Kaiser also got coal loaded on the D&RGW. The UP went in with them on the trainsets, buying new SD45's, and a whole set of Thrall gons. The Grande also bought SD45's (the first with large stacked Rio Grande heralds and equipped with UP's cab signal system, so they could lead), and in proportion to their share of route-miles for the Kaiser trains, bought a whopping 5 Thrall gons. They were the famous Coal Liners! I didn't know Kaiser also got coal from the ATSF!
A heavy coal train with a block of grain loads cautiously descends the brutal 4% grade on the Great Falls Model RR Club layout: The tail end also has a helper to add dynamic braking power on this heavy train:
They are pretty decent for my usual work, but the layout is not my work. Only the track, which I relaid in 2006. Thanks for the kind compliments, but I cannot claim credit for the layout... The grade is 4%, which is really brutal, and has 9 " radius curves which compounds the problems!
Heres an ABBA WP lashup of IMRC F7 taken on a 2' x 4' portable club layout. Here's a shot of an ABA GN lashup with the Empire Builder 15 car consist. At over 9' long this consist is best run on N-Trak modules... but... in this pic, its posing on my home layout mainline.
