Awsome Video find


Nice video but, somehow, a steam engine and all those well cars just doesn't look quite right. :) It does look like the #3985 was getting help from some diesel pushers on the end of the train.
 
Boilerbuster said:
Nope it was not any help on the rear. it was all just the 3985
Click to expand...

There's something at the end of that train -maybe a caboose? I thought there were a pair of diesels until I went back and looked and all I can see is something yellow that's clearly not as tall as the well cars. That's pretty gutsy of the UP to let the 3985 be the only motive power on a grade with a train that size. All the UP excursions I ever rode always had at least one diesel in the consist just in case.
 
The excursions use a diesel primarily for the braking, not power. I was told this by the crew of Frisco 1520 on her final trip thru Texas a few years back. However, the Challenger has made several trips here with lots of passenger cars and no diesel help at all.

143 well cars, even if they were loads, aren't very heavy. Most containers are when full are full due to volume not weight. After all, containers are often stacked 3 high and the weight of 6 (2 wells) is borne by only 3 trucks. It isn't uncommon to see that many around here pulled by a pair of SD70Ms.
 
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Well if you read the captions the train was 7800 ton and the Challenger was rated for 8000 ton so it was near its max anyway. Still an awsome video to see an old steam engine doing what it was designed for. Most containers would not surpass 45000 lbs loaded as that seems the max as far as what I haul with the reefer and it puts me near 80000 lbs which is what my truck is Licensed for.
 
WOW!:eek:--even if the containers were mostly 1/2 full or whatever--seeing any kind of articulated doing that with 143 cars is still something!:D:D:D
 
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