[fiedlerh]

Since this has become the railroad thread, a couple of questions.

I noticed more pushers at the back end of trains lately. Trains here are typically 110 -145 cars (7 year olds love to count the cars). Usually one or two engines pushing. Never saw that before in the flatlands around here, but the line runs north into Canada. Must be the weather, eh?

How do they coordinate the power between the front of the train and the back?

[stimpy]

Originally Posted by fiedlerh

Since this has become the railroad thread, a couple of questions.

I noticed more pushers at the back end of trains lately. Trains here are typically 110 -145 cars (7 year olds love to count the cars). Usually one or two engines pushing. Never saw that before in the flatlands around here, but the line runs north into Canada. Must be the weather, eh?

How do they coordinate the power between the front of the train and the back?

if they are the UP/ Bnsf coal drags they are going to Waukegan ( com ed) or Pleasant Prarie WI ( Wisc elec) and they don't have unloading loops they pull push them into the rotating unloader and when they are done they use the tail end engine as a head end unit to drag them back , also they need the power to get up the turnout at Aurora to get on the CN tracks ( the old Ej&E) as its a tight uphill turnout but this will be ending soon as they are almost finished with the modifcations in West Chicago , down here on the south end of the "J" I see alot of them drags full of wyoming coal going to the mills or the power plants out east ( detroit edison /nipsco mostly ) its nice to see and hear the old tracks runnig again like it did when I was a kid . but it P.O.s the idiots who moved out here from the city and bought property next to the tracks . my other house is next to the OLd Rock Island tracks ans IAIS is doing a good job keeping that moving ( except when one of there old geeps blows up climing the minooka grade ...