Model Railroading > Not going to let the grass grow under these wheels

Hotshot BN Train #3 from Chicago to South Seattle has a new crew on board and wastes no time in departing the yard. The short train is lead by a BN GP50 and B30-7AB.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

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Not only no grass, the're leaving before letting the ballast grow. Good looking train though.
John

SeaboardMan Wrote:
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> Not only no grass, the're leaving before letting
> the ballast grow. Good looking train though.
> John

The grass will grow faster without ballast.

Nice to see an intermodal train, something seldom shown in train video's. I do miss the cabooses though :-( So much so that I've back dated to late 70's and early 80's.

Cheers, Jim

Sorry, Ted, can't be #3. Only two units. Three always got three units, minimum, and more like four west of Have (LOL)
Nice train, but miss the caboose, which it did have in its early years. Not sure about the GP50 era. Certainly not with
a white face.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

Not very prototype these days, nothing gets out of a terminal any more without hours of delay.

Looks nice though and brings back memories of the good times.

ntharalson Wrote:
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> Sorry, Ted, can't be #3. Only two units. Three
> always got three units, minimum, and more like
> four west of Have (LOL)

Except for this train is based on a photo of train #3 from the late 1980's that was taken by Dean Ferris.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Looks like space for the new Walthers 85' flats discussed yesterday...(LOL)

boejoe Wrote:
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> Looks like space for the new Walthers 85' flats
> discussed yesterday...(LOL)


Exactly...In fact the second car in Dean's photo was the GA 85' flat discussed yesterday....and I don't have one......yet!

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Reminded me of the time I stood at the west end of the Santa Fe Willow Springs ramp in Chicago and watched a TOFC train of UPS trailers depart for California. Lots of horsepower up front and it had the train up to what seemed like 40 mph as it exited Willow Springs.

funnelfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ntharalson Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Sorry, Ted, can't be #3. Only two units.
> Three
> > always got three units, minimum, and more like
> > four west of Have (LOL)
>
> Except for this train is based on a photo of train
> #3 from the late 1980's that was taken by Dean
> Ferris.

Aha! In that case, good job! Thanks for posting.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

funnelfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ntharalson Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Sorry, Ted, can't be #3. Only two units.
> Three
> > always got three units, minimum, and more like
> > four west of Have (LOL)
>
> Except for this train is based on a photo of train
> #3 from the late 1980's that was taken by Dean
> Ferris.

Probably a Tuesday into Seattle train. 13 cars is fine for those 2 units even in a little snow -that's a little snow (or the GP50 will freak out at not being able to see the ties and quit loading), provided the slug doesn't shut down for low oil or crankcase pressure. The second unit is a slug, so they'll have to baldface back from South Seattle to Interbay 14 miles over 10 crossings, a ped crossing, and five interlockings. Hopefully the head man gets nice weather for the trip from South Seattle to Interbay.

Hmmm. If the time machine shows up, I'll bypass this scene and go directly into englewood's B&OCT pictures.

TAW

Nice video!


DLM Wrote:
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> Reminded me of the time I stood at the west end of
> the Santa Fe Willow Springs ramp in Chicago and
> watched a TOFC train of UPS trailers depart for
> California. Lots of horsepower up front and it had
> the train up to what seemed like 40 mph as it
> exited Willow Springs.


I'll second that - I've been there as well (it was BNSF then) and seen them depart for the west. They do not waste time getting out of there.

TAW Wrote:
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> The second unit is
> a slug, so they'll have to baldface back from
> South Seattle to Interbay 14 miles over 10
> crossings, a ped crossing, and five interlockings.
>
> TAW

Oh, that's no slug. It's just a B30 that doesn't have a cab.

That being said, I love it! Thanks for posting this!

- Jeff Carlson

bnsfsd70 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> TAW Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The second unit is
> > a slug, so they'll have to baldface back from
> > South Seattle to Interbay 14 miles over 10
> > crossings, a ped crossing, and five
> interlockings.
> >
> > TAW
>
> Oh, that's no slug. It's just a B30 that doesn't
> have a cab.
>
> That being said, I love it! Thanks for posting
> this!
>
> - Jeff Carlson

B units were often called "slugs" on many roads, although this is the first time
I've seen that reference used on the BN. On the Santa Fe, that was the common
term used.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

ntharalson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> B units were often called "slugs" on many roads,
> although this is the first time
> I've seen that reference used on the BN. On the
> Santa Fe, that was the common
> term used.
>
> Nick Tharalson,
> Marion, IA

OK, I can't vouch for all cases, but there's a definite difference between slugs and B-units, as slugs have lost their prime movers, while B-units are fully functional units that just don't happen to have cabs.

- Jeff Carlson

bnsfsd70 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> TAW Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The second unit is
> > a slug, so they'll have to baldface back from
> > South Seattle to Interbay 14 miles over 10
> > crossings, a ped crossing, and five
> interlockings.
> >
> > TAW
>
> Oh, that's no slug. It's just a B30 that doesn't
> have a cab.

We called them slugs, the term for a counterfeit coin. They look like a locomotive but are worthless.

TAW

Waaaaaaay too fast.

TAW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> bnsfsd70 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > TAW Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > The second unit is
> > > a slug, so they'll have to baldface back from
> > > South Seattle to Interbay 14 miles over 10
> > > crossings, a ped crossing, and five
> > interlockings.
> > >
> > > TAW
> >
> > Oh, that's no slug. It's just a B30 that
> doesn't
> > have a cab.
>
> We called them slugs, the term for a counterfeit
> coin. They look like a locomotive but are
> worthless.
>
> TAW

Certainly the B30-7A's were bad news. I think the GP60B's, called "slugs" on the Santa Fe worked out okay.
bnsfsd70, you are correct that the "usual" use of the term "slug" on the railroad means a unit without a
prime mover that uses power from a mother unit. The use of the term "slug" to reference a powered B unit
is unusual.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

ntharalson Wrote:
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> The use of the term "slug" to reference a powered
> B unit
> is unusual.
>


I don't know if engineers used the term, but among train dispatchers, chiefs, roundhouse foremen, and power control, the term was applied soon after their appearance and remained for as long as I was there.

TAW