator or alternator, depending on whether the locomotive has DC or AC traction motors.
I also love the bit about stopping for another train. As a rule, almost any kind of vehicle fighting gravity always has the right of way over one that isn't. Have they considered the kind of tractive effort it would take to start that thing from a dead stop up here!?
DaveWVideo do they still use the DC engines or is everything switched over to AC now,,, I remember watching a thing on television a long time back and said they were replacing the engines with AC because they were so much more powerful. I live very close to the railroad tracks I like to see them stop for grain and roaring up and down the line I miss the old military trains were you see all the army tanks and jeeps and the cannons and all those sort of things
Paul Beach I don’t know but I have a Honda ruckus with electric start small scooter it will actually reverse the alternator to start the engine doesn’t have a traditional starter it uses the alternator in that a way to save weight,,,I think trains are pretty cool I hope we never lose them there’s always talk that they’re going to go to those electric ones like they have in Europe I really like our diesels or diesel electric I guess,,,Catapillar’s making a big giant one now used extensively in mining operations
A very nice video, and that sound that was made when you shouted, "theres that sound" is the air compressor. You should hear them when your standing right next to it. Its a unique sound that I find myself making when I'm standing near one.
Very good video of engines working around a loop. Especially showing it going at a good pace and then as it loops around, the work truck sitting there and the engines have slowed considerably. There was some serious tonnage in that particular run. The pushers must have slowed down their running power as they we not working that much. They had to have been running at or near 7 or 8 power before the top of the curve.Last: I would thi9nk that U.P would have a little more pride in keeping their engines cleaner than the first 4 (Lead engines). Definitely need a good steaming and scrubbing. Thanks for sharing.
Too bad the Union Pacific closed off and locked the gate to that Loop location, a few years back.A perfect place to visit.We now watch for trains down at the siding near the trestle bridge, then venture up the road to view trains at the monument area.After that, down to town for lunch and a visit to the freight station museum.Great video.
that was a shorty ;) come to vancouver, most of the trains coming to and from the docks stop at coquitlam yard and our yard VIF and are always around 14,000 feet long.
I have filmed at the loop many times and I have never grown tired of the sensory overload of the place. I especially like the viewing area down toward the beginning of the loop where they side the trains waiting to use the loop.
Both brands are truly awesome, but I'll take the sound of the two-strokes over the four-strokes any time anywhere! What was really terrifying is the sound those four 44's made slightly spinning their wheels to gain maximum traction. Like a million screeching bats!
This Great vid takes me back to June, 1979. Espee sent a heavy Manifest over the hill and what did it have for helper power? SD9's, GP9's (High Nose and Low Nose), SW1500's and 1 SD7 and they were roaring as are the SD70 ACE's in this video. Thanks for a Great video RailFannBen and for taking me back.
Very good video. Like a lot of people, I know a little bit about railroading...and I know I'm not an expert or even what knowledgeable railfans would consider "knowledgeable", but; I certainly do enjoy watching trains and like it when those more knowledgeable than me are patient and understanding, and take time to explain railroading in a way that is not demeaning. So, be good teachers.....
These merchandise freights usually go 10,000 tons up a grade of 2.0% from EL 420 ft in Bakersfield to 3,176 ft at the summit of the line just east of the loop. The line is also very winding as it climbs from the California central basin over the Tehachapi Mountains to the Mojave plateau.
The longest train I ever saw was in Wyoming, I think. Four locomotives pulling a long string of loaded coal cars. I lost count at 115 cars or so and they went by a bit after that followed by one lone boxcar at the very end and three more locomotives pushing. To this day I've wondered why that one lone boxcar was on the tail end of that coal train. :)
ut000bs we have 240 car iron ore trains here where I work , 2 locomotives in front then 164 cars, then another locmotive in the middle with another 76 cars behind that
Damn good video. Them engines are doing a fine job at fighting that grade. I love GEs and EMDs but EMD's 710 sounds so refined, almost too much so for a loco. I somehow prefer the raw gritty chug of the GE's 7FDLs and GEVOs!
Power packs are linked electronically, i.e. the four ES44AC headers are controlled from the lead cab. The two SD70ACs helpers pushing are linked and controlled from one cab, usually the lead says a UP engineer I know.
Yup that's the Mechanical air compressor. Usually announced by a whoop. The Phenumatic. Will be announced by an air blast. Very subtle but followed by the deep thrum of the compressor. These machines are big loud and thrilling....:D.
It would be interesting to note how the engineers mitigate the stresses between the push and the pull. Are the engines interconnected electronically? I would think that those stresses would be almost too great upon the couplings between the cars. Are there pressure gauges on the couplings that transmit signals to the engines? Interesting stuff. Thanks
Tehachapi Loop Just rode through there in a gondola in September of 2020 , from the Arden Yard out of Las Vegas via GOOD OL UNCLE PETE A.K.A UNION PACIFIC
nevermind the talking, video is still great! I would give anything to go visit USA and watch some EMD action. If you wanna see some exported EMD's in Croatia, take a look at my channel.
Maximum Firepower Ben!!that's wat I call it when I hear all that noise!lol that was beyond Awesome!no sound in the Entire World like EMD's&GE's!!dude you REALLY need a tripod!or Mono-pod for that hilly terrain!pretty decent for handheld shot tho!keep it up!!
lol I was watching some vids of HO scale model train layouts and clicked on this, thinking it was just another scale layout. I was saying to myself " my God, it looks so real!" And then when the camera panned over to shoot your train watching friend, I felt stupid. Cool video though!
engineers will typically back off the throttle during take offs or dragging uphill either because his amps are too high(this is all computer controlled thesedays) or he needs to back off on his pulling power to prevent breaking the train(pulling a knuckle)
