Western Railroad Discussion > Back to the mines

Unit coal trains may not be very exciting from behind the camera. But even with the current decline in coal shipments often times they will provide something to shoot when there are no other options. I discovered this railfanning fact of life very soon upon returning home to Kansas in 2010.

From a crew standpoint catching a coal empty is usually good road duty. The modern aluminum coal hopper weighs a lot less than its all-steel predecessor, so a full train will be easily handled with just a couple of units. Here are 4 random images of 3 of Uncle Pete's trains, strings of empty coal buckets heading back to the mines...

1. UP 8425 with coal empties about a mile east of Home City, KS on October 2, 2016.

2. UP 6641 with more empties just east of Shannon, KS on October 11, 2010.

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3. & 4. UP 7140 leads an empty coal train over KS hwy 148, then over Shady Blvd on the north side of Hanover, KS on March 10, 2014.

Thanks for looking!
Lance Garrels
santafe199

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No. 2 is a beauty! Coal loads up this year compared to last apparently...

Nice pix, that last one especially.

Is there any difference in slack action, handling an aluminum train vs steel?

Really NICE series! I like picture #4.

Larry

march_hare Wrote: > ...  Is there any difference in slack action ...

Slack action has little or nothing to do with what the car is made of. I would say that slack action depends solely on the construction of the coupler housing & draft gear...

Lance/199

Coal trains always look good.
SD45