Eastern Railroad Discussion > How Can CSX be power short if they are using NS Locomoitves ?

Does not make sense ...

Firstly, because Precision Scheduled Railroading says you should be a little bit power short. I am not making that up.

Secondly, there are many agreements between railroads that we don't know about. It is not always as it seems. Q131-Q132 originate and terminate on NS (Livernois) and UP (actually Mexico) respectively, so you will see UP and NS power a lot. That train could be a convenient way for UP to return NS units to home rails. A coal train might start at a mine on the NS in Kentucky, and terminate at a power plant on CSX. That plant might burn a type of coal found on the NS. So NS power might show up more often.

There is a bureau that keeps track of HP hours, and railroads settle up with each other periodically.

At any rate, businessmen always struggle with the question of whether to use and maintain their own equipment, or pay to use that of others.

It's often a serendipity move....train comes to CSX from a foreign road...train really needs to keep going so the foreign power stays on train instead of swapping power. Now that foreign power will be used as much as possible until it wanders back to it's home road. It's all comes out in the wash...assuming the power bureau is on the ball.

engineerinvirginia Wrote:
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> It's often a serendipity move....train comes to
> CSX from a foreign road...train really needs to
> keep going so the foreign power stays on train
> instead of swapping power. Now that foreign power
> will be used as much as possible until it wanders
> back to it's home road. It's all comes out in the
> wash...assuming the power bureau is on the ball.

The power desk will be all over foreign power if they are in debt to the owning railroad. NS a few months ago anyway was deeply in debt to the BNSF for horsepower hours. Anytime a BNSF unit wandered onto the NS in any service other than a unit train it was to be captured and returned as soon as possible. UP on the other hand had owed the NS a considerable amount and UP power was considered to be fair game at the time.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/18 11:13 by OHRY.

NYC6001 Wrote:
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> Q131-Q132 originate and
> terminate on NS (Livernois) and UP (actually
> Mexico) respectively, so you will see UP and NS
> power a lot. That train could be a convenient way
> for UP to return NS units to home rails.

Livernois Yard is Conrail Shared Assets, and both NS and CSX use its intermodal site. While NS power -occasionally- shows up on Q131/Q132, the train overwhelmingly runs with UP power, along with an occasional KCS set and even more rarely, Ferromex.

I've simply seen NS power a bit more often on the Q132 lately.