"Herzog" hopper cars seen on UP?

[Boyd]

Saturday evening I saw a UP train of I think all "Herzog" open hopper cars loaded with rock or something. At least 50 cars loaded going east towards Hudson Wisconsin. Never heard of Herzog before.

[MP57313]

I've seen them in maintenance-of-way trains - did they look like ballast hoppers?  Possibly heading to a repair site in one of the flooded areas.

[JoeKoh]

herzog also has ballast cars where they can dump the ballast by remote control.

stay safe

joe

[Modelcar]

.....Herzog....An important player in RR maintenance and ROW repair.  Don't know what else they tackle.....

[blue streak 1]

Herzog the contractor in charge of the upgrading and double tracking of miami. fl. tri-rail. Many train loads of ballast with their car. Also CSX has used their ballast cars around the Atlanta, Ga. area.

[mudchicken]

Most likely ballast hoppers with remote control or radio Miner gates, especially if the cars are primer red 4-bay hoppers with the Miner door conversions below. (We had them here, 2-sets a week ago on BNSF between Denver and Brush to points north -looks a little odd when the cloud of dust comes your way). The cars can be programmed to dump by GPS location at up to 30 MPH. They also have flat bottom ex-coal hoppers that haul ties for distribution and scrap on the return.

[BaltACD]

Herzog has several business areas.  MofW Contractor is a big one.  They were also the operator of the Tri-Rail commuter operation between W.Palm Beach and Miami for a while although I think that contract has gone to another concern.

The GPS controlled Ballast trains are a boone to the carriers as it minimizes the required amount of track time necessary for this operation.  Anything that minimizes track time for completing a necessary operation is beneficial to the carrier.

[CNW534]

Saturday evening I saw a UP train of I think all "Herzog" open hopper cars loaded with rock or something. At least 50 cars loaded going east towards Hudson Wisconsin. Never heard of Herzog before.

IIRC, UP is removing jointed rail west of Menomonie, WI and replacing it with CWR. 

[Doublestack]

I've often see Herzog cars on the UP in Kenosha WI - loading ballast at a nearby quarry.

Here's one of their trains

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=j0lMjQLnfA8

Corp website 

http://www.herzogcompanies.com/

[CPRguy]

I think they do rail testing for the BNSF also.  But I have seen a Herzog ballast train in the CPR main line.  I can remember a Herzog employee coming to the depot one morning to ride down the main line with the track inspector.  He was riding with him to find parts of the main line that needed rock and would input the location into his computer.  Then the ballast train would go down the tracks and automaticaly dump the rock where it was needed and not even have to stop.  I believe the train would travel between 10-20 MPH when dumping rock.

Thanks

 

[Goober]

In the last few weeks, there has been a Herzog ballast train in the Neenah area, it was headed to Green Bay the last time that I saw it.

Jared

[videomaker]

Saturday evening I saw a UP train of I think all "Herzog" open hopper cars loaded with rock or something. At least 50 cars loaded going east towards Hudson Wisconsin. Never heard of Herzog before.

  Herzog is not uncommon on UP,they use them for a lot of M of W stuff in Tx.mainly their railgrinder... Loran is another contractor for such things..Herzog also cotracts to the TRE commuter rail in FT.Worth,TX. to do their loco maintance...  

[WSOR 3801]

Here are some, loaded at Rock Springs with the Pink Lady ballast.

That is a cut of thirty, and the next thirty is about to get loaded.  The train can be dumped faster than the loadout at Rock Springs can load it.

Herzog also has these available:

 

 

[mudchicken]

I think they do rail testing for the BNSF also.  But I have seen a Herzog ballast train in the CPR main line.  I can remember a Herzog employee coming to the depot one morning to ride down the main line with the track inspector.  He was riding with him to find parts of the main line that needed rock and would input the location into his computer.  Then the ballast train would go down the tracks and automaticaly dump the rock where it was needed and not even have to stop.  I believe the train would travel between 10-20 MPH when dumping rock.

Thanks

Of course they do most of BNSF's testing (Sperry & Dapco still get their shares as well), Herzog acquired all of ATSF's rail testing department and their proprietary ultrasonic rail testing technology (including what ATSF picked-up in the early 1970's from Illinois Central when they dumbsized. Santa Fe got most of their equipment and their operators - then merged them with theier audigage technology)

That laptop computer that the technician had has a GIS level GPS system in it (close enough for horsesoes & hand grenades, not survey grade precision).

[Doublestack]

I'm curious what the bottom pic is?   The cars look like modified doublestack well cars.  I saw another pic like this lately.   It looks like the crane can run along on the top rails of the cars.  Does it pic up ties or something like that?

[mudchicken]

The car is a highly modified deep well articulated gon fro doublestack service. The power unit is a highly modified EMD SW unit tith a new cowl and electrical cabinet. (the new builder's plate is funky- RLMW 1500A? - Relco's Hawkeye Facility built these rascals for Herzog at Albia, IA. the one  I saw in SE Colorado, HZGX-174 was built on 12-22-2006, S/N RLA1003)

They move ties, pick-up scrap, clean ditches, etc. 

[WSOR 3801]

A few more of the MPM.

They had some rip-rap loaded, for washouts to the west.  There are rails on top of the well cars, so the excavator can move from car to car as needed.

[CShaveRR]

By chance, did the ballast cars look like old coal gons?  Herzog's high-speed ballast trains use steel coal gons, modified with ballast doors and slope sheets (cubic capacity reduced considerably).

The UP line from Milwaukee to the Twin Cities is getting quite a bit of necessary work.  Just saw a bulletin about ties distributed along the tracks from Adams east for about 80 miles.  That is now mostly 30-mph territory, but I suspect it won't be after the work's done.