csx "324" trains from Garrett to Toledo have been 3 miles long.Defiance county law enforcement has written Csx many citations for blocking the hire road crossing.Makes it real interesting when they turn the train to go north in Deshler.
stay safe
Joe
Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").
Jack R.Longest train I personally ever observed out west was a UP train. Three locomotives. 237 cars. Two locomotives in the middle of the consist. Two additional locomotives taking the rear. The cars were 100 ton coal hoppers. I waited at the crossing gate for what seemed like an eternity. The train looked as if it was going to stop at any moment, but she kept going until the DP units shot by. After that, I just about peed my pants.......
Was standing at the Rantoul, IL ICG depot one night in the 1970's when I saw a rather dim headlight coming south in the distance. And coming, and coming, and coming... Despite being more or less flatlands, there are some grades in central Illinois.
When the locomotives finally crept into town, they were clearly on their knees. Both of them. Memory doesn't serve as to whether they were four axle or six axle units.
On a whim, I started counting cars. The exact number escapes me after all these years, but it wasn't far short of 200. No mid-train helpers, nothing pushing on the rear.
It appeared that ICG must have been power short on the north end and sent two trains worth of empty hoppers south with just the two units. That was the only time I ever saw that.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
I think a 2 mile long train would be pretty impressive, but what if you are stuck at the crossing gates?
I know this from experience out west with Union Pacific trains so long, they just seem to blend with one another as they traverse the desert flats. Longest train I personally ever observed out west was a UP train. Three locomotives. 237 cars. Two locomotives in the middle of the consist. Two additional locomotives taking the rear. The cars were 100 ton coal hoppers. I waited at the crossing gate for what seemed like an eternity. The train looked as if it was going to stop at any moment, but she kept going until the DP units shot by. After that, I just about peed my pants.......Yea, it was that long and that slow, but it was, to date, the longest train I have ever seen.
Oh by the way, the power on point was a DD40. My all time favorite locomotive.
Hey, if CSX wants to join the 2 mile club, who are we to tell them otherwise......lol
As mentioned before.
2 miles is an average length.
And, yes, CN and their .4hpt. It's amazing how CN vastly underpowers their trains.
10000 feet and no dynamics? Today is going to be a good day ...
It would actually count to 1023... Zero through 1023 is 10 binary digits. "Check digits" would be extra bits (more than 10, not a loss in count).
It is possible that the max count of 1023 could be used as an error flag of some sort... like set the count to 1023 if some problem is detected in the circuitry and the "reporting" subroutine would see that maximum possible count value as an error and omit saying how many axles there were or state, "Error in counting axles", etc.
Of course one would not expect a train to have zero or 1 axles, so Zero could be a flag that no message should be transmitted (if there were no axles then there was no train!) and 1 could be some other error flag that changes the message that is transmitted. Thus the possible counts would be 2 to 1022.
But you are right in that 10 binary digits is probably the limit in the software/hardware and thus the limit of the number of axles is 1022.
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
n012944 CSX's defect detectors can not count above 1022 axles....I found out the hard way.
Sounds like the count system uses a binary system. 2 to the 10th power is 1024 with 2 used for check digits ? 1024-2 = 1022
Paul_D_North_Jr The more intelligent comment estimated the train at 22,864 tons. 4 GEVO's at 4,400 HP ea. = 17,600 HP. So the HP/ton ratio will be a staggering . . . 0.77 With that philosophy of operation, and both the origin and the view of many today about the nature of this cargo - coal - I'd call this a "Dinosaur Train" for more than one reason . . . - Paul North.
The more intelligent comment estimated the train at 22,864 tons.
4 GEVO's at 4,400 HP ea. = 17,600 HP.
So the HP/ton ratio will be a staggering . . . 0.77
With that philosophy of operation, and both the origin and the view of many today about the nature of this cargo - coal - I'd call this a "Dinosaur Train" for more than one reason . . .
- Paul North.
0.77 HP/ton is overpowered for 'normal' CSX coal trains in my world - .5 or less is the norm. Can make about 35 MPH on flat lands, 12-15 MPH uphill - helpers added on more severe grades.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
0.77! That's overpowered CN's standards. They like to run trains with 150 coal loads and 2 ES44ACs, one on each end. That's 0.4 HPT
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
But if it works in the east for coal........ Implications could be huge.
Of course, that is if they can maintain any resemblance of speed........
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
tree68 I could swear I heard an axle count over 1000 one night on the defect detector at Utica, NY. Of course, it caught my ear, but doesn't get repeated, and I wasn't in a position to actually see the train...
I could swear I heard an axle count over 1000 one night on the defect detector at Utica, NY. Of course, it caught my ear, but doesn't get repeated, and I wasn't in a position to actually see the train...
CSX's defect detectors can not count above 1022 axles....I found out the hard way.
An "expensive model collector"
150,000 tons. Those gevos are impressive.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
Rocket scientist in training. (not)
>>> The comment to the article about the roadbed being able to take the weight!
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Meh, two miles long is a short train in the flatlands of the midwest....
CSX Transportation will test a two-mile long train Wednesday, according to a CSX locomotive engineer who did not want to be identified
http://www.dailyindependent.com/news/csx-to-test-two-mile-long-train-engineer-says/article_9a9ec720-be2f-11e5-bad8-eb56ac920ee2.html
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.