I stood next to the tracks years ago at the Tehachapi Loop and the sound coming from the type of locomotives at the time similar to the MRL helpers were so loud that you couldn’t hear yourself talk.
I wonder how much rail that 2nd unit will chew up in its lifetime... dreaded C4... On the line I work, we are generally flat but those things are not consistent.
A great comment on the C4! I can't understand why BNSF thinks they are a good idea.....ah yes ...MONEY! SO they save a bit on two traction motors, but kill the other 4 and damage rail as you say! Plus no redundancy if you have one tm fail . Funny how no other Class 1 has adopted them? 🙂 Gregg.
@@FishplateFilms I don’t understand the logic unless one refuses to believe C4’s are rough on track. Back in the late 60’s the ALCo C630’s weighed in at 400,000lbs. Most used the Tri-Mount which rode horrible which translated into track damage. Coupled with the other issues kicked the big ALCo’s off the Class 1’s and generally most railroads. I believe at around 80,000lbs per axle hard rock ballast starts to crumble. A C4 would be at/over 100,000lbs per axle when in dynamic weight mode. From running them personally, they ride rough and are slippery. On frost-it’s going to be a long day.
@@DL541 Thanks for the reply! I've always hated the idea and won't even have the C4's on my model railroad..LOL. I also wondered about axle weight...as you say they are already at max or pretty close, so I when you lift the lazy axle you get even more? So you save a 100 grand or so with 2 less tm's but the long term costs far outweigh that! Interesting how you say they ride rough, and I can see that being the case , and as for slippery rails , better make sure the sand is topped up! Cheers Gregg.
C4 is good for BNSF Q & Z trains which always have 3-5 or more units. As far as I have heard of them, they are equal with older 6 axle DC Dash-9 and GEVO units, especially when they gain speed! Plans for hundreds more on order! T4, and T4Credit units. Edit: they are 412000 lbs, and with max of 42t on powered axles! There's always load on middle axles. BNSF know what they doing. I love the idea and think they are great 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 Love C4 (A1A concept)
@@Inferno-hn3zx They are a great idea financially ?? A AC tm is probably around 100-150 grand ? SHort term gains but long term not so much. The A1A concept has been tried many times before , we had them down here in Australia back in the 60's and all were a failure, as were the F9's in the US ! Yes , the electronics do help , but the stress on the 4 tm's is higher with no redundancy . It's funny how no other class 1's have adopted them? They might be fine on Z trains , but for heavy drags over mountains , not so much? Either way , they are still banned on my layout..LOL Gregg.
Any idea as to origin? Bakken? Tar sands? Thanks. We have daily DRUbit trains on the CPKC River Sub without buffer cars or placards, as the diluent removed bitumen is not considered hazardous.
I suppose all those locos are in notch 8 and barely maintaining speed going up the hill? I wonder if the dispatcher builds in some reserve power just in case one of the locos has a problem.
They do sometime notch off in certain areas while they come up the pass-fairly common practice when climbing a winding grade. A former co-worker of mine worked for the MRL is my source.
