Sounds like my last date...:D

(de-lurking because this question didn't really get answered)

Railroads often place additional locomotives on the end of a train, and sometimes in the middle. It's called Distributed Power.

Basically, if all the power is at the head end of the train, this can put enormous stress on the couplers. Adding locomotives at the end or in the middle helps move the train more efficiently. This is especially important in hilly/mountainous areas.

It helps to remember that those big diesel locomotives are actually diesel-electric locomotives. The diesel engines under the hoods generic electric power which is then distributed to the wheels. Nowadays, there is all kinds of fancy computer-controlled circuitry to monitor load levels and properly distribute the power to whatever axles are available, be they all at the head, in the middle, or at the end.

That said, railroads will sometimes take two trains that happen to be leaving the same yard, around the same time and going the same way, and just stick 'em together. That would also lead to seeing one or more engines in the middle of a train. Once everything is hooked up and the locomotives are all talking to each other, it is now logistically just one train to keep track of instead of two. At some yards hundreds of miles away, they'll break them back up again.

Thanks Orbert!

Nice de-lurk, btw, :welcome: back!

Thanks. It was bugging me that no one had answered your question, and I knew the answer. It doesn't happen a lot, but I try to contribute when I can.

Delurking much appreciated!

I add my voice to the thanks and welcome back you've seen.

Y'know, we could use the input... We don't charge by the post, it's clear you're pacing yourself, and doing a*heroic* job of it.

Please, consider posting more.
��

Also...

I have many pics of trains, mostly locomotives gathered during our WASP Odyssey. But I catch more than I post.

Over on Gravdigr's Photo Safari I mentioned the White Tail(ed) Deer that I encountered at the Railroad Interpretive Centre, in Douglas, WY.
This was the mighty loco that I was looking at at the time.
It's a scanned print so less than perfect.

Attachment 66768

The info board (photo to hand) says that it's a 4-8-4 steam loco #5633 of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, but then y'all knew that, didn't ya?
Prior to seeking out the print I mentioned the story to Dad and said that I thought that the loco would weigh in at about 200 tons.
Got that wrong, didn't I? It was 317 tons and twenty eight were built.
I wonder how often they renewed the track. :eek:

Gandy Dancer's employment assurance. ;)

I happened on push-pull at Wiki today.

Saw a train yesterday with a loco at the rear, none in the middle this time.

I guess this is something they've started doing in this neck o' the woods.

Worth noting is that the entire train was double-stacked cargo containers (four to a car), they've only started that on a regular basis (around here) a year or so ago.

Stand back or get a snow job...

High speed rail in China

http://cellar.org/img/chinese-hispeedrail.jpg

bigger version at imgur

That ought to be it's own snow plow at speed. :haha:

This is an excellent description on how our Railroads and trucking work together, and why US railroads are the cheapest and most efficient in the world at moving stuff.

A very fast duck...

And as she is today, sporting a somewhat neater paint job...

Attachment 67227

Next month the are doing a reenactment for the 150th anniversary of driving the Golden Spike. There's a stamp for that.

It's more of a train car or trolley car, than a bus.

What the locomotives looked like at Promontory point...

Wow!

They do shine up pretty, don't they? Note to Trump: this is as clean as coal gets.

Wrong, locomotive breath!!

:p:

LiveLeak clip showing--I'm not sure what I'm looking at here--is this a diesel runaway reckon?

seriously over fueling, leading to a runaway.

The point engine was obviously not running properly, whether over fueled or something else, but If it's a runaway why was the second engine working?

Diesel electric train engines do not have a direct connection between the power plant and the wheels. The diesel engine is running away not the train.

Ray Magliozzi told me the other day about diesel engine with a failed turbocharger that started sucking up the crankcase oil to use as fuel.
The outcome was not good and may have looked like this at some point.

Oh OK, I got it now, I was thinking they'd find him in the wreck with his hand on the throttle, scalded to death by the steam.;)

maybe the second engine was in reverse

or the first engine was in neutral

I mentioned in the Field of dreams IOtD I knew some guys headed for the Utah Golden Spike anniversary celebration and Big Boy back on the rails.

Union Pacific 4014, is a four-cylinder articulated 4-8-8-4 Big Boy-class steam locomotive Built in 1941 by American Locomotive Company, it’s the only operating Big Boy of the eight that remain in existence.
UP 4014 was retired in 1959 and donated to the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society in late 1961 for display at Fairplex in Pomona, CA. In 2013, UP re-acquired Big Boy and for 6 years spent a shit-ton of money doing what the car guys call a frame off restoration and converting from coal to oil, at their Steam Shop in Cheyenne, WY. On May 1, 2019, UP 4014 ran under its own power for the first time in almost 60 years. It’s the biggest operational steam locomotive in the world, and will be used for excursion service.

Union Pacific 844 is a 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company in December 1944 for the Union Pacific Railroad. Constructed as a FEF-3 class of 4-8-4's, it was the last steam locomotive delivered to Union Pacific.
Originally built for high-speed passenger work, the FEF-3 class was pressed into dual-service work. Union Pacific ended commercial steam operations in the late 1950s, but No. 844 was retained by the railroad for special activities.

Attachment 67779

UP 844 and UP 4014 ran together the almost 500 miles from Cheyenne to Ogden, UT, for 150th anniversary of the driving of the Golden Spike at Promontory point.
They mostly ran during the day for safety because about a zillion people lined both side of the track to see Big Boy and at the same time other trains are using the same line.

I knew a couple of the guys were heading out to see Big Boy and the celebration, but I was surprised 28 showed up from the US and Canada. The Chevy dealer let them park in his lot and take a bus out to Promontory point.

Attachment 67780

The head honcho from Union Pacific, Utah's Governor, and some other politicians gave speeches. A couple descendants of the original participants were acknowledged and it was done for another 50 years.

Attachment 67781

There's a lot of railroad fans in the country, some being rabid. :haha:

Attachment 67782

The pictures ain't great but I think they convey how the people there saw things. I read an interesting article recently explaining the US has the cheapest and most efficient rail freight system in the world, which surprised me.

Here's another shot of the shindig...

Last of the Baldwin Texas Locomotives...

I actually saw 4014 and 844 on their way west to Ogden, but too far away to really SEE or get a pic, plus I was going east and only saw them for a moment. Wunnerful to see them chugging along again.

Given the stated water consumption and storage capacity, does that mean the locomotive could only operate for two hours?

Plus with starting with a full boiler, yes. That's why the girls at Petticoat Junction had to watch for every train coming through when the were bathing in the water tower.

New Zealand...

Attachment 67903

You can see that wood here.

In the redwoods, they are called sinkers. Recovery is controversial if remunerative.

I don't see a problem with digging up the logs from the peat, as long as they aren't fucking up the whole neighborhood.

In Northern California, the sunken redwoods (usually first growth) are in old creek and river beds that were first fucked over by damning them up for log ponds.
In some of them nature and fish have returned to some extent, only to be disrupted again by digging out the saturated old logs.

OK, I can see how digging up active waterways would be bad. That's different from logs buried in peat bogs.

I agree. Cases are only generally similar.

Russian double decker. Hoi polloi up top, and servants or guards below??

Rip 'em up
Tear 'em up
Yaaay, team

There is a counterpoint between this and the recovery of gliders elsewhere on the Cellar today.
Hundreds of miles apart, perhaps coeval.

At first, I thought some of them were wearing silly hats.

https://i.imgur.com/5ty37wW.png

They are, those are Nazi tree hats. They use them mainly in the mountains rather than the cities... and decorating for Christmas. ;)

Good camouflage.

Retired...

Stalin's transpolar railroad...

When the Soviets failed they failed big.

Isn't that the Russian line they were talking about extending into Alaska by tunnel?

I think OSHA would have something to say about the work conditions on that RR.

No problem, they had an inexhaustible supply of labor. Losing a few tens of thousands didn't matter. :rolleyes:

Bat train...

Studebakers with the Broadway Limited...

Any more info on that one please, Bruce?

What, where, etc?

The site where I saw it there were just a couple of not clear pictures. Googling the tumbler picture title, tumblr_pg8lzjbZ8I1uryk28o1_1280.jpg, gives me a French engine https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...A9n%C3%A9e.jpg

Many thanks!

I did a bit more digging and found that it started off life like this...

Attachment 68430

...before ending up like this:

Attachment 68431

LINK (French language website and yes, I cheated).

It would make a hell of a snow plow.

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