I do not know for certain if train length causes these routine delays. UP parks trains on the mainline frequently for an hour or more and this has happened much more often since they started combining trains. The correlation is pretty damn strong. And delays can lead to crews dying on HOS which is not efficient.
Whether or not this was wise remains to be seen.
charlie hebdo Murphy Siding For what it's worth, I counted cars on an average ethanol train that came through tonight. It looks like an average ethanol or grain train running the flatlands of South Dakota has 123 cars and 3 locomotives. How long would that train be? The UP has problems with waiting for clearance into Chicago. Today I saw an eastbound double coal train (about two and one half miles long) stuck for about one hour. The infrastructure capacity was not designed for such trains. PSR may save $ on labor costs but may lose by delays. Stationary wheels don't a profit make.
Murphy Siding For what it's worth, I counted cars on an average ethanol train that came through tonight. It looks like an average ethanol or grain train running the flatlands of South Dakota has 123 cars and 3 locomotives. How long would that train be?
For what it's worth, I counted cars on an average ethanol train that came through tonight. It looks like an average ethanol or grain train running the flatlands of South Dakota has 123 cars and 3 locomotives. How long would that train be?
The UP has problems with waiting for clearance into Chicago. Today I saw an eastbound double coal train (about two and one half miles long) stuck for about one hour. The infrastructure capacity was not designed for such trains. PSR may save $ on labor costs but may lose by delays. Stationary wheels don't a profit make.
Murphy,
Your run of the mill tank used in ethanol service is about 60' in length. At 123 cars that would equate to 7380'. Add 3 units at about 74' a piece. Total length comes out to around 7602'.
Charlie,
It's probably not so much waiting for clearance.. Maybe it's a crew change. The train also could be held outside a terminal due to length. Coal is not a time sensitive commodity for the most part..So it gets tied down on the main..
I live two blocks from the NS line between Hagerstown, MD and Harrisburg, PA. i see a variety of trains just sitting waiting to get into the Hagerstown yard almost every day. Do not know the cause, but as stated in a previous post, wheels not moving does not earn NS any money.
SD60MAC9500Charlie, It's probably not so much waiting for clearance.. Maybe it's a crew change. The train also could be held outside a terminal due to length. Coal is not a time sensitive commodity for the most part..So it gets tied down on the main..
By clearance, I meant space to tie down or transfer onward. I said length, so did you. Crew changes less than 12 miles west of Proviso? I doubt it.
Hi Adrian. I don't recall hearing from you and apologize if I received your email and didn't reply. Hit me up again at bybillstephens@gmail.com I am happy to chat.
Thanks.
Bill
charlie hebdo SD60MAC9500 Charlie, It's probably not so much waiting for clearance.. Maybe it's a crew change. The train also could be held outside a terminal due to length. Coal is not a time sensitive commodity for the most part..So it gets tied down on the main.. By clearance, I meant space to tie down or transfer onward. I said length, so did you. Crew changes less than 12 miles west of Proviso? I doubt it.
SD60MAC9500 Charlie, It's probably not so much waiting for clearance.. Maybe it's a crew change. The train also could be held outside a terminal due to length. Coal is not a time sensitive commodity for the most part..So it gets tied down on the main..
When it comes to operating through a crew change location - you, as a rule, don't want to bring a train that DOES NOT have a outbound crew available for it to the crew change location - doing so blocks the track at the crew change location and there are only so many tracks available. Remember, crew change locations are normally at least bi-directional. While there may not be crews to move trains in one direction, there may be crew to move trains in the opposite direction. As a Dispatcher you don't want to lock out the crew change location from moving trains.
While I understand Proviso is normally a terminating yard. In today's world of runthough trains - the outbound carrier for the train to interchaged at Proviso can be the one that has the crew issues and Proviso doesn't want to have its limited capacity compromised by having a 'dead' train occupying a track(s).
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Proviso doesn't originate or terminate as much traffic as it used to. UP is using the BRC's Clearing yard for many manifests now.
Double coal trains in the area would most likely be going north to Wisconsin. Most split before reaching Chicago. Those that don't usually go north and most of thiose are two trains for the same power plant.
The length probably isn't the cause of the delay, but length does influence where they can hold a train. Usually there's not a whole lot of choice where to stop a big train if you want to stay off crossings.
The other night going west, it seems every train we met was 12000 feet or bigger. Two were double coal trains, both 15000 feet or more, the others were just regular manifests. I said to my conductor, "I think the goal tonight is to block every crossing in Iowa." They just about accomplished that goal. The back up of eastbounds was due to single tracking around dead trains tied down because, either Boone yard couldn't take them in to work, or there were no crews available to take them beyond Boone.
Jeff
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