Overpowered trains

[Anonymous]

Hey guys,
Why are so many Amtrak trains overpowered? Once I saw a ten car train with 3 F40PH's! Is it because the want to show off there clumsiness? Let's see, I think I've seen 10 train wrecks on the news this year that have to do with Amtrak, and you know what, they're all overpowered.

[passengerfan]

Amtrak assigns the power to be able to maintain track speed over the complete route. Take the EMPIRE BUILDER the power assigned is for the entire Chicago - Seattle route so when one considers the high speed running along the Mississippi and in Wisconsin one also must consider the loss of power as the speed increases the same is true for the train when it operates in the mountains more power is needed to maintain the schedule on the mountain grades. Look at a ten car EMPIRE BUILDER and that is quite a bit of weight and the Superliners are certainly not aerodynamic.

[DSchmitt]

Sounds like a good policy under current conditions. Amtrak has enough problems keeping on schedule now. The additional complication of having to change or add/remove power would only make things a lot worse. The two AM train regularly comes through at 7 AM or later.

[Junctionfan]

I witness CN do this today at 11:30am est. CN C-44-9W and a CN SD50F pulling 12 cars mostly empty bulkhead flats; and CN complains about motive power shortage....gee I wonder why?

[DSchmitt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Junctionfan

I witness CN do this today at 11:30am est. CN C-44-9W and a CN SD50F pulling 12 cars mostly empty bulkhead flats; and CN complains about motive power shortage....gee I wonder why?

Some possible reasons:

One loco was being moved to a location where it is needed.

One loco was out of service and being taken for repair or storage.

They had already dropped of a lot cars, or were going to pick up a lot of cars latter.

[Allen Jenkins]

Two way (out & back) trains have back to back power. Usually, "elephant-style" running, (in tandem), is about equipment dependibility. Also, the HEP generator could have been broke down. I've seen the five F units of the Super Chief reflect this, when two A units are in the lead, both cabs pointed forward. If one breaks down, put 'er in the next siding. E units, today's intermodal, etc. The thing that gets me about model railroads, is when one SD unit is used. I just can't relate to that! acj.

[Anonymous]

Don't know about Amtrak, but on yhe Piedmont Div. of the NS we are limited to having no more than 18 axles under power. I have had as many as 7 locomotives on my trains but you can bet 4 of them were on the way to Linwood, N.C. for servicing.

[Junctionfan]

I have a video of a Toronto to Chicago CN intermodal with 4 C44-9w, 1 SD75I, 2 SD40-2W and 2 C40-8M. I found out that it was going to a service shop. When I first saw the video, I though I was about to see a 300 car stack train!

[Anonymous]

There's no such thing as an overpowered train; only an UNDERpowered train! [:D]

[Anonymous]

And why might an Amtrak train be overpowered?????

Now, here's an "overpowered" consist, but looks can be deceiving. I was on the Sunset a number of years ago when we arrived LA with 9 units, 2 of which sort of actually worked, and 10-11 cars. We lost 1 of the 2 Pooches east of ELP, and SP kept progressively adding freight units, each of which progressively died, including one brand-new shiny GE (OK the paint still looked like dirt, but ooooooooh that bloody nose!) that flamed out its turbocharger spectacularly in Texas Canyon AZ. A Kodak moment, if you'd been on the ground. We dragged the whole lot all the way across the west and right into LAUS and hung way out the north end of the platform. The hike would have been fun, except we had 2 very young kids and associated baggage with us. Why??? Because none of the SP motive pwr supts and terminal supts wanted to be saddled with the line item costs of fixing those dogs eating into their budgets so they dumped on the end of the line!

And Heaven forbid that 21-22 might get a 2nd unit. Peri***he thought.

[athelney]

Way back in the late 1970's when I worked at CPR coquitlam yard office - the eastbound 902 would regularly depart with 12 units - it was a way to return excess power back east - of course then it was all SD40-2's.

[ndbprr]

Most I ever saw was 26 and I didn't have a camera with me. IT was running down the old NYC main in Middletown Ohio to ard Cincinatti. Definitely redistributing power in adddition to the train it was pulling. That was back about 1969. In regard to Amtrak not all the F40PH's are engines any more some have had their guts removed so the cab is used as a control cab at the other end. The key is the big roll up door in the side so the comaprtment can be used for baggage. They are also getting pretty old at this point and may not be as reliable as AMtrak would like.

[Junctionfan]

The Maple Leaf Amtrak train (Toronto to New York) went through being pulled by a P-42 and 2 CSX GP40 on the front end one time because a bunch of kids smashed the windshield of the P-42.

[Allen Jenkins]

Yea, yea, the tonnage rates the power, however, your mention of the EMD F40's, keys the reason is, the shop has seen them three times. We're talking three million miles, for an engine which has to supply "hotel power." Back in the days of the Vietnam Conflict, the road's hooked up E8's, and FP7's in tandem, elephant style, with two cabs forward, and maybe another unit added, for reliable steam generation, for the cut of passenger cars. If any unit in the consist fails, the responsible power management team has another unit to rely on. Most of the time, the host road has power set aside(we call them local switchers), to pickup the slack. This goes back to the assumption of the passenger bus. when Amtrak(The National Railroad Passenger Corp.) took over. Many roads' engines, were dispatched in every direction. ACJ

[railman]

My story isn't quite as dramatic as some, more tragic than funny but here goes.

In 1998 we rode the overpowered amtrak around the west from the Builder down the Coast and back around on the CZ. The funny thing was, as we went west, no matter how many units we had, we just kept getting farther and farther from our schedule. The builder was kept moving- mostly. When we got on the CZ, however, everyone's favorite railroad stuffed us behind every empty/full/late/early/lost train that came down the line. We spent more time, it seemed backing into sidings and waiting for coal drags than we did rolling fast. C'mon. We had the power; two P40's and a old F40PH to make up time, oh remember the old days, when passenger trains had the priority?!

So it may not be the motive power's fault Amtrak gets into trouble.