Why RR's Are Making FR8T Trains Longer.....

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  • GREEN607

    Master
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    99   1   0
    Apr 15, 2011
    2,032
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    INDIANAPOLIS
    ....and longer.

    Sure, stacking the cars on a modern freight train saves on fuel, crew, and thus the overall cost of transportation.... as they note in the article.

    But I think, they do it because too many times on trains near the border, the "undocumented migrants" ran out of places to sit on the freight car roofs..... :lmfao:

    Why Railroads Are Making Freight Trains Longer and Longer

    ** Let's see, $40 a head; forty to a car; 178 cars..... what do we stand to make today....Boss?!
     

    WanderingSol07

    Sharpshooter
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    Aug 7, 2017
    413
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    North Central
    They are eliminating double track mains in favor of longer sidings. This reduces maintenance costs. With advanced train control, longer trains, longer sidings, they can move more with less.

    Tim
    Lafayette (where Roadrailers are made)
     

    indiucky

    Grandmaster
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    12   0   0
    At one time (1970 or so) I had thirty family members working for the K&I RR (Kentucky and Indiana RR)....Three generations in some cases...Until I was 9 years old I thought it was the "Cane-Eye" because that's how we pronounced it...

    imag005.jpg


    kit61.jpg


    KI&T63TTrencansky.jpg


    rimg.php
     

    2A_Tom

    Crotchety old member!
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    3   0   0
    Sep 27, 2010
    25,978
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    NWI
    I love the RR commercial where they state that Trains can move a ton of freight over 470 miles on a single gallon of fuel. Allowable Gross Weight 268,000 lbs. or less than 42 That is a max of 136 tons per car.

    Here is the formula for our 201 fuel efficiency rating: (From the 2015 R-1 Report)
    • Schedule 750, Lines 1+3, Diesel Fuel Consumed (freight + switching) = 487,540,790 gallons
    • Schedule 755, Line 110, Revenue Ton-Miles = 229,562,353,000245,212,180,000 RTM
    • RTM per gallon = (229,562,353,000 RTM / 487,540,790 gals) = 471 RTM/gal
     

    Herr Vogel

    Marksman
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    0   0   0
    Jun 10, 2018
    180
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    Rossburg
    My understanding was always that you actually get better throughput with shorter trains because they accelerate faster, you don't need miles long passing sidings or double track to accommodate them, and you spend less on maintenance because you're not running the equipment at the theoretical maximum all the time. But I'm sure this way looks better on paper.

    [sarcasm] Of course, the only people who care are basement dwelling foamers who only want more frequent trains to satisfy their freakish obsession, so if anyone complains their opinions can be safely discarded. Right? [/sarcasm]
    Is it too late to blame Hunter Harrison for this?
     

    Trigger Time

    Air guitar master
    Rating - 98.6%
    204   3   0
    Aug 26, 2011
    40,112
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    SOUTH of Zombie city
    My understanding was always that you actually get better throughput with shorter trains because they accelerate faster, you don't need miles long passing sidings or double track to accommodate them, and you spend less on maintenance because you're not running the equipment at the theoretical maximum all the time. But I'm sure this way looks better on paper.

    [sarcasm] Of course, the only people who care are basement dwelling foamers who only want more frequent trains to satisfy their freakish obsession, so if anyone complains their opinions can be safely discarded. Right? [/sarcasm]
    Is it too late to blame Hunter Harrison for this?

    I thought the foamers paragraph was spot on ;)
    Wanna see some truly dedicated hobby nerds? Find.your local railroad crossing and look for the middle aged dude wearing a wood train whistle and a $2k camera around his neck waiting for the choo choo train to roll by. :laugh:

    I'm just teasing them. If that's your hobby I get it
     

    WanderingSol07

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    Aug 7, 2017
    413
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    North Central
    Naw, the pro nerds are not at the crossings, they hike across country or down the tracks miles to a vantage point (a broad curve on an incline) so they can get a panoramic shot they can sell to others for $500 unframed. Or they are setting up stereo mics to catch the Doppler effect on the whistles and horns. They also maintain a log of what they have seen and where, engine numbers, oddities in the consist, and so on. They also know all the nicknames of a road. My favorite was when Santa Fe tried to merge with Southern Pacific. Before the merger was okay-ed by the government they started repainting engines to be labeled SPSF (Southern Pacific Santa Fe). But the merger was denied and the nickname for those engines became "Shouldn't Paint So Fast".
     

    EMDX6043

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    Jul 28, 2015
    522
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    Hammond
    Railroad management wants to turn the system into a pipeline with wheels. There's been a die-off of local industries, due to other factors too, I'm sure, but they love unit intermodal and bulk commodity trains. It's easy work for a conductor who usually gets to step on and off...pretty crappy when he's gotta walk back 12,000 feet to swap out a knuckle after the train gets ripped in half cuz of the "trip optimizer" software.
     

    GodFearinGunTotin

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    1   0   0
    Mar 22, 2011
    50,582
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    Mitchell
    I'm not even sure there's an active track in Lawrence County anymore. Maybe the east-west one that goes through Mitchell.
     
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