Western Railroad Discussion > Officer's Special - Explain it...

The UP Officer's Special with UP 4509 on the point, followed by UP 3951 and then the E9's, is probably in Oakland by now.

Here's a question, that even the crew (with two officals aboard the lead unit), were scratching their heads over... Why 61 Axles? We figured it out in Gonzales.

I will post a photo later with the answer.

Steve Carter
MSVRR

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Because one car has 5 axles

Perhaps one of the service cars, that is the one providing electrical power for the train, has a two axle truck under one and and a three axle truck under the other so as to equalize the axle loading because of the diesel power plant?.

If I remember correctly, at least one of the UP power cars has a three-axle truck on one end and a two-axle truck on the other end.

Jim W.

PX320 is right. As I recall, one of the power cars (either the 207 or 208) as a three axle truck on the end where the generator is...

Regards,
Burlington John

I have shots of the power car 205 and it has four axles, not five ... unless the UP changed it since I took the pix? Reason I am asking about 205 is that SPBoy listed it as being in the consist when the train arrived in Oakland....

Regards,

Burlington John

Yup, it's UPP 208 that has the differing trucks.

This is the undercarriage, taken of the Wimmer Special on the Joint Line at Castle Rock, CO, last year...

Nathan
http://www.drgw.net

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And a view of the overall power car, taken on an inspection special at Palmer Lake, CO, back in 2000.

Nathan
http://www.drgw.net

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Apparently this was obvious to everyone but myself and the crew. Here's the photo of the power car - UPP207.

Steve Carter
MSVRR

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Steve - I wouldn't say obvious, I scratched my head when I first read the message. PX320's comment was what sent me searching through power car photos, and I noticed that little detail I'd never seen before.

Nathan

Today's special is seen this afternoon at 16:00 curving through Moss Landing in hazy sunshine. Apparently was not of the highest priority--held in San Jose for nearly thirty minutes to follow ACE #6 and Amtrak #544 out of town.

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Domes head for Elkhorn Slough just to the north. Seldom used spur to the Moss Landing power plant branches off on the left. Yes, the "odd man out" axle had me pondering too.....

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Hey Shed47, you got my shot.

I was attempting to get to that very spot, but got stuck in Ag traffic near Chualar, were I pretty much last saw the train. Traffic on 101 was such that I only caught a glimpse of it and lots of red signals before reaching Salinas.

I've chased enough trains around here to know that if I'm not ahead of a northbound train by the time it leaves Salinas, it is nearly impossible to reach the slough before it.

When it tripped the scanner at 111.9 it was doing 69 mph, at which point I just reached Salinas (MP115).

Here's the train approach tunnel 5 1/2. Would appreciate feedback. Does this shot have too little train?

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Hey guys the special arrived into Oakland at about, ehhhh, 7:40ish.

Alex

Too little train? Maybe too much foreground? As to the odd axles, when we were young and foolish, we'd lift a VW or other small car over a street counter. I don't suppose everybody did that here, just for fun of course.

What puzzles me is why do they need that much power for just 10 lightweight passenger cars? I thought that Uncle Petey had a power shortage.

Con

DelMonteX Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey Shed47, you got my shot.
>
> I was attempting to get to that very spot, but got
> stuck in Ag traffic near Chualar, were I pretty
> much last saw the train. Traffic on 101 was such
> that I only caught a glimpse of it and lots of red
> signals before reaching Salinas.
>
> I've chased enough trains around here to know that
> if I'm not ahead of a northbound train by the time
> it leaves Salinas, it is nearly impossible to
> reach the slough before it.
>
> When it tripped the scanner at 111.9 it was doing
> 69 mph, at which point I just reached Salinas
> (MP115).
>
> Here's the train approach tunnel 5 1/2. Would
> appreciate feedback. Does this shot have too
> little train?


Unfortunately it does. You got the time right, afternoon is the best for that location. Tunnel 5 1/2 I've found works best with a long westbound train coming up the curve and at least a 100mm lens. With these 10 car or so specials you have to do a tighter photo. But points to you because you actually went out there and got it! I was on the way to Elkhorn but said the heck with it. I was at the onramp in Monterey when I heard "meet at Gonzales," then I decided to turn back to the house in PG since it wouldn't have made it it time before the sun went down or the thick fog rolled in.

Actually, the light was pretty damn nice around Kirby. Too bad the lead unit looked like it had been in DPU service over Donner for a few months!

Sam wrote:

I decided to turn back to the house in PG since it wouldn't have made it it time before the sun went down or the thick fog rolled in.

xtra1188w Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What puzzles me is why do they need that much
> power for just 10 lightweight passenger cars? I
> thought that Uncle Petey had a power shortage.
>

Only the 4509 is running. The 3951 failed, and the two E-units are moving dead.

Topper,

I can't confirm the 3951 was dead, but the E9's were powered. I have a video clip that captured the sounds of their engines. Quite differnt from the SD70. They were also powered on the southbound move.

Steve Carter
MSVRR