Western Railroad Discussion > My take on the CORP Special today

I actually got out of the house and did a train chase today. Heres a couple of it putting its train together at the Roseburg Mill in Weed and leaving town. I wasn't alone chasing these ugly locos as I ran into quite a few TO folks.

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After I took this shot of the train crossing Edgewood Road on the grade down from Weed the 2036 developed a thirst. A stop was made at a trackside home in Gazelle to borrow a hose but no one was home. So on to Grenada where the folks living at the old converted Grenada Station were more then willing to give the CORP a little water.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/10 21:24 by photobob.

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After 2036's thirst was taken care of it was back off across the Shasta Valley past some local livestock and then I was joined by some TO livestock to photograph the train along the Klamath River. After taking five hours to travel the 45 miles to the Klamath River shot I decided I had enough for the day a let the chase go to a much younger but probably not much wiser crew.

Robert Morris Photography
http://www.snowcrest.net/photobob/index1.html

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Fantabulous
The Human interest at the former Grenada Station shows your old news photographer instincts are not gone. Just wish I shot more SP in those locations back in the day.

The $64 question in my mind is: How did these units do on the 3% grades going over Siskiyou Summit? How many cars / how much tonnage was involved and any clues if the "test" was a success?

Great work! Thanks for sharing.

Isnt Grenada Station where that tank car full of fertilizer is still sitting after at least 40 years? If i remember, it has friction bearing trucks.

Nice set of photos!

Cheers,
Jack

Today was fun and it was nice putting a face to some of the names on here...

Those are cool Bob . . neat country. There are 'no' ugly engines . .
Just depends on the perspective.

"How did these units do on the 3% grades going over Siskiyou Summit? How many cars / how much tonnage was involved and any clues if the "test" was a success?"


Power output 2,000 hp (1,490 kW)
Tractive effort 65,000 lbf continuous
97,000 lbf starting
38,000 lbf braking



The fact they were scrounging for a garden hose tells you something. 8,000 horses all working - good for 20 loads maybe? I wonder what makes these units any more desirable than the GP40's ( I think) they were using? They must have more advanced adhesion control circuitry as well. These things are already 10 years old. Load them down for a week or two and see what happens...

sphogger

i think fuel consumption is a big factor with these...probably much less than the 60's era muscle car motor that the GP40 series has in it

HB90MACH Wrote:
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> Isnt Grenada Station where that tank car full of
> fertilizer is still sitting after at least 40
> years? If i remember, it has friction bearing
> trucks.

It's still there, in the background of one of the Grenada shots.

Great series, PhotoBob! Thanks a million from those of us who wished we could have been there.

If you load a GP40 (3000 engine HP) down sufficiently so that it can only attain about-10 MPH uphill in notch 8 ... it's really doing the work of a GP38 (2000 HP) because at that speed the locomotive is adhesion limited. In other words, it may sound like a 3000 HP machine but the motors are only capable of using 2/3rds of the engine power.

The GP20Ds aren't super-adhesion in the sense of AC locomotives but they do tend to outpull 2000 HP EMDs.

Outstanding visual visit with CORP on this challenging line. Superb pics. Many thanks.

"If you load a GP40 (3000 engine HP) down sufficiently so that it can only attain about-10 MPH uphill in notch 8"

It would be interesting to see a video clip of these units on the 3%. I wonder what they sound like in both power and dynamic & what kind of speed they are making.

The old SP way - 7200 tons with 8-9 SD-40's or 45's 10-12 MPH crawl on the 3% with the ammeters buried in the red.

sphogger

If your plan is running a GP-40 in notch 8 loading in the red zone, you better get some parts lined up quickly. RailAmerica engines aren't maintained for such rough service. I'm pretty sure these engines are about fuel economy and nothing more.

Also at that speed the GP40 isn't going to make it up the hill as the short time continuous vs
the miles needed to crest the hill aren't on the same page.

Manoah and I followed the GP20D's on Bailey Hill, at one point where we were right next to the tracks and the grade at 3%+ They pulled sure and steady at about 10 mph without really sweating it. The engines did sound like Catapillar engines alright, but they weren't loud or under stress. many of the CORP people seemed to be impressed with what they could do.

I once saw a set of SD40's take this same hill on a slick, icy morning with great difficulty due to wheelslip. The train even stalled out at one point just north of the Oregon State Line. The true test of any new equipment will be under a similar condition as that.

Fred Harrison
Central Point, OR
CORPpower/JSS/EORS

the unit did a good job on the 3% grades going over siskiyou we have 16 load cars and 1 empty a total of 2100 tons the units only use 65% of horsepower max and some areas only 55% we dint have a single wheel slip the weather was ideal the unit use only 403 gallons of fuel total from weed to medford having a 38% fuel saving and living room for mechanical fail er and weather conditions the test was a success i cant answer the CORP have to answer that