Can GP and SD 7/9 diesels in the east coast in the Appalachian mountains pull coal trains in a unit consist? Or do I need different locomotives? The era 1954-1966.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
Sure. The RDG/LV/B&O/C&O/PRR/N&W all ran coal trains with early hood units (as well as F units). The SD35 wasn't built until 1964 so prior to that it would have been GP/SD-7/9/18's.
Also RS2,RS3, AS16, AS616.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Eary GP/SD could work together. This issue is that a SD has a MCS(minimim continuous speed) of around 7-8 mph. A GP has a MCS of around 12-13 mph. This means that if they are pulling a heavy train at under 12 mph, the GP's may be in overload. The engineer needs to be aware of this and watch his loadmeter vs the actual ground speed. A number of times a train with SD leading, burned up the traction motors on the trailing GP's.
Back then there were not many 'unit trains', but solid trains of coal hoppers were common in the coal mining areas. A 'unit train' loads at a single shipper and goes directly to the consumer(like a power plant). The train is not switched at classification yards enroute.
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
jrbernierBack then there were not many 'unit trains', but solid trains of coal hoppers were common in the coal mining areas. A 'unit train' loads at a single shipper and goes directly to the consumer(like a power plant). The train is not switched at classification yards enroute. Jim
Jim,I think the "Unit train" catch word started with gain trains..
As you know the coal drags went to mills,power plants,coke plants,lake,river and sea ports and lose car went to smaller foundries,coal yards,etc..
Even when I worked on the Chessie some of the coal we picked up was switched into freight trains..These loads was bound for small coal fired industries.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Larry,
Usually out here on the BN/BNSF, a 'unit' train traditionally has been PRB coal moving to a power plant. Note that this usually implies that the train is not assembled from loose cars in a yard for movement. Back in 1969 I was the fireman on a unit 'potash' train that came out of Canada via the GN and on to the CB&Q for a large shipper. Most 'unit grain trains' in the past were really just loose loaded grain cars moving as a block. The current mode is 'Shuttle Trains' that load at a super large 'Shuttle Elevator' and usually move to Gulf ports or West Coast ports for export shipment.
Where traditional grain movement was to places like Mpls, Cedar Rapids, or Buffalo for milling - We have seen a trend of grain moving west for Pacific Rim clients. China is buying lots of wheat & corn. Between the Ethanol plant and exports - My farm rent is very good!
ndbprrIf I am not mistaken the PRR only had two Sd7s used on the Madison incline. The SD9s were used for transfer service as well as Baldwin center cab RT24 engines that often hauled coal and ore trains from Philly to Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem Pa.
PRR also used SD9s in general service including locals.
Here we see a SD9 making a reverse move to one of Columbus(Oh) West side industrial leads.
I took the photo in July of 63.Location is just West of the Front Street bridge.The track in the background(behind the pipe) was used by B&O and NYC.
Technically a "unit" is a group of cars of the same commodity with the same origin and the same destination all moving on the same, multi-car waybill. The origin and destination are the OD pair for the car, not the train.A 1950's "coal" train would be all coal cars, but every car would have its own waybill and the cars in the train may or may not have the same commodity, origin or destination.
Shuttle trains typically are a grain marketing/operating scheme where the grain companies agree to load and unload the trains within 24 hours and the railroad company dedicates keeping a set of power with the train while its being loaded and unloaded so it can move as soon as it is loaded/unloaded. It is my personal opinion that the efficiency of the shuttle train, in conjunction with the 100+ ton covered hopper, that has changed the grain handling business, In the 1960's and 70's it was commonfor elevators to run out of space and there were always grain car shortages in the US. That's pretty rare today in the US.
dehusman In the 1960's and 70's it was commonfor elevators to run out of space and there were always grain car shortages in the US. That's pretty rare today in the US.
Rare yes,but,there was a article in Trains Magazine where a short line could not get the requested empty grain cars from their "partner" road..The large elevator was force to store grain on the ground..Findly the elevator got fed up and trucked the grain to a trans load factuality for loading into covered hoppers.