steam power pooling..

[Anonymous]

nowadays, locomotives from every railroad make it onto every other railroad. power pools, horsepower payback and so on... in the days of steam did railroads have similar arrangements? or did that start with diesels?

[daveklepper]

Much less pooling than now. For example, the Pennsy and the Wabash ran an extremely fast Detroit - Chicago train, for a while the very fastest in the USA acording to the Stefee Railroad Mag. speed survey, via Fort Wayne, with the fastest timing between For Wayne and Valpariso on the PRR. Both railroads used Atlantics, the PRR the E-6, of course. But they were swapped at Fort Wayne.

The Canadian Pacific Pacifics (4-6-2) ran regularly into North Station, Boston, on the Red Wing and Alouette from Montreal, and the Boston and Main and Maine Central sometimes pooled power on Boston - Bangor trains, although sometimes power was swapped at Portland, ME.

The Pennsyania-Reading Seashore Lines owned no locomotives but used rented PRR and Reading steam, and after Broad Street was torn down and before dieselization was complete this lead to the uncongruous sight of a wide Wooten-firebox Reading Pacific occasionally at 30th Street Station!

But in general pooling power was much less frequent int he steam days.

[Anonymous]

I remember a picture of a UP 4-10-2 helping a Santa-Fe freight on Cajon. I don't know if pooled use of helpers on the joint trackage was common or if this was an exception.

UP & NP power was pooled on the old Camas Prarie lines in Idaho, primarily 2-8-2's and 2-8-0's due to weight restrictions. It was a very interesting line during the last days of steam and the movie "Breakheart Pass" was filmed there.

That's a little different than the run-through pools today. I think the extended range of diesels make that more feasible than during the steam era.

[dehusman]

The RDG and WM pooled power on the crossline operations between Rutherford and Cumberland.

Dave H.

[spbed]

Mark when I was in Devore (I think) 2 years ago they were tying on UPRR helpers to a BNSF train so maybe the pooling arrangement is still in effect in the C. Pass? [:p][:o)]

Originally posted by Mark_W._Hemphill

Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR  Austin TX Sub

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