MP154: UP 6471 West, a short train with eight engines

Except that, of course, when you actually examine the video, people will only count seven engines.

That is to say: up front.  There is a DPU at the rear of this mixed manifest train -- which also hosts an intriguing set of new UP coil steel cars  YouTube video here.

Above, UP 6471 West (a GE C44AC with 4390 hp manufactured for UP in 2000, one of 120 such units) leads six other GE locomotives:

UP 7452 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2009

UP 5280 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006

UP 5291 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006

UP 5290 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006

UP 5274 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006

UP 5261 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006

UP 6559 brings up the rear as a Distributed Power Unit (DPU), a GE C44AC, one of only four manufactured for Union Pacific in 1997, with 4390 hp.

As always, I recommend you click here for the YouTube link and expand fully whilst listening to the sound on headphones.  The only true way to experience my train videos.

Note: you can also hear the westbound detector at 154.4 activate via my radio scanner, which I held up to the videocam.

Some screen captures from the video itself:

Timing is pretty much everything, and I capture what I can when I can.  In this video, however, I managed to exhibit a train during one of the so-called Golden Hours of Photography -- the hour involving sunrise and the hour involving sunset.  Here, it is sunset.  Pure luck, but it does make for striking and radiant colors.

And what were the last six cars?  Correct.  They were the UP version of coil steel cars, now covered.

In the meantime, be safe around the tracks and keep your family close and secure in these tenuous -- and soon to be tumultuous -- times.

MP154

Stalled BNSF train in Gold Run

And not just any BNSF train; a BNSF train with the very newest GE power: two ES44C4s up front.

The story goes something like this:

I was coming back up to my cabin from having worked my week in Sacramento.  I customarily cruise by Colfax, Gold Run and Alta to see what, if anything, is occurring on the tracks.  I happened to catch a stalled BNSF train on the Gold Run siding, a mixed manifest.  As I got closer, I noticed the nearby block signal went green, which meant an eastbound train was approaching from the west.  I scurried back to the SUV and acquired my Flip HD camera (though actually my stupid Samsung Galaxy Note II frigging telephone takes better video), just in time to capture the below event (see it here on YouTube.  Please expand and listen with headphones for the best experience):



On point is UP 7647, a GE C45ACCTE, one of 325 such 4400-hp locomotives manufactured between 2007 and 2008 and, if you look closely in the expanded video, you can see the friendly conductor waving to me as the train approaches and passes.  In second position is UP 6214, a C44AC with 4390 hp, one of 167 such engines manufactured in 1995.  Third place heralds UP 6600, a C44AC with 4390 hp, only one of which was built for UP in 1997.

There are two DPUs mid-train, UP 5262 and UP 5277, both manufactured between 2005 and 2006, both C45ACCTEs with 4400 horsepower, of 301 such units built.

After the UP train had passed, I was waved up by the engineer, who invited me into the cab.  This was about to be a unique experience as I'd never been in the cab of any BNSF locomotive, much less a new GE ES44C4.  I knew UP locomotive cabs were absolutely filthy; I was therefore curious about BNSF cabs.

The first two BNSF units are 6508 and 6563, two of 92 such ES44C4 locomotives manufactured by GE in 2013, both with 4400 horsepower.  The third unit is BNSF 7680, an aging and fading GE ES44DC WarPumpkin with 4400 hp, one of 194 such units built in 2005.

Armed with my monster Flip HD and my phone, I placed my right foot on the bottom step, wrapped my hands around the white rails, simultaneously pushing with my foot and pulling with my hands.  I felt an immediate, white-hot and excruciating pain in my right foot and almost fell backwards off the ballast and down about a fifteen foot drop.

It took me roughly a half hour to hobble my way over the three tracks and back to my Tahoe, only about a hundred yards away on a side road.  The engineer thought I was kidding when I told him I believed I'd broken my foot trying to climb up.  Until he saw the look on my face.  I made my way, the next day, down to Auburn for a visit to a local doc-in-the-box who confirmed: yes.  Foot broken.  Hairline fracture adjacent the tuberosity of the 5th metatarsal.  Stay off foot for at least two weeks.  We don't have crutches.  You can buy them next door.  Stay off foot.  No boot.  Buy ibuprofen.

So how did BNSF 6508 move ahead?  It called for ancient power.  As you can see above in the video (again, after I'd fractured my foot, I still stayed to record this helper set), BNSF units 147 and 139 responded -- both being elder EMD GP60M B-truck units, two of 59 such 3600 hp units manufactured for Santa Fe in 1990.  It was like watching a '59 Corvette respond to a 2013 Vette.

Before I fractured my foot, however, I was able to take the below photographs with my Note II:

A photo taken just before I attempted to climb up into the cab.

(Right click on each photograph to enlarge.)

A little bit about the General Electric ES44C4:

This is a new model whose purpose is to try to make an AC unit as affordable as a DC unit, with roughly equal traction.  BNSF is, to date, the only major railroad to have purchased the C4.  ES44C4 data sheet is here.

GE indicates that, in general, the ES44 locomotives are "powered by GE’s 12-cylinder diesel engine, with the Evolution Series producing the same 4,400 HP as its 16-cylinder predecessor — using less fuel. This 45-degree, 12-cylinder, 4-stroke, turbocharged engine provides efficiency, lower emissions and extended overhaul intervals. The engine also uses enhanced cooling and higher-strength materials that dramatically improve reliability and allow for future increases in power and efficiency."

 4-cycle Model GEVO 12

GE also writes: "In North America, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway is using Evolution Series ES44C4 Locomotives as a cleaner, faster, safer and more reliable alternative to DC-powered locomotives. The advanced technology of Model ES44C4 reduces fuel use by 17% and emissions by 70% compared to existing DC locomotives."

The model indicates C4 because one axle -- the #2 -- is unpowered in each truck.  The ES44C4 has a variable traction control system onboard, whose software adjusts the pressure in the air cylinders and linkages on the truck side frames (see photos above) in order to vary the weight on the four actual drive axles and yield adequate traction under various grades and traction conditions -- where wheel slip may occur.  It is said that each center axle lifts for speeds below 15 mph so as to improve adhesion and get optimal tractive effort from the four AC traction motors.

GE mid-axle lifting linkage on ES44C4, close up.  Note on truck photos above.

 One quote from a railroad forum:

"My dad caught 3 of those here awhile back on a grain load, I've never heard him bitch so much about a motor. Apparently they're slippery and like all GE's, don't load worth a *. These were supposed to be a better alternative to the ES44DC's, but what I'm hearing is most would prefer a 6 axle DC over these C4's."

What people may not realize, regarding AC locomotive power in general, is this: if one traction motor goes offline, more power can be applied to the other motors.  DC traction motors can't handle the transferred load and aren't designed to do so.

This is, at least, the "argument" for producing double-truck, six-axle locomotive power with only four axles possessing traction motors. 

EMD also began production of their own version of a C4 unit, called the SD70ACe-P4.  As best I can determine, this locomotive (see photo of EMD Demonstrator #4223 by Karl Rethwisch below) likewise has two unpowered axles.  However, instead of the mid axles being unpowered, the axles closest to the fuel tank are unpowered.  Also, no axles will be physically lifted, as with the C4.

My question: did this BNSF train stall because the two locomotives on point failed to produce sufficient traction due to the design of the ES44C4s utilized?  I simply do not know.  I can't help but wonder, however.

In closing, one very interesting business point, from BizJournals.com:

GE locomotive plant plans to cut 950 jobs in Erie

GE Transportation is dealing a huge blow to the Erie economy, moving nearly 1,000 jobs to Texas with its AC locomotives and mining vehicle lines.

For GE Transportation, it apparently comes down to economics. The market for locomotives isn't as strong as it has been and the two new plants, in Fort Worth, Texas, is more productive. Plus, the Erie Times-News said the Fort Worth plant, unlike the one in Erie, is nonunion. The Erie employees earn about twice as much on average as the Fort Worth employees and the workers at a competing Caterpillar Inc. plant.

Here's the unspoken fact as well: Texas provides tax incentives and reduced regulations that Pennsylvania doesn't.  Or, on the other hand, is it simply the result of the purposeful decline of coal via onerous restrictions by the Obama Administration?

Thanks for reading, please weigh in, and be safe near the tracks.

MP154

Megastructures Break Down: Train Overhaul

Except that it's not a train, it's a locomotive.  An entire episode from the National Geographic Channel on YouTube:

Above, at the National Railway Equipment Company, headquartered in Mt Vernon, Illinois, an elder EMD GP-9 (I suspect former BNSF, though not entirely certain) is broken apart and re-created into a more efficient and modern engine.

50 minutes in length, but worth every minute.  Fascinating.

MP154

It's enough to break your heart:

Sometimes, whilst traversing that great world-wide web, one comes across things that, depending upon your personal inclinations and interests, sometimes just make you wince in terrible pain.

This would be one of those videos I recently encountered on YouTube:

As you can see, the delivery of a brand new foreign-designed EMD-based locomotive is made from a ship to the dock itself via crane.  With one teensy-weensy problem.

As best I can tell, the locomotive depicted is an EDI Rail GT46C-ACe built in Australia.

This locomotive was constructed between 2007 and 2012 at the Cardiff Locomotive Workshops in New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.  They were AC-driven units rated at 4,490 hp.  The prime mover was EMD's 16-cylinder 710 turbocharged engine.

Unclear as to the specific port of delivery, but one can see that the sling closest to the videographer is first to fail.  The back is clearly broken on this locomotive.

Ladies and gentlemen, that was a very expensive drop.

MP154

Casa Loma Road: I nail another train meet

And right in front of me, no less.

Certainly, there are times when you may catch, during your railfanning experience, a train meet in the middle or at the end.

But I have had some astounding luck in catching train meets on point.

Here is another such encounter:

The YouTube link is here.  As per normal, I always suggest you go directly to the link and expand the video, wearing headphones, for the greatest Flip HD experience available.

I emphasize that most of these train meets are by the dint of greatest chance; that said, I seem to somehow acquire more than my fair share of them -- though I am not by any means complaining!

Usually, I've been chasing one specific train only to have another either round a curve or appear unexpectedly from a tunnel or from a direction I'd not anticipated.

First, some details and then a closing comment.

From the right (down-hill) on the #1 track comes UP 7913 West, a GE C45ACCTE in Union Pacific parlance; otherwise known as a GE ES44AC.  Behind are UP 7490 and UP 8008, plus four other units with unrecorded numbers (for obvious reasons).  This was a pristine, bright and new GE locomotive consist only, with no other train cars.  I suspect this was a move, to the Roseville Yard, of additional new UP power.  All of these locomotives have 4,400 hp.

From the left (up-hill) on the #2 track comes UP 5275 East, with an older GE C45ACCTE on point, followed by UP 7384, UP 7446, and then mid-train helpers of UP 5255, UP 5052 (an EMD SD70M) and UP 7706.

Shortly following are three cars belonging to the Modoc Railroad Academy.  First is AARX 784, a red Modoc caboose.  Second is tank car MP 14592.  Third in line is Modoc maintenance of way car AARX 782.  These cars were in the process of being moved, as the Modoc Railroad Academy left California.  The website indicates:

Q: Is it true Modoc Railroad Academy has relocated?
A: The school has moved to Marion, Illinois effective 2-1-2013.

The closing comment:
I've been "chasing trains" since 1997, at the tail end of the Southern Pacific regime (at this point already having been outright purchased by the Union Pacific).  That means I have 16 years of train chasing "experience" on UP's Roseville Subdivision, from the Roseville Yard itself, over the Sierra Nevada mountains, right into Sparks, Nevada.

In that amount of time I have, literally, walked most every mile of that route from Roseville to Sparks.  Most of this is documented on 35mm print film, as well as some slide film; in -color and -chrome.  I have some miniDV video shot from a Sony DVX2000 that is highly valuable for its historic content. 

Some day I hope to take that content and create a series of videos appealing to rail and train enthusiasts interested in a bit of recent history involving both the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads.  My goal is to eventually offer this product on DVD.

My blocking point is an appropriate video editing software suite and the time to utilize it, since I still work after 42 years in the field.

I have considered Adobe Premiere, Avid (which I began to learn in the early 2000s and produced one VHS video), Sony Vegas and Apple's Final Cut Pro -- though I find Apple's OS more difficult to navigate.  It's not as "intuitive" as many people tell you, in my opinion.

In the meantime I'll simply have to rely on my about-to-become-moribund Flip HD, as well as the video capability of my Samsung Galaxy Note II.  I am considering the purchase of Nikon's new d7100 which has a nice video feature.  That, of course, would thusly demand that I have a said decent editing software suite.  Learning curve, learning curve.

In the meantime, thank you kindly for visiting, I solicit your comments, and be safe and well.  Challenging times, they are a-coming.

MP154

P.S.
As before, click on each photo in order to enlarge.  The photos above are stills from the video.  You may copy and use these photographs for desktops or in other formats, as long as credit to me is provided.  I consider this a very generous policy.

UP 5488 West, a pig under rainy Winter skies

[Note: before we begin, I must greatly apologize for the change in my comments section.  You may notice that I have activated Blogger's Word Verification -- a ploy I most desperately despise -- because I despise the nature of Blogger's WV itself.  This has occurred because, during the latter months of 2012, I was bombarded by -- literally -- hundreds of spam comments throughout the depth and breadth of MP154.  I operate and control four blogs and this one is, for me, the most fun to run.  Resultingly, I tried to keep it the most "pristine" and unsullied by reality, if you will.  Reality, unfortunately, has now come crashing into MP154, and I have been forced into taking measures that are anathema to me.  I hope, frankly, that you will still continue to comment should you wish. --MP154.]

_________________________________

High in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at the 4,000-foot level, less than a half mile from the original Central Pacific Railroad transcontinental tracks, I live in a two-story cabin that is now ensconced in the throes of Winter, despite all of the trials and tribulations this incurs.

There have been a few minor snowfalls, and a week of sub-zero temperatures which resulted in frozen pipes underneath the house and a nasty break.  Since then, the snow has been occasional, but the rains fairly consistent.  This video, recorded from a cell phone of all silly things, documents a Union Pacific manifest train rolling downhill towards milepost 152.  Please click on each photograph to enlarge.  These photographs are enlargements from stills of the video.

On point is UP 5488, a General Electric ES44AC, one of 141 such locomotives manufactured between 2005 and 2006 with 4,400 hp -- and labeled a C45ACCTE (the CTE for "Controlled Tractive Effort") by the Union Pacific.

Here, the video:


The YouTube link is here (3:27).  And, as with the previous post, this video was captured by a device that I'd never thought would result in anything approaching the quality delivered -- a Samsung Galaxy Note II cellular telephone.  As per normal, please click on the YouTube link for full expansion and listen with headphones.

As for the rest of the pig, the second locomotive was UP 7028, an elder GE C44 AC manufactured between 1995 and 1996 with 4,390 hp.  Third in line was UP 5271, a GE C45ACCTE with 4,400 hp and UP 5281 followed in fourth place, another such unit, one of 301 manufactured.

The DPU (Distributed Power Unit) was UP 7448, another GE C45ACCTE, manufactured in 2009, also with 4,400 hp.

Even now, as I write this in my second floor loft office (with window cracked open), I can hear another UP train approaching -- approaching the detector at milepost 154.4.

Hence the name of the blog.

Take care, be safe, guard your family and your assets in 2013.

MP154

Stack train documented by unusual video:

I'm certainly nothing of a techno-geek, by any stretch of the imagination.

That said, I am sufficiently facile as to update various forms of technology in a basic way.

And that would be: I traded in my iPhone 3GS for a new Samsung Galaxy Note II.

Frankly: I couldn't be happier.  The Note II has, thankfully, absolutely exceeded my expectations.

The first video I ever recorded on the Note II was this below, caught extemporaneously and with little forethought for editing or professionalism -- clearly.

In the video, a downhill (westbound) UP double-stack train comes to a stop for the red signal at MP152 approaching Secret Town -- then, releases its brakes for a few number of cars.  I acquired some detail on the trucks of well cars, air lines, air valves, wheels, axles and brakes.  Note that the WABCO proportional air valve, manufactured in January of 2011, is built in Mexico.

As per normal, see the full video here and please wear headphones for the full experience.  Listen to the creaking of the brakes as the air solidifies and then releases.  Below is the actual brake pad to that wheel in full application.

Overall, I am rather pleased with the video capabilities of the Samsung Galaxy Note II.  Yes, I see that picture went in and out of focus a few times.  And yes, I realize that it did its best with contrasting situations which resulted in backlighting issues.

That said, packing the Samsung Note II everywhere I go assures I likely won't miss some potentially important video or photo opportunities.

The current photo and video quality of various telephones absolutely amazes me.

And, bottom line?  I am much happier with the Samsung than I was with the iPhone.  And no, I'm not paid by Samsung.

Merry Christmas to all my readers, thank you for visiting, and please return.  I am not going away.

Finally: gird thy loins for 2013.  I suspect it won't be pretty.

MP154

P.S.
As per normal, click on each photo for enlargement.  Further: every photograph above is a "screen capture" of the original HD video taken by the Note II.  That in itself is -- in my opinion -- astounding.  Check out the clarity.  Or am I simply another daft dupe for technology -- ?