SD40-2or3s would be just fine, What they need is four more SD40s and to get rid of the upper management or get someone with business back ground to run the darn place and not some railfan foammer!!!
What I've noticed on recent reports is that if they can they are running with the locomotives individually. For example, on Tuesday 382 and 383 were paired together, worked north from Owosso, then returned to Owosso before heading south. 391-393 later went north from Owosso together. These units have been working like this for about a week it seems like based on reports.
When needed, they have run the 4 units together south of Owosso (OSTN).
Cadillac seems to have a more dedicated set of locomotives based in town than does Owosso. Right now it is 385-399 working from Cadillac from what I've seen. Previously it was 396 not 385
395-396 appear to be the roamers working between Cadillac and Owosso wherever they are needed. I suspect these units are based from Owosso, but are staying more north of town.
SD40-2or3s would be just fine, What they need is four more SD40s and to get rid of the upper management or get someone with business back ground to run the darn place and not some railfan foammer!!!
What I've noticed on recent reports is that if they can they are running with the locomotives individually. For example, on Tuesday 382 and 383 were paired together, worked north from Owosso, then returned to Owosso before heading south. 391-393 later went north from Owosso together. These units have been working like this for about a week it seems like based on reports.
When needed, they have run the 4 units together south of Owosso (OSTN).
Cadillac seems to have a more dedicated set of locomotives based in town than does Owosso. Right now it is 385-399 working from Cadillac from what I've seen. Previously it was 396 not 385
395-396 appear to be the roamers working between Cadillac and Owosso wherever they are needed. I suspect these units are based from Owosso, but are staying more north of town.
need 4-axles for middleton branch and up north.
sometimes they'll run light north and grab cars at zfs - that train that GLC@ZLT saw with the 92 cars was all pickups from ZFS and then blocked for csx/aarr/cn.
I take it that the Middleton Branch has sharp curves, as to prefer the use of 4 axle locos ??
Rail is comparatively light compared to the rest of the railroad. 4 axles weigh less than 6 axles.
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...
GP-35, are the ONTN and OSTN able to share a locomotive set or do they each need their own?
What I've noticed on recent reports is that if they can they are running with the locomotives individually. For example, on Tuesday 382 and 383 were paired together, worked north from Owosso, then returned to Owosso before heading south. 391-393 later went north from Owosso together. These units have been working like this for about a week it seems like based on reports.
When needed, they have run the 4 units together south of Owosso (OSTN).
Cadillac seems to have a more dedicated set of locomotives based in town than does Owosso. Right now it is 385-399 working from Cadillac from what I've seen. Previously it was 396 not 385
395-396 appear to be the roamers working between Cadillac and Owosso wherever they are needed. I suspect these units are based from Owosso, but are staying more north of town.
need 4-axles for middleton branch and up north.
sometimes they'll run light north and grab cars at zfs - that train that GLC@ZLT saw with the 92 cars was all pickups from ZFS and then blocked for csx/aarr/cn.
Doesn't happen often, but I have seen a couple reports of the 6 axel units in the branch in TC. I think the use of those down south is a combination of the prefered use of 4 axels on the lighter railed Middleton Branch and the heavier tonnage run on the south end of the railroad from Ithaca southward.
What I've noticed on recent reports is that if they can they are running with the locomotives individually. For example, on Tuesday 382 and 383 were paired together, worked north from Owosso, then returned to Owosso before heading south. 391-393 later went north from Owosso together. These units have been working like this for about a week it seems like based on reports.
When needed, they have run the 4 units together south of Owosso (OSTN).
Cadillac seems to have a more dedicated set of locomotives based in town than does Owosso. Right now it is 385-399 working from Cadillac from what I've seen. Previously it was 396 not 385
395-396 appear to be the roamers working between Cadillac and Owosso wherever they are needed. I suspect these units are based from Owosso, but are staying more north of town.
need 4-axles for middleton branch and up north.
sometimes they'll run light north and grab cars at zfs - that train that GLC@ZLT saw with the 92 cars was all pickups from ZFS and then blocked for csx/aarr/cn.
Doesn't happen often, but I have seen a couple reports of the 6 axel units in the branch in TC. I think the use of those down south is a combination of the prefered use of 4 axels on the lighter railed Middleton Branch and the heavier tonnage run on the south end of the railroad from Ithaca southward.
Several times 6 axle locos have been to TC. From the MRL units to the 329, etc. Not so much in the last year though. Even 2 6 axle locos paired up.
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As of this morning, the following GLC units are in service: 382, 383, 385, 391, 393, 396, and 399.
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...
As of this morning, the following GLC units are in service: 382, 383, 385, 391, 393, 396, and 399.
So now 395 has gone down.
This makes 7 units. I can see why the railroad doesn't have 6 crews (previous discussion topic), based out of Owosso. They wouldn't have the power to operate 6 crews in Owosso and 2 in Cadillac. Right now I can see them maybe having the equipment for two up north crews and 4 crews out of Owosso. (2 Day and 2 Night on the south end and 1 day and 1 night up north.)
As of this morning, the following GLC units are in service: 382, 383, 385, 391, 393, 396, and 399.
So now 395 has gone down.
This makes 7 units. I can see why the railroad doesn't have 6 crews (previous discussion topic), based out of Owosso. They wouldn't have the power to operate 6 crews in Owosso and 2 in Cadillac. Right now I can see them maybe having the equipment for two up north crews and 4 crews out of Owosso. (2 Day and 2 Night on the south end and 1 day and 1 night up north.)
From what I've heard in the past the turnover rate at this railroad is particularly high and they don't exactly pay the best.
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As far as the Middleton Branch---- if it is light railed, wouldn't you prefer a six axle--- I know they are heavier, but the extra 2 axles spread the weight out better . The entire reason that a loco such as an SD7, OR SDL39 was built,to run on light rail . Am I missing something?
As far as the Middleton Branch---- if it is light railed, wouldn't you prefer a six axle--- I know they are heavier, but the extra 2 axles spread the weight out better . The entire reason that a loco such as an SD7, OR SDL39 was built,to run on light rail . Am I missing something?
Back in the time of SD9s, SDL39s, RSC2s and the ilk, yes. At that time, there wasn't much of a weight difference compared to say an SD7 and a GP7. In modern times, though, there is a pretty drastic difference in weight between something like a GP38 (250,000 lbs) and an SD40-2 (360,000 lbs) or even an ES44AC (426,000 lbs). Even with the weight spread out over 2 additional axles, at some point too much weight on old, light rail is simply too much weight. Great way to break joint bars. I know a few years back GLC did run some NS 6 axles out to Middleton on some of the NS grain trains, but I haven't seen them do that again since.
As far as the Middleton Branch---- if it is light railed, wouldn't you prefer a six axle--- I know they are heavier, but the extra 2 axles spread the weight out better . The entire reason that a loco such as an SD7, OR SDL39 was built,to run on light rail . Am I missing something?
Back in the time of SD9s, SDL39s, RSC2s and the ilk, yes. At that time, there wasn't much of a weight difference compared to say an SD7 and a GP7. In modern times, though, there is a pretty drastic difference in weight between something like a GP38 (250,000 lbs) and an SD40-2 (360,000 lbs) or even an ES44AC (426,000 lbs). Even with the weight spread out over 2 additional axles, at some point too much weight on old, light rail is simply too much weight. Great way to break joint bars. I know a few years back GLC did run some NS 6 axles out to Middleton on some of the NS grain trains, but I haven't seen them do that again since.
I think the reason you can see the GLC run the 6 axels they have onto the Middleton Branch, and onto the lines up north if because of the per axel weight. An SD40-2 is actually lighter per axel (per your post) than a GP38-2. When you add in the length difference, the weight on a section of track isn't significantly different. Now if you compare a GP38-2 or SD40-2 to an ES44AC, I sure wouldn't want to run a high horsepower runthrough unit down the Middleton Branch. The extra 11000 pounds per axel wouldn't be benficial on light rail.
The other question about a larger ES44AC type locomotive compared with an SD40-2 or GP38-2 type locomotive would be tractive effort. The ES44AC tractive effort at starting is about 80% higher than an SD40-2 and is almost double in continuous motion. This is even higher than GP38-2. How would the tractive effort be on the rails. My uneducated guess is that because the locomotive is apply a force backward on the rail it would be much tougher on the rail to have a higher tractive effort locomotive. Thus a larger locomotive would be potentially more damaging to lighter rail than a lower tractive effort unit, correct?
Are GLC's SD35s weighted heavier on account of their N&W origin? I know a lot of the mountain coal haulers weighted their units up quite a bit, just don't know if that pertains to the 35s.
On that note, how do the Alco-trucked GP35s compare against their Blomberg brethren?
I know a few years back GLC did run some NS 6 axles out to Middleton on some of the NS grain trains, but I haven't seen them do that again since.
Does GLC still have to limit outbound grain loads to about 30-35 at a time on the Middleton Branch?
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...
Mr. Erroneous Monk, the SD35s were weighted from EMD for N&W at 410,000 Lbs. and used in the Eastern coal fields. They were great for hauling heavy coal trains and held the rail very well. As for the Alco trucks on the GP35s, the Alco truck were built very stout, they have a longer short time pulling rating than the Blomberg EMD trucks, and also with the Alco truck if you go on the ground on a frozen crossing in the winter the bolster will drop down next to the rail and keep you from going out in the weeds, (that's experience talking) Now the down side is they ride rougher than hell compared to the EMD Blomberg truck which flout along very nicely compared to the Alco truck. If you really want a nice ride hop on an SD40 or SD35 with the newer six axle truck and your in for a nice ride, as long as there not all womped out. Hope this helped you out. Signed retired engineer.
