I saw a photo on Bruce Friedman's website that showed his visit to Conrail's Philadelphia Headquarters. In the power department, they had a simple dry erase board that showed how many engines where on the system, off the system, and to who. It's about the 6th picture down. http://www.chessiesystem.com/CR_HQ.html Brian
Here is just a sample of what I have caught going through Rosenberg and Sugar Land, Texas on the UP and BNSF.
You know,I'm actually getting away with stuff like that,LOL!! The Delaware Lackawanna RR and Steamtown are less than 5 miles from me,plus the Luzerne and Susquehanna RR,and the R&N,so I have 4 or so operating steam locomotives,a pile of alcos,old SW's,old geeps,[one still in 1982 PNER paint!!] I even have a Bigboy and a Shay at Steamtown,and I had a K4,so I could get away with those,too,plus the local modern stuff,and the remains of the D&H,all within 5 miles..Life is good..Oh yeah...One of those steam locos occasionally passes within 50 feet of my house!!
On the former L&N Main here in Kentucky,I've seen all UP consists,often. BNSF locos are a bit more difficult to catch,it seems,but I know I've seen them. I've even seen NS on the line,even though they have the infamous CNO&TP in the middle of the state. Lease power can be seen at times as well,they really add color. Only time I've seen a CN locomotive in person was when I went to Toledo for a race. There are train tracks all over the place near that speedway.
You do need to be aware of situations on the prototype that still demand odd power because of signalling or union requirements. If you are in cab signal territory, that kinda limits the lead unit to a home-road. That's typical of NS (CR/PC/PRR) across PA, but the trailing units can be anything. You'll see hostlers set stuff up with the newest units often leading, or air-conditioned, or other preferences. But the individual road oddball situations are minimal as years pass. The little AEI tags that are radio-reflective with the trackside scanners keep track of what has gone where. If you really want to screw up the world, have one of those fall off or be installed upside down. I was told by a friend in GE that a brand-new C4400 was built with them on upside down and was lost on CSXT for many months, finally showed up in Jacksonville. But GE and CSXT really did 'loose a locomotive'.
There are "other" ways locos get lost,too,LOL!! I have friends that worked for the LV back when,the LV guys were known for being bad boys,it was not uncommon for the LV crews to hijack RDG or PRR units,and take them for joyrides!! There was the story of a RDG GP30,they stole it,ran the crap out of it for a week,then dumped it on a siding in the middle of nowhere.After a week,the guys that took it "found" it,and they were heros!! Many a RDG loco supplied fuel for LV trains,too..
Lou, so is the LV responsible for the use of data recording devices? By the 70's there were at least speed recorders. I recall reading about the Frisco complaining that UP was running the pooled Frisco units at 80MPH. How do railroads track this information these days? Mileage surely counts, but what about time spent on foreign lines? In other words, what factors go into balancing the exchange of power? We might also take note of the fact the railroads sometimes use foreign power for locals, switching--and in this case, maintenance of way. This is an NS rail train in NJ.
What railroad is this? Why it NS of course! One day last summer while railfaning the NS here in town the first 4 trains I saw had unit consist of BNSF,CN,KCS and UP locomotives and nary a NS unit.
BNSF tracks through Western Oklahoma with Canadian National on the head end. Once in Sacramento I watched as a Southern Pacific train rolled along with seven locomotives on the front and none of them were SP locos.
