The most I've ever heard of was 15, and the most I've ever been on was 12. Usually, they've move 8-9 at a time, cause that's all there is to spare. Sorry, I was confusing SD80MACs with SD9043s. Currently, CSX has 13 and NS has the other 17 that Conrail had originally ordered. UP will on occasion do power swaps or run-throughs, so it our references have the stats for them.
These big 6 axle locos seem to have a much shorter useful life span than the 4 axle Geeps or the smaller SD 40-2's. Considering that they're not the sort of locos that short lines would probably want, what happens to them once the class 1's have finished with them?
Great question! Part of the reason 2nd Gen power lasts so long is that it was built robustly and simply. Today's big technotoaster locomotives are technological marvels and have loads of electronics and such in them. I think that when it starts to fail or wear out, the loco will largely useless without an electronics rebuild. Where will the loco go at that point? Scrap is my guess. This is all a wild guess, but most electronic things do not last 30-40 years or more. Simple appliances built decades ago were built to last, and were built as simply as possible.
That was an interesting bit of reading! I never thought to look how many units were up and running with a light move like that. I've been slackin' at uploading a few more photos from my trip up to see Ben and hang out in Colo. Hopefully get the rest uploaded in the next few days. Rainy morning at Radium. The sun did come out a few times for me though Interesting load Mike
I'm pleased that you included that interesting load pic (they look like they're underground mining trucks). What interests me in particular is it's one of the very few pics of an 89ft car that I've seen and specially in profile and it displays the loading arrangement of the 2 vehicles with one end placed over each 2 axle truck rather than keeping the total load between the trucks (something that was stated as being required with 68ft cars on the BNSF customer website) Other things that I found interesting was the lack of stake pockets found on the 60ft cars and that the sides extend above deck height so it looks like this car might be a converted F89F. There appears to be only fore and aft chains attached to the vehicles, I guess the side walls are sufficient to prevent side movement of the loads. Also noteworthy (to me at least, being a long distance modeler) is the Trailer Train logos as I was under the impression that they would all have been repainted by now. Just as another point of interest, I can read the number of the car but not it's type, there's a lonely post blocking the view, don't happen to know what it was, do you? The BNSF info say's it's an ITTX. Ray
tootnkumin, Those are US Army HEMTTs, commonly referred to as Hemmits. The BNSF hauls them on the UP through Colorado fairly often. Usually, as you see it above, as part of a manifest train. As for the TTX cars, the military operates quite a few. I'm not entire sure whether they've purchased them and haven't renumbered them, or perhaps the cars are part of a long term lease, but I've had them as part of a empty flat car train headed from Fort Lewis, Washington to Fort Carson, Colorado. I really want to start sneaking a camera with me into the yard, but the company has done a good job of "putting the fear of God" into me about electronic devices....
Ray, I have a larger file of the pic, it's a TTOX flat. A quick google search shows that all are Military. Must be why it has the older TT logo. Mike
Thanks mike, yes it would seem they have quite an eclectic mix of cars. Some with US Army on them and others from BN etc. Found some pics taken by Rob Ahlers Photography in 2010 showing trucks etc being loaded circus style and there a few youtube vids as well.
Here's a little something different. A couple of firefighting tanks. These two were used to assist with the DeBeque canyon fire back in July. I took the pictures in September and forgot about them. DOH! There's some really cool details here, though I admit the lighting is complete crap. For me, I love the old white tank. Sure, it's got the pumps and "monitor" on it, but the rivets really do it for me. Here's the "tender" tank. And, for you detail nuts, here's a close up of the hose and fittings between the two (but it's the worst of the pictures... )
Darn it, I've just sold off all my old single dome tanks. They would make a great kitbash. That rivetted one must be really old, notable too is the different tiedown methods to the wagon frame.
In the original picture, I can make out 12,XXX gallons, which, while not exact, is close to 110,000 lbs on the tank side. I'll have to make a trip back to the yard tomorrow and check. I seem to remember some additional water and firefighter cars on that track a couple of days ago. I'll also get a better look at the build date. As for power, that blue box next to the monitor is a diesel pump. Not sure what's under the blue tarp. Guess I'll have to find that out too!
Also neat to see that they haven't been "Borged" yet, always a treat to see older stuff in old marks.
Awesome photos k3ndawg! I have been taking a few around the western slope but have yet to resize and upload them. Maybe I will add to this thread this weekend. Did you by chance catch any shots of the two un-patched SP units that were running around here last month? Ben
Let's see if I can get caught up on posting some images.... Local Switching 10/8/12 Local Switching 11/4/12 Un=Patched SP 335 11/4/12 Ben