70 ton Ore Jenny's
- Thread starter wheeler1963
- Start date
wheeler1963
Aurora & Portland Owner
I need to find a few more of those anyway. Thank you Terry!!
Rico
BN Modeller
I'd think on a short line they'd use what power was available and not in the shops waiting for parts!
(Not that the A&P crews aren't on top of things) but yeah, SD24's would be tres cool!
As for what cars to keep, if you ran say thirty six car trains you might have one set being loaded, one on its way to or from the customer and one set being unloaded to make room for the next.
In my case however the BN gave us one hundred and thirteen coal cars that made the trip back and forth as only one train. Ah those were the days!
(Not that the A&P crews aren't on top of things) but yeah, SD24's would be tres cool!
As for what cars to keep, if you ran say thirty six car trains you might have one set being loaded, one on its way to or from the customer and one set being unloaded to make room for the next.
In my case however the BN gave us one hundred and thirteen coal cars that made the trip back and forth as only one train. Ah those were the days!
If you want to customize, you can remove the turbo stack and turbo bulge, add a pair of non-turbo stacks one on either side of the dynamic brake blister, and have SD18s. It would be a fun project to make something only offered in brass.
wheeler1963
Aurora & Portland Owner
Not seeing any online though. I did see an SD24B shell, but it is getting pricey.
montanan
Whiskey Merchant
It does. It could have been worse. He was lucky enough to be able to reach out and stop the run away. Last year the same operator was pulling a 52 car coal train up that grade. He THOUGHT he had replaced all of the plastic couplers. He missed one on the third car behind the locomotives and the rest of the train went screaming down the grade and derailed in the curve at the bottom. It took him almost an hour to get the train back on the rails.
M
MHinLA
Guest
As many as your engine/s can lug; not slip on flats, curves, and grades...That is the limit for your RR. Remove enough cars til that stops. No ? M
wheeler1963
Aurora & Portland Owner
OK, we have a solution I think. I picked up 3 undec. Athearn BB SD40-2's. That will give me a fleet of 7 or 8. That should handle these little ore cars. 
Oh yeah, $20 a piece for powered, not too bad.
Oh yeah, $20 a piece for powered, not too bad.
flyboy2610
Loveably weird
Jerome...... ya done good.
Ore trains generally have 6 axle power. I lived in Phillie and those type ore jennies came thru there all the time. They carried taconite out of the Port of Philadelphia up to Bethlehem. If its a short haul, 20-40 miles then you might see switchers, but if its a run that covers hundreds of miles, its going to have power with bigger fuel tanks on it. Era also has something to do with the power. GP60's were generally used on intermodal trains initially, not necessarily because of gearing but because of hp/axle. GP38's and SD40's had 500 hp/axle, a GP60 had 900 hp/axle. Higher hp/axle = higher acceleration on a lighter train, its wasted on a drag freight. Having said that, the RDG bought GP40-2's for the Grace mine taconite trains from a mine near Reading up to Bethlehem Steel (they used hoppers and hoppers converted to gons).
Just as an aside, in S. Texas the SP and then UP used those type of jennies to haul aggregates (gravel and sand) in short unit trains. They were called "OJ's" (ore jennies). They tended to use 4 axle power, everything from GP38-2's to downgraded GP60's to even leased Amtrak F40's (for a brief glorious moment in time).
Just as an aside, in S. Texas the SP and then UP used those type of jennies to haul aggregates (gravel and sand) in short unit trains. They were called "OJ's" (ore jennies). They tended to use 4 axle power, everything from GP38-2's to downgraded GP60's to even leased Amtrak F40's (for a brief glorious moment in time).
wheeler1963
Aurora & Portland Owner
Dave, thank you for that explanation. To a non railroad guy, I can understand that now. Which leads me to another quandary. Let's say in the fictional world of the A&P, if I labeled my GP60's as GP60R (rebuilt) then in theory I could use those? Interesting.
All of my units are labeled by type. You can see it on the sill by the back steps here. I can easily add an "R" to it.
Last edited:
You could add an "X" or "AC" there. The X should be self-explanatory, the AC would mean the DC traction motors were replaced by AC traction motors. In the real world, it would mean the traction motors would be able to operate at a much lower speed than their DC counterparts. You can then replace the radio lightning bolt with one similar to what you see on modern AC equipped engines.Dave, thank you for that explanation. To a non railroad guy, I can understand that now. Which leads me to another quandary. Let's say in the fictional world of the A&P, if I labeled my GP60's as GP60R (rebuilt) then in theory I could use those? Interesting.
All of my units are labeled by type. You can see it on the sill by the back steps here. I can easily add an "R" to it.
View attachment 38110
Remember that era plays a part. If you are modeling the time when the GP60's were brand new and bought new from the manufacturer, then they would be used primarily in high speed intermodal service. If you look at the real railroads, that's what they did, high speed intermodal on mostly flat routes.
Fast forward 20-25 years, the GP60's have been bumped from intermodal service, many have been rebuilt, and a lot have ended up as just another 4 axle unit. There is a WAMX engine that looks to be a wide cab GP60 outside Wichita that serves as a switch engine at a gravel plant (it replaced a GP-9 type engine).
Lo, how the mighty have fallen.
You can use them however you want. I guess the question is how far are you hauling these ore trains, why isn't there CR power on the train to begin with (how did CR get them to you?). If this is just a short move, 10-40 miles interchange to someplace else then using a bunch of 4 axle engines would make sense. If its a long distance move over hills or mountains, it wouldn't make as much sense. HP = speed and tractive effort = tonnage. With an ore train, speed is not as much the constraint as pulling power. A 6 axle engine more or less has 30-50% more pulling power than a equivalent hp 4 axle engine, with virtually the same operating costs.
I have question, what does the "Owned and leased by A&P RR" stencil mean? Both owning and leasing an engine and leasing it seems mutually exclusive. Its like owning a home and renting it at the same time. If its a subsidiary of the IC, would they be owned by the IC and leased by the AP?
Fast forward 20-25 years, the GP60's have been bumped from intermodal service, many have been rebuilt, and a lot have ended up as just another 4 axle unit. There is a WAMX engine that looks to be a wide cab GP60 outside Wichita that serves as a switch engine at a gravel plant (it replaced a GP-9 type engine).
Lo, how the mighty have fallen.
You can use them however you want. I guess the question is how far are you hauling these ore trains, why isn't there CR power on the train to begin with (how did CR get them to you?). If this is just a short move, 10-40 miles interchange to someplace else then using a bunch of 4 axle engines would make sense. If its a long distance move over hills or mountains, it wouldn't make as much sense. HP = speed and tractive effort = tonnage. With an ore train, speed is not as much the constraint as pulling power. A 6 axle engine more or less has 30-50% more pulling power than a equivalent hp 4 axle engine, with virtually the same operating costs.
I have question, what does the "Owned and leased by A&P RR" stencil mean? Both owning and leasing an engine and leasing it seems mutually exclusive. Its like owning a home and renting it at the same time. If its a subsidiary of the IC, would they be owned by the IC and leased by the AP?
wheeler1963
Aurora & Portland Owner
Terry, with the stanchions in place, I can fit 1 letter. I wasn't thinking that far ahead I guess. I like "R" or "X" though.
Dave, as far as era, I'm flexible, so the 60's wouldn't be new by now. Flat routes is what I have (Illinois, Indiana mainly). They won't be CR exchanges (just haven't gotten those 3 patched yet). It'll be short moves between RR's.
History of the A&P, Branched off from the ICG originally. So became a separate corporate entity. So "Owned" by the A&P, and "Leased" out by the A&P. IC has no claim to the A&P equipment as a corporate entity. Kinda like the company I work for now. We have 3 companies in the chain but each one runs separately from each other.
Greg@mnrr
Section Hand
Jerome: I'm partial to the ore jennies that ran in Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. On my modest layout I'll run 16 jennies to a train and since I have nearly 300 of the little guys, I'll park a string or two on a siding.
All my ore cars are being outfitted with metal wheels, Kadee couplers, Chooch ore loads covered with Woodland Scenics ore and weathered.
Some are patched for repair jobs.
Greg
All my ore cars are being outfitted with metal wheels, Kadee couplers, Chooch ore loads covered with Woodland Scenics ore and weathered.
Some are patched for repair jobs.
Greg
wheeler1963
Aurora & Portland Owner
Greg, so the story goes, you bring them south to Chicagoland, I pick them up and move them westward to the Ole Mississippi, to be barged south for export. Sounds plausible!!??
Greg@mnrr
Section Hand
Jerome: Many of the loaded ore cars travel to the mills in Indiana and is used to make steel and iron. Lime stone from Sussex travels on a daily trip to the mills as well to be mixed into the mix.
I'm not sure there's much Mississippi River travel for iron ore or pellets. I have several good books on the subject and I'll check further into this subject.
If you can, watch the videos on John Tews' Timber River Railway which is a major ore hauler.
Greg
Here's one of the videos....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqe3d1dIUxw
I'm not sure there's much Mississippi River travel for iron ore or pellets. I have several good books on the subject and I'll check further into this subject.
If you can, watch the videos on John Tews' Timber River Railway which is a major ore hauler.
Greg
Here's one of the videos....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqe3d1dIUxw
