Different Dash 9?

[Mookie]

Didn't see much action this last weekend. No applause please! Did see one....only one - grain train leaving the yard. Very long - much like a coal train. Think it may have been loaded - going east toward Omaha/Iowa.

Now this isn't strange - we see grain, coal, freight etc all the time. But this particular one had 3 Dash 9's on point (we heard them whoop when they went by) and made some different noises than we have heard in the past. Even wrote the #'s down - 4316, 5367 & 5465

Engines went up one notch and then right back down, up one notch and right back down. Did this until we couldn't hear them any more - remember they aren't going very fast . Then - rolling thunder as he slowed down. Picked it back up and more rolling thunder as he started. I was going to get out my calculator and start adding up the damages. This wasn't just a little noise, this was the entire train and loud! Heard the thunder about 4 separate times - I was getting nervous.

I don't expect you to know exactly, but some thoughts? My first thought was a new hire - teaching a newer hire how not to get the slack out? Sounded like very bad train handling to me, but ....will defer to the experts!

[CShaveRR]

Sis, I'm wondering if your train was empty, after all. Those empty cars sound off a lot more than loaded ones would when impacted (the contents deaden a lot of the noise).

BC

[mudchicken]

Agree with CShaveRR that they were most likely empties. Sounds like the engineer may have been "shakin-im-up" looking for open hopper doors, frozen lading, snow & ice build-up on the cars, etc. -or- there is a "kicker" in the consist with air brakes not completely releasing. (moisture in cold air lines can play havoc.)

Ground blizzards in NE Colorado late yesterday pretty well shut all the highways down and slowed down the railroads going north, northeast or east of Denver. If that BNSF grain train came from here and was going to load again near Lincoln, they may be trying to help get rid of ice & snow build-up....

[Anonymous]

Interasting but GE are always like that

[Mookie]

I figured he was looking for a loose knuckle and was worried that he would find it!

Had me worried and I was looking out for the BNSF stockholders! [8D] - but maybe he was just going to ADM and was doing just that - getting them ready to fill.

[coborn35]

I remember once when the engineer of a westbound saw a broken drawbar while passing an eastbound. He radioed the eastbound and the eastbound then did that exact same thing to see if the coupler would hold.

[csxengineer98]

sounds like a throttle modulation.....and the sounds of it where the slack comeing in and out of the train... throttleing up a notch and then shutting it off sounds to me like he was starting the train out....when you use this method for starting...you are getting all the cars rolling a few at a time... and the momentom of the cars in front of it will pull the cars behind... it is one way of starting a train to keep stress from being to much on a knuckle and draw bar with tonnge trains....you keep doing this untill your EOT tells you got the last car moving.... and then you can start to strech the train out and open the throttle up to get up to what ever your authorerized speed is...just opening the throttle up and leaveing it open can jurk the cars and pull a drawhead or knuckle...another way to start it is to use the power reduction switch.... which is nothing more then a small reostat on the controll stand... you flip a a toggle switch to use it.... you turn it all the way down...and open the throttle up a few notches...and leave it open... then you turn the reostat to start to apply amperage to the traction motors... you can adjust the amperage with the reostat in smaller incuements then changed the throttle possition...once you get the train rolling...you ajust your throttle acordingly so that when you turn off the power reduction switch..you dont get a surgh of amperage and yank a knucle or drawhead....i personly dont like and hardly ever use the power reduciton method for starting a train...i use throttle modulation...
as far as you "woop" was it followed by a low thumping sound.....if that is what you heard...you heard the air compresser turning on and "loading"
csx engineer

[tree68]

QUOTE: as far as you "woop" was it followed by a low thumping sound.....if that is what you heard...you heard the air compresser turning on and "loading"
csx engineer

We should call it the "Mookie Whoop"....[:D][:o)][:p]