Steam Engine Torque?

[JDarr]

my guess would be the first train laid down going up that hill. (laiddown meaning that train lost all momentum and could not go any further) i would bet that second set of locomotives is another train giving it a push up the hill . I know at the UP we call that DP (distributed power ) and its done by a remote box on the head unit that controls the trailing unit on the end of the train .

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Hi Vaughn,



Ah yes,, those rickety old tracks are the ones! One of our farms is at the junction of the old NP and UP tracks. Just outside Waitsburg they shared the track to Dayton. That was done sometime in the thirtys I guess.



That meant the trains 2 to Dayton and the same two back went every day. . . .

Hey John, I made a quick trip through Dayton today . . . there's rail cars sittin' on those old rickety tracks! There were 9 or so cars sitting in Dayton with polished treads, and a guy there said they're all fully loaded ready to for pickup and traded out for more empties. Good to see there's still an occasional train rumbling past Washington's oldest rail depot







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[cojhl2]

Hi Vaughn,, Nice to hear from you. .



Waddya think,, this is the commerece center of the Touchet valley you know!!!:-laf :-laf



The engine at times is parked by the cannery I think overnight. I would guess that is where the 9 cars were also?



Remember when I said they stop to talk to people along the track. The other day I saw just that halfway between Daytona and Waitsburg. Next to the RV park.



I've been back for three weeks hauling wheat from Huntsville and Turner. If you are up this way and you see a light Green Pete with Hopper Trailers stop and lets meet.



I agree with one of the past posters, The diesels are captivating becasue of all the power and sound of power. But you just can't getyer eyes off the machinery of a Steam engine. I love em!!

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Hey John I was thinking about looking you up yesterday but didn't think you were back yet, but next time I definitely will!

 

[NPloysa]

This is true from what I understand. These tractors are displayed in running form in shows such as the "Midwest Old Threshers Reunion" in Mt Pleasant, IA.

I went to a Threshers Reunion when I was younger. I lived in Muscatine, a few hours from Mt. Pleasant. I remember seeing threshers and took a ride on one of their steam trains in the cab, but like I said, I was young and barely remember it.



Some friends who owned a Christmas Tree farm and a holiday/seasonal store in Muscatine ran steam tractors and threshers for a hobby. Most were the tractors with the "awning" and huge steel wheels. They would hook 12" wide belts to the drive pulley and run lumber saws, threshers, etc. for bailing. I helped one summer, was pretty cool.



Nick

 

[NPloysa]

And a little unrelated and off topic, but a quick question on DP power.



Let's say you have 3 head-end SD40-2s and 2 trailing-end SD-40s, the SD-40-2s have 3000 HP or so, the SD40s have 2800.



Does each unit supply it's max HP to the generator and they try to match the tractive effort and will the wheels spin at the same speed? Do the traction motors see the same amount?



Thanks, Nick

 

[cojhl2]

Looking fwd to it Vaughn,,



BTW I'm sure those rails were designed that way to keep the cars from rolling:-laf :-laf



I think I cross those tracks right about there when loading Wheat from CCGG at Dayton. Now I gotta look at that,,



Looking fwd to meeting you one day!

 

[CMAC]

I'm glad i got to read this thread !! You guys posted lots of interesting links and information. Everyday i drive by old steam loco's that are in most of the mining towns in northern Minn. It seems like every town has one.



Last year i got to take pictures of the last remaining DM&IR Railroad steam loco that is now a monument on the shore of Lake Superior in the city of Two Harbours , Minn. This same loco is mentioned in one of the first links that was posted in this thread. It is almost the same size as the " Big Boy" loco's.



I wish i could post a pic of it.

 

[NoSeeUm]

Nice thread guys.



Did anyone mention the dynamic braking ability of the deisel electric locomotive?



Jim

 

[JDarr]

The head end units are connected together with a MU cable so the the lead unit can control the trailing units so lets say you have a AC6000 , SD70 and SD 40 , 6000 hp, 4000hp, and 3000hp units the lead unit when placed in throttle 8 (full throttle) will make the other two units load up to the same throttle position regardless of horsepower . But the DP unit is different its controlled by a remote box on the lead unit and the engineer has to run it to let the slack of the train run out or in but most of the time it is used to keep the slack in the train bunched together so the stress is not on the knuckles , most of the time the dp units will actually push a little harder than the lead units to keep the train bunched together .

 

[JDarr]

typically 3000 amps of Dynamic brake effort equals a bunched train most of the time

 

[tgordon]

Probably compared to most of you I am young, but there are two sounds that I love to hear 1. A turbo charged diesel under load. 2. Steam engines under load. I go to a couple tractor shows a year and some even have the old stationary engines. At one here in central MI they will hook up the steamers between othertractors in the pull for fun. It is a site to behold when one of those 25 hp drawbar mamoths out pulls a big I/C tractor. :-laf



I stumbled accros a sight on the internet where they were discussing timing the cutout on steam engines and how it affected the efficiancy of them.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Looking fwd to it Vaughn,,



BTW I'm sure those rails were designed that way to keep the cars from rolling:-laf :-laf



I think I cross those tracks right about there when loading Wheat from CCGG at Dayton. Now I gotta look at that,,



Looking fwd to meeting you one day!

Hey John, thought I'd toss this thread up again incase you might catch it, but after virtually no rail traffic in Dayton since March a train suddenly showed up dragging at least 15 cars. . . grain cars! There has only been 4-5 trains make the trip to Dayton since March, usually with 4 cars or less. It has been years since a grain car rolled into town, maybe there's still hope those 108 yr old rails won't rust away after all??



Vaughn

 

[Drewhenry]

SD40 hp

"Let's say you have 3 head-end SD40-2s and 2 trailing-end SD-40s, the SD-40-2s have 3000 HP or so, the SD40s have 2800. "



Nick--All SD40s are 3000hp. The dash 2 designation is an electrical upgrade.

 

[Drewhenry]

Wonderful 20 cylinder sounds !

I grew up in Metairie, Louisiana. I came to love the sounds of several diesels, often climing the Huey P Long bridge. To the engineers out there-How do/did you guys like the SD45 and the SD9? They were my favorites. SD45s 20 cylinders never sounded so good. The grinding noise from 6 or 7 SD9s climbing the bridge was unforgettable. Ahhh those were the days.

I also was in the 844-then 8444- for the Worlds' Faire in 84 while she sat at Avondale. Southern 4501, SP 4449, and KCF Fs

Hope that brings good memories for all.

Andy

 

[nickleinonen]

i loved the sound of the sd45's under load. . i serviced an outpost quite often last year, and almost every week when i was out there, a west bound train would have some piece of scrap wisconsin central sd45 in the consist. the 20v645 is a healthy sounding engine under load. . working on those old beasts was no fun though. . i am much happier working on the newer stuff [sd70/75/dce, dash8/9/es44]

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

I also was in the 844-then 8444- for the Worlds' Faire in 84 while she sat at Avondale. Southern 4501, SP 4449, and KCF Fs

Hope that brings good memories for all.

Andy

Rumor has it Doyle McCormick pushed the 4449 to 87mph once headed to Louisiana that year. . . pretty fast given modern speed restrictions & regulations. Probably did it in a 79mph zone.



Another story I recall that happened on that trip involved a grade while an Amtrak engineer who worked the route was riding in the cab of the 4449. There was an approaching train a few miles away, so the Amtrak engineer said to pull off because there wasn't time to make the grade before the next siding. The Amtrak train (with 3 engines pulling a similar size train) normally slowed to 35mph on that particular hill. Doyle gets on the radio and talks to the dispatcher, and stays on the main, much to the chagrin of the Amtrak engineer. Then Doyle pulls open the throttle and charges up the grade with a full head of steam, cresting the summit at 60mph. They made the next siding with plenty of time to spare. The Amtrak engineer was at a complete loss for words

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Saw a cool RR ad on TV tonight. . . starts off showing what a hybrid Honda can do for the environment by getting 50mpg, but a train can move the same amount of cargo (1 ton of weight) 423 miles on 1 gallon of fuel. Of course there's some variables but I assume it doesn't include the weight of the train itself.



Doing some quick math I come to about 175 miles per gallon per ton of freight when hauled by a 18 wheeler.



Vaughn