CSX claims (commercial) that
"csx can move one ton of goods 400miles on one gallon of diesel"
i cant get my head around this play on math. I have played around with some numbers and simulated two diesel engines (weight) and a dozen box cars (weight) moving across the land (grand total weight) across 1 mile. the only thing i arrive at is no change,, its not as green as it seems
This reminds me of the airplane or carpool concept, number of passangers miles per gallon or miles per ton in this instance.
anyone?
I think someone in Atlanta decided to take the number of gallons per mile used, subtract the total weight of the train, the fast forward the math taking in consideration the load only.
the average dumbass today would say "hey, those trains get 450 miles to the gallon, i heard em say it on tv"
You've got to include way more than one dozen box cars to get the efficency they're (correctly) claiming.
Diesel electrics are pretty efficient, but use a lot of fuel. The loco is going to burn about the same amount of fuel whether it's 10 cars or 100. If they returned power via catenaries to an electric grid rather than using dynamic brakes, the overall efficiency would be even higher.
I can tell you that a dozen cars is less than even a single engine will bother to haul. Driving across the prairies, I remember seeing an entire train from front to back, and it went on well over a kilometre. It was so long it was actually hard to see where it ended when we first met it. I'd say your two engines are closer to three or four dozen cars each.
You ain't seen Commonwealth RR at work, they are often seen with only 8-10 cars... Of course they are basically a shuttle operation, just run small EMD switchers, but do take cars about 20 miles down to the mainline...
BTW I talked with one of the engineers, and he said about 5000ft was the max they could couple up and get out of the yard... Why do I know these things??? Cause my three year old granddaughter loves trains... We've chased those bright orange engines, and waited for them at about every viewable location along the line... Being orange they're almost like something from the Thomas Train videos...
Thanks for the info, Tom. Using that 5000', if divided by the larger 40' containers, plus about 5' between for coupling, that's 111 cars. A lot more than a dozen, but that's also probably with at least two engines.
Using the small switchers, a train that long will have three engines... One of those is probably less than half the size of the large cross country engines... BTW I can easily compare size, as CSX services the Portsmouth Marine Terminal... We go by there also on days I pick up the grandkids from preschool...
NPBL RR(Norfolk Portsmouth Belt Line)also runs up that way occasionally, so sometimes we get to see those black engines, the blue & yellow CSX and then maybe the orange C'wealth switchers... On a good day we may see 7-8 engines and spend a hour getting home(it's only about five miles from school to home)...
http://wvgazette.com/News/200903080436 (http://"http://wvgazette.com/News/200903080436")
40ft? hell we rarely build cars that small anymore.... the only cars that short anymore are some of the hopper cars, and the coal cars.
http://www.steelcar.com/
that is were I work.... take a peek at the cars we build.:D
I just finished a project designing exterior graphics on a 20' rail/storage container. ;)
Tom have you looked into this from Lionel? (http://www.lionel.com/products/ProductNavigator/_ProductImages_590/6-30069_4839.jpg)
Ahhh yes thanks, we have that set, bought it at a train show... Got it for a ultra cheap $52...
Now thought I'd throw up a picture of C'wealth's engines... Being they are a small operation, I suspect these were purchased used... Though none is apparent in this pict, poor ole 444 is blowing oil and smoke badly, maybe it needs the correct Motorcraft PCV valve??? One day they had it running solo, pulling probably a half mile of cars it was belching smoke something fierce... They also have engines #1551 & 1552, and '52 is belching at least as badly as 444...
Beware pict is about 2.5mb
http://members.pen 15s.net/turbocoupe50/444517.jpg
Well the engine on the left is a chopped nose EMD GP9. The engine on the right is a Ex-Santa FE CF7, which it self was rebuilt from an EMD F7 road diesel by the Santa Fe in the late 1970s (F7s were built from 1949-1954). Both of those locomotibes more than likely are still using the EMD 567 prime mover, which puts out about 1500 hp. These pics should show how much the original F7 was changed to become a CF7.
F7 (http://www.carrtracks.com/f7254c.jpg)
CF7 (http://www.carrtracks.com/f72428.jpg)
Thanks TJ, I'll have to get a shot of 1551 or 1552(I believe wife has some), they are different than these two...
I should be able to figure out what they are if you have a pic;)
I forgot the specifics, but I talked to a friend who is a railfan and does derailment investigations/simulations for a living. He says the 400miles/gallon per ton is real.
I believe it's possible, because the diesel engine doesn't actually power the train itself.
OK let's see how good you are...
That's 1552's steps in the far left of the picture I posted earlier... :D
It *should* be an END hood unit (ie like a GP9) but I don't know what type. They all have pretty much the same end steps :hick:
LOL, not bad... Actually I believe 1551 & 1552 are EMD 1500s... More old stuff...
Wife's father and brother both worked for the NPBL and until they were bought by NS in '87 or so, they were running EMD 1200s that were bought in 1956... The RR purchased 15(101-115)and 31 years later, all were still in use... NS sold them all and they went to various parts of the country... At one tine there was a roster listing where they were, but apparently it's no longer on the web...
Anyway my father in law said the old 1200s were still in better shape than most of the stuff NS replaced them with... NPBL had a maintenance program that stayed ahead of problems and when they were older, would totally rebuild one or two every year ...
I'd need to see the whole locomotive to tell if it's a SW1200 or a SW1500. They look pretty much the same. They do look much different from the GP serries as the GP serries were designed to do anything from switching to road freight.
Here ya go... CR 1552
http://members.pen 15s.net/turbocoupe50/C&R1552.jpg
That's an EMD SW1500 as it has different style trucks from a SW1200. The SW1200 has earlier style AAR type trucks where as the SW1500 has trucks that resemble the "Bloomberg" style used on the GP and F series freight units. Why do I know so much about locomotives? In addition to cars I do have a thing for trains as well as WWII era aircraft. Basically I like machienes with loud internal combustion engines :hick: Plus when I was a kid my parents bought me a bunch of Lionel Trains. That helped get the train bug going....
Thanks a bunch... Living in South Norfolk most of my life I always had a bit of a distaste for trains in general... Had to change my opinion when I married into a RR family...
In the old days you couldn't get in/out of town without getting stopped by a train... Beltline covered the west and north ends shunting cars and N&W's main line to Norfolk ran down the east side... Wasn't nuthin' for mile longers full of coal from WV to come rumbling through... Had a apartment in a old two story that backed up to N&W tracks, when those coal trains came through the whole house shook... A few times a glass or whatever actually walked across the table and fell into the floor(floors weren't exactly level)...
Here's a picture of one of the Beltline's red, purple & yellow SW1200s I found on the net... They painted #101 for the Bicentennial still looking for a picture...
http://members.pen 15s.net/turbocoupe50/beltline108.jpg
Living in Chicago one has to learn to deal with the trains as we are the rail road capital of the US. I live near the Belt Railway lines and the yard is about 4 miles from my house. We get mile long freight trains on a daily basis in my neighborhood, sometimes multiple mile long trains a day. Plus any where you go in Chicago or the surrounding suburbs you can and will get stuck by a train. It's a miracle to drive some where on surface streets and not run into a rail road crossing. There are so many intermodal and freight yards it's crazy. You should see the ammount of rail traffic we have. Plus every major rail road in America comes to Chicago.
Every once in awhile on a summer night when the windows are open I will be awakened by the sound of a Nathan 5 Chime air horn and the rumbling of a few EMD prime movers on run 8. I expect it living two blocks from the tracks. It's a nice sound, but not so nice at 3 am;)
LOL
Guess I could have checked Wikipedia for the info on those Commonwealth engines, but it would not have been as much fun... They were looking pretty sad prior to the repaint...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Railway
yep, and 45% of all statistics are made up 74% of the time.