Steam Era unit trains?

UPCLARK Jul 26, 2011

  1. UPCLARK

    UPCLARK TrainBoard Member

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    Did railroads run what we call unit trains? I can think of 4 variations, passenger, coal trains coming out of Appalacia and Pennsylvania, iced reefers moving fruit and food stuffs, and mail trains.

    Anything else I've missed?
     
  2. Geep_fan

    Geep_fan TrainBoard Member

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    I think the NYC ran a very early version of intermodel from New York-Chicago, but I could be wrong.

    SP ran tank trains in the steam era that were unit trains.
     
  3. Jim Bernier

    Jim Bernier TrainBoard Member

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    A 'Unit Train' is a train that loads at a single point, and unloads at a single destination point. An example would be a unit coal train that loads in the PRB, and travels across the country to a power plant. Just because a train has similar cars in it does not make it a 'Unit Train'. I suspect that there may have been some 'steam era' movements from a single source to a single destination, but they would be rare.

    Your 'iced reefer' example would be cars loaded at various packing house, assembled in a yard, and moved east. They would be switched out along the way to move to varoius cities/produce wholesale firms.

    Passenger train have variable consists, and usually are picking up/dropping off passengers along the way.

    Jim
     
  4. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    The New York Central launched the Pacemaker service between New York City and Buffalo in 1946. I'm not sure this would count as unit-train service, but that was its concept when it was launched.

    [​IMG]
     
  5. HOexplorer

    HOexplorer TrainBoard Supporter

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    I count about 44 cars then the tunnel. What loco is this and how many cars could it pull? Do we have a model single loco that could pull this many boxcars? In any scale? Jim
     
  6. Flashwave

    Flashwave TrainBoard Member

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    That's probably a Niagra, might be a Mohawk, no, the Bachmann model can't pull half that without a susbatanial weight increase, can't speak for the MTH model, and I would not be surpries by another 20 cars off screen. Your best bet would be to trow some NWSL FLEAs or similar under every fifth car or so, and that's a lot of fleas...

    Maybe, if we hooked an O gauage engine to some N scale cars...
     
  7. HOexplorer

    HOexplorer TrainBoard Supporter

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    Morgan, Thanks for the reply. Wouldn't it be something though to see 50 cars pulled by one steamer? Jim
     
  8. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    It's not a Niagara. Niagaras had headlights mounted high on the smoke box, and their boilers were the largest of any in the NYC fleet.
    [​IMG]


    Older Mohawks had classic ALCO smoke box front bolt patterns, similar to Hudsons.

    [​IMG]


    However it could be a late model Mohawk, Class L-4b. They had flat smoke box fronts and smoke deflecters, and look like the one in the Pacemaker photo.

    [​IMG]
     

    Attached Files:

  9. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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    Here is my N scale 2-10-2 pulling about 50 cars and a caboose. It could have pulled more but I ran out of space.
    [video=youtube;yDW3hQhB_Jk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDW3hQhB_Jk[/video]
     
  10. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    Russell, do you think the 2-10-2 is getting help by "drafting" the caboose? LOL
     
  11. drasko

    drasko TrainBoard Member

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    My concor 2-10-2 weighted by me pulled 75 on its own on an Ntrak layout. My Hallmark 4-8-4 also weighted by my can pull 85 easily. I know, hard to believe in N-scale!!!
     
  12. bremner

    bremner Staff Member

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    The SP also ran a 20 car or so fast freight called the Overnight, 500 40' cars were built, 450 in black, 50 in olive green, and were usually pulled by a 4-8-2
     
  13. Flashwave

    Flashwave TrainBoard Member

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    Actually, not it's not, as I think about it. The weight pf the cars can be much lighter, ad still keep the center of gravity low. Thing I see a lot more though, is still light cars stringlining around the Ntrak layouts like a mile long piece of string, so I don't count that as "pulling" it.
     
  14. mg_thomastx

    mg_thomastx TrainBoard Member

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    Sunday River Productions has a color video section dedicated to this particular scene, a late Mohawk and brand new
    Pacemaker box cars, in Hudsons Along the Mohawk. Fascinating to watch. I like Southwestern steam but the
    New York Central has always fascinated me.

    Mark


     
  15. fitz

    fitz TrainBoard Member

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    That was Mohawk L-4a 3100, a Lima product, used in publicity photos for the Pacemaker freights. New York Central also pioneered trailers on flatcars. Go visit the Fallen Flag forum New York Central. We welcome all folks interested in the Central. :tb-biggrin:
     
  16. HOexplorer

    HOexplorer TrainBoard Supporter

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    Russell, Thanks for the video. Never saw that before. Makes my 7 car trains look kinda puny. Jim
     
  17. SteamDonkey74

    SteamDonkey74 TrainBoard Supporter

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    I suppose by the load a single type of commodity at a single point and take it to a single point definition of a unit train would include almost every log train in the woods. Most of these were not fast trains, not unless, of course, you consider 9 mph fast.
     
  18. RailMix

    RailMix TrainBoard Member

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    What about ore trains on roads like the DM&IR? I'm thinking those would qualify.
     
  19. SteamDonkey74

    SteamDonkey74 TrainBoard Supporter

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    Good point. Great Northern ran some of these, too. There's a segment on these on Pentrex's video on the GN.
     
  20. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    Then there's the Butte, Anaconda and Pacific that ran trains point-to-point with only copper ore. Though it was all electric, not steam, until it dieselized in 1967. The BA&P also was licensed as a common-carrier that also ran mixed-freight and passenger trains.
     

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