Western Railroad Discussion > Stalled trains on Tehachapi

Ever day a least one train stalls and now it is a BNSF 4104 S with a 7000' train between Rowen and Woodford. A UP 4660 is going to take the lead unit off his train and push the BNSF 4104 into the clear at Woodford.

Dennis

7000 ft trains with 2 units dont grab the rail enough.

Yes, and when the UP is finsih helping the BNSF train he will get in the clear at Rowen and wait for a new crew. Was the UP 4660 the one had to wait for a fuel truck at Bakersfield?

Dennis

H-MODSEL, Stalled 3 times Saturday, once at Caliente, at Rowen In Between Switches, and again at Walong In between Switiches. At Caliente it went from A DPU Rear helper to a manned Rear helper, Train had a problem holding air, Finaly got enough air to make it between switches at Marcel.

The RR's have "pushed the envelope" about as far as they can up there running long trains at or below 1.5 hpt with DPU's.

am

It's called mountain railroading and it has been going on for over a hundred years.

bradleymckay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The RR's have "pushed the envelope" about as far
> as they can up there running long trains at or
> below 1.5 hpt with DPU's.
>
> am


1.5 HPT??? There's no way a train with that low of an HPT could make it up Tehachapi. BNSF claims that 2.7 HPT is the absolute minimum...but even that doesn't always work out. BNSF does seem to run as low as 2.5 going westbound.

Tom

It's funny that they push the envelope on these unit's but im sure if someone was keeping record of the amount of Pinion gears that they have had to torch and cut to just get the engine to move they would start thinking other wise. A unit down costs them more then a pinion gear , better yet throw another locomotive on there and take a little bit off those suckers. It has been a problem as long as i remember as well, all i can say is OVERTIME pays well......

I'm not sure what it is now but when I worked the Tehachapi's, the minimum HPPT you could go with was 2.5. However, I have made it to the top with 2.1 but that was because we had a very short train. There isn't much rail resistance with a short train.

I find it funny that the UP, and I assume this goes for other railroads too, never learns from their mistakes. When one train stalls on the hill it creates a domino effect and everybody usually gets relieved before they make it to the end of their run. I assume that 3 or 4 trains a week that stall is okay with them.


steamjocky

"The RR's have "pushed the envelope" about as far as they can up there running long trains at or below 1.5 hpt with DPU's."

"It's called mountain railroading and it has been going on for over a hundred years."

Trains have been stalling for 100+ years, you mean? They sure haven't been making the hill with 1.5 hp/ton for that long.

timz Wrote:
------------------------------------

>
> "It's called mountain railroading and it has been
> going on for over a hundred years."
>
> Trains have been stalling for 100+ years, you
> mean? They sure haven't been making the hill with
> 1.5 hp/ton for that long.


Yes that is what I mean.... They have been stalling for many reasons for many years, that what makes mountain railroading interesting.

I was waiting Sunday Afternoon for a train at Bealville that I heard thundering from Caliente to where near Bealville things got loud then went to idle and then I heard "Houston we Got a Problem" over the radio.

Turns out (As overheard) the train, UP5718 got down to 1 MPH and quit pulling,and the dispatcher was going over many options.

I left shortly after thinking the RR was bolluxed but around 30 minutes later the crew called and stated the second unit was /had overheated and was running again.

Will the days of say 6 lead locomotives with another set of mid train helpers return?

I miss those days and I have many fond recordings of those days
Phil

CT97 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was waiting Sunday Afternoon for a train at
> Bealville that I heard thundering from Caliente to
> where near Bealville things got loud then went to
> idle and then I heard "Houston we Got a Problem"
> over the radio.
>
> Turns out (As overheard) the train, UP5718 got
> down to 1 MPH and quit pulling,and the dispatcher
> was going over many options.
>
> I left shortly after thinking the RR was bolluxed
> but around 30 minutes later the crew called and
> stated the second unit was /had overheated and was
> running again.
>
> Will the days of say 6 lead locomotives with
> another set of mid train helpers return?
>
> I miss those days and I have many fond recordings
> of those days
> Phil


I'm with ya Phil, and the thing that I knew this was gonna happen when UP put those flange oilers at every nook and crany on the hill that SP took out because of what them and Santa Fe ran into back in the early 90s. Yeah if this keeps going on, manned helpers might make a comeback!