Eastern Railroad Discussion > Any NS guys able to confirm this?

Preface: This was seen on the internet, so it must be true, right? [insert 'wink' & 'grin' emoticons here]

Seeing a story that NS is so short on power that they recently [unknown which day] had a helper set of SD70ACU's from Altoona stay on a 25Z all the way to Chicago & get put into road service, now possibly down in Florida somewhere? From what I'm hearing from the radio this morning in Altoona, it seems that helper units of SD70ACU's or crews are at a premium today.

Can’t speak for 25Z, but two of the ACUs with helper boxes lead 215 down the CNO&TP last week. Might be the same pair.

Posted from iPhone

Sounds like it; thanks!

Don’t work for NS but live along the LEHL in NJ. From an anecdotal observation point of view, recent observations of trains like 21m which generally rate 3 units recently have seen with just 2. Oil/ethanol trains usually head east with 3 then west with 2. No proof of anything just what I see trackside from time to time. Also one odd thing the w/b tank trains seem to only have one unit on line. Makes for a good show pulling the hill but oh so slow.

Posted from iPhone

reel_smooth Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Preface: This was seen on the internet, so it must
> be true, right?
>
> Seeing a story that NS is so short on power that
> they recently had a helper set of SD70ACU's from
> Altoona stay on a 25Z all the way to Chicago & get
> put into road service, now possibly down in
> Florida somewhere? From what I'm hearing from the
> radio this morning in Altoona, it seems that
> helper units of SD70ACU's or crews are at a
> premium today.

All the power they will ever need is sitting on the dead line in Altoona.

abyler Wrote:
All the power they will ever need is sitting on the dead line in Altoona.


That power will probably stay there for the considerable future when you keep in mind the number of JBS workers that have been furloughed. NS did it to themselves by cutting jobs all to bolster stock prices. NS mismanagement at its finest!! Well dumb NS!! Well dumb!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/21 11:23 by Short-Hood-Lead.

pal77 Wrote:
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> Don’t work for NS but live along the LEHL in NJ.
> From an anecdotal observation point of view,
> recent observations of trains like 21m which
> generally rate 3 units recently have seen with
> just 2. Oil/ethanol trains usually head east with
> 3 then west with 2. No proof of anything just
> what I see trackside from time to time. Also one
> odd thing the w/b tank trains seem to only have
> one unit on line. Makes for a good show pulling
> the hill but oh so slow.
>
> Posted from iPhone

It’s not just tank trains. From what I hear, the number of units on line is based on how many units Trip Optimizer says they need for their tonnage.

Back when they used to run more trains out of Allentown, there were lots of times a westbound would call Lehigh Line and tell them they were only doing 15 mph up the hill. They would ask for permission to put another unit on line and would be told “Trip Optimizer says you only need two units, and the Chief Dispatcher said no, so go like that”.

Best comment was when he told a 15T one night, “just do the best you can and when you stall, just stall somewhere where you’re not blocking any crossings”.

Doug Wetherhold
Macungie, PA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/21 11:35 by ALCO630.

Sounds like the SD45 units will be around for a while longer.

Posted from Android

Lots of BNSF and other foreign power lately.

Lots of NS power showing up on the Fort Madison IA and Flagstaff AZ cameras.

Posted from Android

ALCO630 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> pal77 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Don’t work for NS but live along the LEHL in
> NJ.
> > From an anecdotal observation point of view,
> > recent observations of trains like 21m which
> > generally rate 3 units recently have seen with
> > just 2. Oil/ethanol trains usually head east
> with
> > 3 then west with 2. No proof of anything just
> > what I see trackside from time to time. Also
> one
> > odd thing the w/b tank trains seem to only have
> > one unit on line. Makes for a good show
> pulling
> > the hill but oh so slow.
> >
> > Posted from iPhone
>
> It’s not just tank trains. From what I hear, the
> number of units on line is based on how many units
> Trip Optimizer says they need for their tonnage.
>
> Back when they used to run more trains out of
> Allentown, there were lots of times a westbound
> would call Lehigh Line and tell them they were
> only doing 15 mph up the hill. They would ask for
> permission to put another unit on line and would
> be told “Trip Optimizer says you only need two
> units, and the Chief Dispatcher said no, so go
> like that”.
>
> Best comment was when he told a 15T one night,
> “just do the best you can and when you stall,
> just stall somewhere where you’re not blocking
> any crossings”.

It seems that once trains hit the Harrisburg line heading west, the crews are sometimes allowed to bring additional units on line. I’ve heard it a few times with 21M (told to turn off trip optimizer and bring a unit online to increase speed), and today I heard a crew on a 19G told they were allowed two units pulling out of Reading due to tonnage picked up there. That crew sounded pleasantly surprised!

Dan

NS has to get rid of the empty suit Squires.  He actually said NS is a technology company and not a railroad.  He is a useless POS  and a Wall Street bootlicker.  NS used to be the best eastern railroad but CSX has passed them up and that's saying a lot!

The SD70ACU's that were kept in Rockport yard (Cleveland, Ohio) have been MIA and as of late NS has started using GP's for mainline leaders on freight and intermodal.

Posted from Android

raytc1944 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> NS has to get rid of the empty suit Squires.  He
> actually said NS is a technology company and not a
> railroad.  He is a useless POS  and a Wall
> Street bootlicker.  NS used to be the best
> eastern railroad but CSX has passed them up and
> that's saying a lot!

I’m not a fan of the focus on OR but, if Squires can’t achieve a 60 OR by the end of this year, I suspect you’ll get your wish.

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/21 08:13 by Juniata.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> Lots of NS power showing up on the Fort Madison IA
> and Flagstaff AZ cameras.
>
> Posted from Android
I happened to turn on the Ft Madison rail cam at 0115 EST Sat 3/6 and saw two NS units (led by Heritage Unit Savannah & Atlanta) coming off the bridge with their train and passing the camera. 

boejoe Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lackawanna484 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Lots of NS power showing up on the Fort Madison
> IA
> > and Flagstaff AZ cameras.
> >
> > Posted from Android
> I happened to turn on the Ft Madison rail cam at
> 0115 EST Sat 3/6 and saw two NS units (led by
> Heritage Unit Savannah & Atlanta) coming off the
> bridge with their train and passing the camera. 


Yes. There are quite a few NS units as DPU, as well.

Forever-Railfan-45 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The SD70ACU's that were kept in Rockport yard
> (Cleveland, Ohio) have been MIA and as of late NS
> has started using GP's for mainline leaders on
> freight and intermodal.
>
> Posted from Android

You simply cannot make this stuff up.....

Yes, they ARE short on power.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/21 15:37 by ns1000.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lots of NS power showing up on the Fort Madison IA
> and Flagstaff AZ cameras.
>
> Posted from Android

Was just getting ready to comment that I've seen a lot of NS locos this week coming through Marceline for some reason. 

ALCO630 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> It’s not just tank trains. From what I hear, the
> number of units on line is based on how many units
> Trip Optimizer says they need for their tonnage.

Doesn't really have to do with Trip Optimizer.  Number of allowable locomotives online is ruled by NS's Horsepower Per Ton (HPT) ratings.  Each line segment is given a HPT rating for each different type of train (Premium Intermodal, Intermodal, General Merchandise, Unit or Bulk Commodity, etc).  The wheel report will list how many locomotives you can have online per HPT, based on your train type and the territory you are operating over.

Trip Optimizer is a software system, that operates the train on a sort of "cruise control," that will adjust power levels throughout the consist for optimum fuel efficiency.  In some instances, it will have trailing units at idle, and only use the lead locomotive for power.  Or, trailing units may be at reduced power compared to the leader.  Which locomotives are online, which are isolated, and which ones have dynamic brakes cut out must all be verfied in Trip Optimizer when the engineer is setting it up.  Newer locomotives have the ability to monitor each locomotive in the consist for online or dynamic brake status automatically, while others can only be input manually.  The newest versions of Trip Optimizer are integrated into PTC, and will adjust the speed according to upcoming signal changes or slow orders that require a speed reduction.