Western Railroad Discussion > Union Pacific at Lodgepole, NE

Westbound mixed freight at Lodgepole, Nebraska from last week (11/11/22).  Long train in a 4x2x1 configuration.   

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And, making 40 MPH. Slow, slow, slow.

Does UP have any fast trains anymore?  Even on their "legendary" mainline, they're slow.

You can't have these very long trains and run "fast" in the same sentence.

More trains, shorter, FASTER trains, more crew starts, keeping customers happy is BAD.

Longer, underpowered trains, fewer crew starts, spotty service to customers (I'm being nice), worshipping the OR like a God is GOOD.

And then there is the "employees".....(eyeroll)......  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/22 19:37 by ns1000.

As long as the wheels keep turning and they make the connections the service plan expects, it's probably fine for most of the cars on this run. At 4x2x1 there should be enough Hp/T for this train (if they're all online, that SD-60 rolling last on the head end looks long in the tooth indeed), which I assume has a lot more empties beyond those spine cars.

Except for all those reefers! Those are expensive assets with high value freight when loaded. They demand fast car cycles even when empty. 

And except the wheels don't keep turning for these super long trains, and tend to die outside terminals and take forever getting into and out of them.