Wabash Indiana Video & One With a 150plus cars & a DPU :)

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afleetcommand
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Wabash Indiana Video & One With a 150plus cars & a DPU :)

Unread post by afleetcommand »

A close friend living in that part of the world snagged this video of a 155 plus or minus Car train with 4 Locomotives up front and a DPU around 54 cars back ramming this mass of steel up a slight grade...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uskewPJdR3g

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trainjunkie47
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Re: Wabash Indiana Video & One With a 150plus cars & a DPU :)

Unread post by trainjunkie47 »

Since the first time I saw that bridge about a decade ago, I've dreamed about getting an over-under shot with a southbound on the Marion Sub, and a westbound on the Wabash. Got to imagine my odds are nearly the same as hitting the Powerball.

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AARR
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Re: Wabash Indiana Video & One With a 150plus cars & a DPU :)

Unread post by AARR »

It's nice to see the auto parts box cars. There are so few left.
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...

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justalurker66
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Re: Wabash Indiana Video & One With a 150plus cars & a DPU :)

Unread post by justalurker66 »

trainjunkie47 wrote:
Sun Aug 09, 2020 7:12 pm
Since the first time I saw that bridge about a decade ago, I've dreamed about getting an over-under shot with a southbound on the Marion Sub, and a westbound on the Wabash. Got to imagine my odds are nearly the same as hitting the Powerball.
The odds of getting an under are fairly slim, let alone a coordinating over. I followed a Marion Branch southbound a couple of years ago, beat it to the crossing and was ready to catch it coming under the Huntington District. It went over!

Is there any scheduled "under" trains headed south to Marion?

afleetcommand
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Re: Wabash Indiana Video & One With a 150plus cars & a DPU :)

Unread post by afleetcommand »

One take away for me getting a few video minutes is they don't waste any time in that town! In my town the speed limit might be in the 10-15mph range. They were flying in Wabash as comapared!

And with these newer configuration massively long trains....that as to be harder on everything from track to traction. Wonder if over time the savings supposed will be taken back by maintenance of traction and infrastructure.

David Lang
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Re: Wabash Indiana Video & One With a 150plus cars & a DPU :)

Unread post by David Lang »

150 car trains used to be long. I've been on the Elkhart railfan cam quite a bit over the last few months and their manifest trains are, at times, over 200 cars. Now don't get me wrong, 150 car trains are big, but over 200 is nuts. For example, on 6/22/2020, WB 13Q out of Elkhart had 210 cars and on 6/29 13Q had 209 cars. I saw another one recently with 220 cars, but can't find it in my notes at the moment. 13Q doesn't usually have DPUs, so a lot of power up front. 200 car trains used to be 2 trains, but now with the reliability of DPUs, and to the delight of railroad managers and accountants, we can now have one big train with one crew instead of 2 trains with 2 crews. Good for the railroad bottom line, but a bummer for railfans that like more trains (unless of course you are in to the huge land barges that we have today).

One additional thought - if for some reason railroads got flooded with more business in the future, I don't think we would see more trains - my prediction would be the same trains, just longer versions. I remember as a young man being excited about more trains coming to a certain rail line for a particular reason. Short of additional railroad mergers, or other big changes, I think (in general) the days of more trains are long gone.

David Lang

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