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| 02/14/2011 9:44am |
Is there less locomotive variety now? |
Bryce Denny |
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Locally in Shreveport, I used to go out almost every day to take train pictures (usually by eating lunch at Wilson Alley). When I would submit pictures here, it was rare to find a duplicate (and at that time, I had more photos on here).
Now, with around 550 photos here, I find that about half my roster shots for the KCS and about 1/3 for the UP are duplicates (locomotive and pose) of photos I have already posted here.
I assume the cut in variety stems from a cutback in locomotives due to the recession. Has anyone else noticed a reduction in the variety of motive power?
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| 02/14/2011 10:00am |
RE: Is there less locomotive variety now? |
Erik Edmonds |
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Well i know when i vist the BNSF Cherokee Yard in tulsa all the power i see come though on trains are differnt locomotives that i havent shot before. But as for the loco trimmer sets they get changed out about every time i go down there.
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| 02/14/2011 10:08am |
RE: Is there less locomotive variety now? |
Bryce Denny |
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I need to clarify: I know that there are generally fewer locomotives out there right now. However, even during the height of the recession, I would still see a variety of locomotives locally. Now, I see the same locomotives over and over (UP and KCS). The TXU coal unit train (BNSF and KCS) has had a high level of power duplication that wasn't there a year or two.
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| 02/14/2011 10:48am |
RE: Is there less locomotive variety now? |
Larry Gholson |
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I see it here on the UP. Coal and grain trains are very predictable. The same sets of power seem to cycle for months without being broken up.
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| 02/14/2011 11:18am |
RE: Is there less locomotive variety now? |
George Canham |
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Fewer models are certainly the case.
Sets on unit trains are not a surprise. Once a group is assigned to a unit train it makes sense to keep them together until the units need periodic inspection/maintenance. On lines that have relatively flat terrain sets work very well. Where there are varieties of elevation and steep grades it may or may not make sense.
One dispatcher I know has said that it makes sense for their road to keep DP on a train all the way rather than add a manned helper set and remove it once over "the hump." The time and labor costs involved delaying the train to add/remove manned helpers is apparently more costly than the tie up of equipment and idling power fuel costs where the additional units are not needed on a run.
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| 02/14/2011 12:54pm |
RE: Is there less locomotive variety now? |
Bill Hedges |
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Since one of my goals is to capture every number of BNSF, I am usually pleasently surprised by the constant new numbers. I figured I'd be getting almost all repeats by now(anybody collect baseball cards and get all double, triples or worse in a pack?). Maybe because of the mountains or we're just lucky in Denver.
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| 02/14/2011 2:50pm |
RE: Is there less locomotive variety now? |
Dave Cenci |
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In my neck of da woods (Port Huron, MI area)..some trains run back and forth with the same power sets..but generally I rarely see the same engines twice in a year (guess I dont get out much..lol). The exceptions are the engines CSX assigns to the PH&D..and the GTW's local/yard power.
Variety, atleast in Michigan, can be comical at times. A CN C40-8M with a GTW GP9R assisting it on a train torwards Detroit for example. We do get quite a few BC Rail GE's on the CN/GTW Flint sub..as well as the 'new' C40-8/W's from time to time. But there is the usual glut of C44-9W's and SD70/75 varients as well.
I do miss all the SD40 types that were running around everywhere..oh well.
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| 02/15/2011 5:24pm |
RE: Is there less locomotive variety now? |
Darren Oliver |
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Variety is there. You just need a locomotive guide to decipher the difference between them because they all look similar.
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| 02/15/2011 6:51pm |
RE: Is there less locomotive variety now? |
Bill Miller |
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There is a lot less variety of new stuff than there used to be, but that can also be skewed depending on where you are. If you were to spend your life in the Power River Basin and surrounding area, you would see almost exclusively A/C power and probably never 75% of the rest of the BNSF roster. Life on the BNSF transcon in New Mexico and the story is completely reversed.
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