How do the railroads determine where a locomotive will be assigned and which jobs they will be assigned to?
Caldreamer
Unlike steam days, when locomotives were often designed and built for one specific line/task, most locos can pretty much go anywhere.
Nowadays, they come in one of two flavors (GE, EMD) with 4,400 HP and six axles. There are some 4,000 HP locos out there as well as some with lesser horsepower (older SDs, especially). And some four axles still roam the rails, usually used for yard work or locals.
As such, if it's there, and you need it to maintain HP/ton, use it...
Run-through power is another story altogether, although the basics still apply.
In the past, there have been special considerations for things like ballasting a loco for more tractive effort. Not sure any of them are still running.
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Tree is basically right. That being said there are several other considerations that get added into the mix - does a particular engine number need to be moved to a shop location for its soon due (or overdue) Quarterly Inspection. Does the location(s) that the train is to serve require 6-axles with steerable trucks? Does power need to be dispatched to a outlying location for use on the locals at that location? Does power need to be worked off line when looking at the 'Horsepower Hours' account of the foreign carrier(s)? Is the power at a outlying location 'useable'; if not it needs to be worked to the appropriate shop; the carrier's oerpating plan generally has designated trains for this purpose.
The basic power assignment is still give the train 'just enough' power to meet the service commitments for its run (feature intermodals have a higher commitment level and thus get more power for the tonnage than do other trains)
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