Any power is good power?

[JoeKoh]

Hi
saw a up loco leading a csx train today west of Deshler.But the trailing unit was NS! does this say any power that runs is good for the big rr's?Just curious.
stay safe
Joe

[Anonymous]

YES BECAUSE I WAS IN ELMHURST YESTERDAY AND SAW AN UP STACK TRAIN WITH A BNSF SD75M

[wabash1]

if they need power and it is sitting there they use it. it dont matter whos paint is on it they all operate the same . and if you are stranger to the area it makes it hard to know whos railroad it is anymore by just watching the power go by. ive had all up or all bnsf power and work for the ns,

[rixflix]

Do the roads keep track of all these power moves?
Also, how do they track per diem's of freight cares now?
I've seen pictues of large offices in the fifties dedicated to this type of stuff with miles of NC or ticker tape and telex machines being used.

[dehusman]

Yes the railroads keep track of their engines on other roads. They measure them by "horsepower hours" (hphrs). A 3000 hp engin on another RR for an hour is 3000 hphrs. A SD40-2 on another RR for a day is 72,000 hphrs. Then at the end of teh month they all balance the hphrs. If the NS owes the UP 2 million hphrs, they will let the UP use 2 SD40-2's for two weeks to pay off the difference.

Per diem is now called "car hire" and is calculated on an hourly basis. The railroads measure the time the cars change hands and track the hours by computer. Untouched by human hands.

Dave H.

[kenneo]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dehusman

Yes the railroads keep track of their engines on other roads. They measure them by "horsepower hours" (hphrs). A 3000 hp engin on another RR for an hour is 3000 hphrs. A SD40-2 on another RR for a day is 72,000 hphrs. Then at the end of teh month they all balance the hphrs. If the NS owes the UP 2 million hphrs, they will let the UP use 2 SD40-2's for two weeks to pay off the difference.

Per diem is now called "car hire" and is calculated on an hourly basis. The railroads measure the time the cars change hands and track the hours by computer. Untouched by human hands.

Dave H.

Dave --- one SD40-2 = 7,200 hphrs for each hour operated? I can see that for two SD45's, but shouldn't a -40 (-1, -2, -3) be 3,000, and nothing but 3,000, so help you 3,000?

If I am wrong then how do you get 7200 out of 3000?

[Anonymous]

Maybe for the railroads!!! But ask a engineer what power he prefers to have to operate a
train over his territory. I'm sure that RR's try to match power to the train type. But when there is no power to be had, they will plug in any power make-up that they can find. That is why sometimes you see GP-38's on a hot intermodals for example.....

[oltmannd]

QUOTE: Originally posted by kenneo

QUOTE: Originally posted by dehusman

Yes the railroads keep track of their engines on other roads. They measure them by "horsepower hours" (hphrs). A 3000 hp engin on another RR for an hour is 3000 hphrs. A SD40-2 on another RR for a day is 72,000 hphrs. Then at the end of teh month they all balance the hphrs. If the NS owes the UP 2 million hphrs, they will let the UP use 2 SD40-2's for two weeks to pay off the difference.

Per diem is now called "car hire" and is calculated on an hourly basis. The railroads measure the time the cars change hands and track the hours by computer. Untouched by human hands.

Dave H.

Dave --- one SD40-2 = 7,200 hphrs for each hour operated? I can see that for two SD45's, but shouldn't a -40 (-1, -2, -3) be 3,000, and nothing but 3,000, so help you 3,000?

If I am wrong then how do you get 7200 out of 3000?

That's 72,000 per DAY (reread the original) 24 x 3 = 72

[ironhorseman]

Once on the BNSF line here I saw more NS units on a single train than BNSF units. 3 trains in a row this occurred. And now it seems the Triple Crown trains (which always use 1 engine) are starting to use NS power more often. I'm gonna guess that instead of changing units when it changes territories they're just gonna leave it all together?

UP also uses the line to get their coal trains to Red Rock, OK. 10 years ago it was common to see a Santa Fe blue and yellow GP or SD attached to these UP coal trains, but anymore it's all UP power.

And then every once in a while a CSX or ex-Conrail will be among the consists of any BNSF train. Don't see LMX anymore.

[Anonymous]

The railroads (Dehusman has stoen my thunder on rates) do track usage.

Bottom line, there is a bunch of loads need delivering and they will put whatever they can onto it and get it moving.

I have witnessed many lead engines working moderately while the foreign power roars in Notch 8. I suspect there may be a little profiteering on fuel billed to the foreign power.

Lee

[Anonymous]

QUOTE:
I have witnessed many lead engines working moderately while the foreign power roars in Notch 8. I suspect there may be a little profiteering on fuel billed to the foreign power.

Capitalism at it's best!

I was also wondering about trackage rights. I was suprised at how much rail lines share their own rails.

At the Roberts Bank Superport, all the trackage is owned by BC Rail, and yet it's almost all CP and CN with a little BNSF.

How does all of this work? When a company uses another companies rails do they pay by the mile, or do they have set monthly/quarterly contracts?

Thanks.