Usually trains can't restart after stalling without getting more power. Maybe that BNSF stopped for signal 3526 and the crew waited for a better light. But what do I know I just work the UP mountain pool over Tehachapi.
This is one heck of a vid! Great capture! I used to live in Bakersfield for years and my father and I chased Santa Fe and Southern Pacific freight through these mountains! Love the Loop!
This NEVER gets old! I keep playing the video over and over! I would have laved to trainwatch at this location in person! I could watch for hours, And enjoy the sound of the engines at full power working. I grew up in a train town myself! when we were kids, We lived not too far from the katy depot in denison TX. and my grandfather used to work at a railyard in the west part of town. Which was also a tar plant.
This is my fave go to vid when i want to see ridiculously brutal horsepower at work,the thing fills the whole valley? Amazing,thanks so much for a great clip.
I work this mountain and often times the engines will over heat going through the tunnels. They reduce their load and sometimes wont come back up unless we stop and let them cool down.
Through experience, I have found out that the GE's will reduce power if they overheat; if either the radiator fluid gets too warm, or the traction motors don't get even air to cool them. They are also known to get "Hot Diodes" and would drop all their power. BTW, darn good video. Hopefully I will visit Tehachapi one of these days. A retired BNSF Engineer.
I would be willing to bet a locomotive fell down for some reason. They probably got it back up and running is the reason they got the train restarted so easy. The only other explanation would be the addition of helpers but none of them were added.
Terry Presnal, I have seen an MU lose control of one loco in the lashup. That loco was spinning it's wheels, adding very little to the pulling power of the string of locos. The crew had to break the train and double the hill, taking about 2 hours for a 5 minute climb. Phil in gorgeous Young Harris, Georgia, USA
A metallic sound like tinnitus, produced from the pressure between wheelsets and tracks. Unbelieveable the stress in the couplers behind the leading locomotives! We in Bielefeld/Germany decided to use a higher quality of tracksteel in our tube. So we have to change the wheelsets more often. But that was cheaper as the build in of new tracks. And the traffic can go on around the clock!
Yes, I know it's more about tractive effort and AC locomotives provide more of it than DCs. My comment was more about the locomotive consist and the NS unit in particular. I can go on in more details, but I hate typing a lot.
The Dash-8s are with CN now. The Warbonnets BNSF ordered as well as the ATSF Warbonnets are still being used and I see them often, I doubt any are scrapped. Even the ATSF SD40-2s I see every once in a while, especially around Barstow. As to "up here", I see them nearly every time I go to Tehachapi if you mean Tehachapi as "up here".
Awesome video, that is a very long train. I was expecting one or two bankers at the back. Restarting that train must have been an enormous effort for those 4 loco's. Unless they had equipment failure prior to stalling.
Locomotives have the most tractive effort when already moving and less when starting. So the less tractive effort means that it wont spin its wheels and stall again. They more than likely waited to see if they could get help or permission to move again.
.....about 390,000 lbs of pull before they break. Knuckles are designed to be the weak link by breaking to prevent string-lining derailments. Sorry for the long response. Just bored in a hotel.
True, this train is not long. the sharp curving is what is giving the impression that its long. thats why its climbing slowly and you hear the steal rubbing, It did not stall.
To answer some the questions in the comments, NO AC motors don't over heat, and the head end power is anywhere from 16,000HP to 17,200HP, base on if the units are 4,000HP or 4400HP.
Yep i agree, i a Loco Engineer in New Zealand, i would say Traction Mtr over heat, we get the same here and our old U26C locos with a Brightstar computer system in them does the same when down to a crawl on a hard grade
Ok....here is my take, and I have first hand experience with this (BNSF Engineer). When climbing any grade that has the locomotives in Run8 for long periods of time at very slow speeds, the traction motors and diesel engines themselves get to a point where the cooling systems can not keep up. When this happens, the computer will start to de-rate (lower the power/energy output) of the locomotive. Often, there is a point of no return where even the slower speed.....
This train appears to have enough hp/ton ratio to deal w/ the grade. The long train is binding up on the extremely tight curves this hill is know for. Curves create drag& the tighter the curve plus the longer the train, the more drag there will be. Woodford to Marcel is one of the areas w/ the worst curvature & it looks like it caught up to the power & caused them to overheat the traction motors. GE specifies that youhave to stop for 20min to let hem cool if your speed drops at full throttle.
you do know railroads consider a stall once a train gets below 5 mph. It's the engineers choice on weather to set the air then stop of try to keep going.
You obviously have never been to the loop. When I was out there in the late 1990s the SP ran trains twice that long with 9 of more units, 3 or 4 on the point, 3 mid train and 3 on the rear. The Santa Fe typically ran TOFC / COFC unit trains that would fit in Walong with 3 or 4 units on the point.
@lotsoftrains123 I agree the train must had coupled middle and rear locomotives to help pushing. What about if cars could had uncoupled and caused a severe tragedy?
No big surprise here. I was talking to a BNSF engineer in Larkspur, CO and he said that they were notorious for assigning "just enough" power to a train. If one engine goes out (most likely a DC traction locomotive which cannot handle run 9 at such a low speed for extended duration) you're forced to stop and cool the motors.
didnt you see that the train continued without any help after stoping for a moment, if that train had lost traction becouse of the weight of the equipment it was pulling , that train could not continue any more. those locomotives are dc powered and they have to run at sertain speed in notch 8, if not they overheat the conmutators on traction motors becouse amps are to high ,other reazon are turbos, if engine is keept on notch 8 for to long they overheat and engines prootect their selves
Maybe the European approach of limiting the max train weight to 2000T isn't such a bad idea. We haul our trains over the Alps with only 2 loco's with 80kmh
for a stalled train it sure stopped and started on a grade okay. Wonder if it ran out of sand or the locomotives had to be spanked or given a pep talk!
Fascinating; being out of the US I don't know anything about this operation; do they have a depot where additional locomotives can await trains to assist over the summit?
Igot you on the diodes, are they AC, or DC traction, does it make a , diff.? AC traction really wipes out DC, I"ve seen GE ac"S start out on 3 and 1/2 % gradd With 12,000 tons , incredible Machines!!
Looking at the way it took off I do not think it stalled, I believe it stopped for that SUV. You sure it was not a recrew?, because look how fast it took off.
They probably stopped it purposely knowing they would eventually stall. Chances are they were losing speed and their amps were creepn up. If they didnt reduce power they could break a knuckle.
They're always trying to get more tonnage over the hill with the same amount of horsepower. It's for the sake of divedends for those BNSF stockholders.
Usually trains can't restart after stalling without getting more power. Maybe that BNSF stopped for signal 3526 and the crew waited for a better light. But what do I know I just work the UP mountain pool over Tehachapi.
an all day trip there is all you need, it truly is amazing, you can hear the engine from miles away
I love the delicious irony of the very first container wagon with the Swift logo!
This is one heck of a vid! Great capture! I used to live in Bakersfield for years and my father and I chased Santa Fe and Southern Pacific freight through these mountains! Love the Loop!
This NEVER gets old! I keep playing the video over and over! I would have laved to trainwatch at this location in person! I could watch for hours, And enjoy the sound of the engines at full power working. I grew up in a train town myself! when we were kids, We lived not too far from the katy depot in denison TX. and my grandfather used to work at a railyard in the west part of town. Which was also a tar plant.
The sound in this vid is incredible.
One of the more interesting Prototype videos I viewed this week
This is my fave go to vid when i want to see ridiculously brutal horsepower at work,the thing fills the whole valley? Amazing,thanks so much for a great clip.
I work this mountain and often times the engines will over heat going through the tunnels. They reduce their load and sometimes wont come back up unless we stop and let them cool down.
Ah yeah, they automaticly de-rate themselves until they come back in to exceptable limits don't they? I reckon that may have happened here.
Would it help if they didn't have such restricted emissions?
Paul Mauser if you don't mind burning up your diesel engines..
Through experience, I have found out that the GE's will reduce power if they overheat; if either the radiator fluid gets too warm, or the traction motors don't get even air to cool them. They are also known to get "Hot Diodes" and would drop all their power. BTW, darn good video. Hopefully I will visit Tehachapi one of these days. A retired BNSF Engineer.
I would be willing to bet a locomotive fell down for some reason. They probably got it back up and running is the reason they got the train restarted so easy. The only other explanation would be the addition of helpers but none of them were added.
Terry Presnal, I have seen an MU lose control of one loco in the lashup. That loco was spinning it's wheels, adding very little to the pulling power of the string of locos. The crew had to break the train and double the hill, taking about 2 hours for a 5 minute climb.
Phil in gorgeous Young Harris, Georgia, USA
A metallic sound like tinnitus, produced from the pressure between wheelsets and tracks. Unbelieveable the stress in the couplers behind the leading locomotives! We in Bielefeld/Germany decided to use a higher quality of tracksteel in our tube. So we have to change the wheelsets more often. But that was cheaper as the build in of new tracks. And the traffic can go on around the clock!
I can't believe that whole train doesn't get pulled right off the tracks.
i know what they did? they put the two pick up trucks on the front and that gave it the extra hp to get up the loop..lol. nice video
A stall and a meet! What a day for you!
The setup of the NS dash 9 at 4000hp instead of 4400hp as the BNSF ones is probably what did the train in on the grade.
Yes, I know it's more about tractive effort and AC locomotives provide more of it than DCs. My comment was more about the locomotive consist and the NS unit in particular. I can go on in more details, but I hate typing a lot.
+tarmac2001 a door is open on the 2nd BNSF loco at 14:41, so best guess is issues with that unit.
The best sounding engine on Tehachapi was the 645E3 you cuold hear them 20 to 25 minutes before the train arrived at the loop
The Dash-8s are with CN now. The Warbonnets BNSF ordered as well as the ATSF Warbonnets are still being used and I see them often, I doubt any are scrapped. Even the ATSF SD40-2s I see every once in a while, especially around Barstow. As to "up here", I see them nearly every time I go to Tehachapi if you mean Tehachapi as "up here".
Awesome video, that is a very long train. I was expecting one or two bankers at the back.
Restarting that train must have been an enormous effort for those 4 loco's. Unless they had equipment failure prior to stalling.
Awsome video, Awsome location, it's on my bucketlist of places to go. Well done.
I think he stopped for pizza delivery
Great video. Sounds like a lot of stress on the track with the heavy cars and locos.
Locomotives have the most tractive effort when already moving and less when starting. So the less tractive effort means that it wont spin its wheels and stall again. They more than likely waited to see if they could get help or permission to move again.
super video thank you, what always amazes me is how they never appear to "pinch off" ...thank you again.. Baz
I would have to disagree. I see Warbonnets quite often when I go to Tehachapi.
.....about 390,000 lbs of pull before they break. Knuckles are designed to be the weak link by breaking to prevent string-lining derailments. Sorry for the long response. Just bored in a hotel.
Should've been a UP train. BTW, it didn't stall, chances are they didn't wanna snap a coupler. They probably would've stalled though.
True, this train is not long. the sharp curving is what is giving the impression that its long. thats why its climbing slowly and you hear the steal rubbing, It did not stall.
To answer some the questions in the comments, NO AC motors don't over heat, and the head end power is anywhere from 16,000HP to 17,200HP, base on if the units are 4,000HP or 4400HP.
Sigh... hopefully this can be seen on the Tennessee Pass again if BNSF purchases the line!
The 2nd is an empty rail train
Wow that's one long train......
Fascinant les trains aux U S A.On ne verra pas une choses pareille en France.
Nice shot of track train. That was not a stallec train.
Yep i agree, i a Loco Engineer in New Zealand, i would say Traction Mtr over heat, we get the same here and our old U26C locos with a Brightstar computer system in them does the same when down to a crawl on a hard grade
i go all the time but i would say fall is the best time
I think I can, I think I can, well maybe after a long rest I might...
A new meaning I think I can Now I can't
Maybe the engine was overheat or something? The train had pulled through the harshed part and been climbing down the hill.
Um espetáculo magnífico! A inteligência humana é simplesmente um dom que precisa ser preservada e sempre utilizada para o bem, não é mesmo?
Ok....here is my take, and I have first hand experience with this (BNSF Engineer). When climbing any grade that has the locomotives in Run8 for long periods of time at very slow speeds, the traction motors and diesel engines themselves get to a point where the cooling systems can not keep up. When this happens, the computer will start to de-rate (lower the power/energy output) of the locomotive. Often, there is a point of no return where even the slower speed.....
35 per day is the average
If they wet the tracks it would help the wheels slip reducing the friction on large turns like this making it easier to pull.
I wonder if that second locomotive overheated since the ground crew seemed to have gotten on it.
Ottimo lavoro come sempre,saluti dalla lontana Sicilia.
If only if a DDA40X or a set of DD35's were used as helpers! LOL
Beautiful loop, how to reach this view point? Where should I park my car ? Lovely video.
+Ramanathan Subramanian (rsubram24) Park at the Historical landmark and walk.
Denniss7420 Thanks for the info.
This train appears to have enough hp/ton ratio to deal w/ the grade. The long train is binding up on the extremely tight curves this hill is know for. Curves create drag& the tighter the curve plus the longer the train, the more drag there will be. Woodford to Marcel is one of the areas w/ the worst curvature & it looks like it caught up to the power & caused them to overheat the traction motors. GE specifies that youhave to stop for 20min to let hem cool if your speed drops at full throttle.
you do know railroads consider a stall once a train gets below 5 mph. It's the engineers choice on weather to set the air then stop of try to keep going.
That son is one long ass train.
You obviously have never been to the loop. When I was out there in the late 1990s the SP ran trains twice that long with 9 of more units, 3 or 4 on the point, 3 mid train and 3 on the rear. The Santa Fe typically ran TOFC / COFC unit trains that would fit in Walong with 3 or 4 units on the point.
A masterpiece.
that train stopped becouse engines turbochargers were overheating so they had to wait so turbos can cool off a bit and proceed
@lotsoftrains123 I agree the train must had coupled middle and rear locomotives to help pushing. What about if cars could had uncoupled and caused a severe tragedy?
They are moving at a RAGING speed of 5 mph! Wow olol.
No big surprise here. I was talking to a BNSF engineer in Larkspur, CO and he said that they were notorious for assigning "just enough" power to a train. If one engine goes out (most likely a DC traction locomotive which cannot handle run 9 at such a low speed for extended duration) you're forced to stop and cool the motors.
Great catch!
Super Video!
@lotsoftrains123 Right, this train never went above 15 mph ever since it hit caliente
OH MY GOD, the greatest of God, the longest train in the world, nice videos , thank
Realy good video and an awesome place
like it reason nice view and excellent for field trip.
didnt you see that the train continued without any help after stoping for a moment, if that train had lost traction becouse of the weight of the equipment it was pulling , that train could not continue any more. those locomotives are dc powered and they have to run at sertain speed in notch 8, if not they overheat the conmutators on traction motors becouse amps are to high ,other reazon are turbos, if engine is keept on notch 8 for to long they overheat and engines prootect their selves
Did you see how long the train was? The train was a few hundred feet too long, it wouldn't have even fit in Walong.
Maybe the European approach of limiting the max train weight to 2000T isn't such a bad idea.
We haul our trains over the Alps with only 2 loco's with 80kmh
awesome sound!! even though its not 5.1 on a 5.2 system (yea .2) its impressive
for a stalled train it sure stopped and started on a grade okay. Wonder if it ran out of sand or the locomotives had to be spanked or given a pep talk!
no, they just couldnt pull any harder and just lost traction. They just waited to get help or let the locomotives reload.
Fascinating; being out of the US I don't know anything about this operation; do they have a depot where additional locomotives can await trains to assist over the summit?
I've seen 120K lbs and we are flat almost here.
That was very cool to watch!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing
Chulada de diseño en las vias fereas
NOW THATS A GREAT VIDEO
I do say they need more power
This is a great video....
Igot you on the diodes, are they AC, or DC traction, does it make a , diff.? AC traction really wipes out DC, I"ve seen GE ac"S start out on 3 and 1/2 % gradd With 12,000 tons , incredible Machines!!
I wish there was a car at that crossing. that would be funny...2 trains, back to back
Looking at the way it took off I do not think it stalled, I believe it stopped for that SUV. You sure it was not a recrew?, because look how fast it took off.
Kudos to you, that was just feckin epic!!!
What an awesome video!!
Stall or Recrew doesn't matter... Great video. Thanks for sharing.
great video!!!
No doubt Amtrack goes through at night.
Amtrack only runs through here as a detour.
Yep. I live east of Bakersfield, within view of this line. An Amtrak is a RARE sight here.
Lester Hartness I come to this line all the time. only once have i seen an Amtrak go through
Regular Amtrak service does not go east of Bakersfield. They run bus links into Southern California.
Why didn't you continue to film the second train? Did it stall too?
Nice video
The had to wait for cross traffic to clear 8 miles ahead.
With a NS unit. Nice!!!
Hey Trent, did some helpers come and help pull?? I didn't see a clip of them????
They forgot to use Locos at the end of the train. Therfore they stall.
railroading at its best
They probably stopped it purposely knowing they would eventually stall. Chances are they were losing speed and their amps were creepn up. If they didnt reduce power they could break a knuckle.
just look for spots on top of hills and you will find a good one.
Thus avoiding a Transportation Board or other incident report/investigation.
Push boys!
very interesting, i did not know that, thanks for the info
They're always trying to get more tonnage over the hill with the same amount of horsepower. It's for the sake of divedends for those BNSF stockholders.
either sand or just cooling the turbochargers in the diesel engines
Ordered to stop until conflicting traffic ahead clears.
Ya ever get any Warbonnets down there? btw nice video thumbs up! :)
lol I just got off a UP Z train even though its a different name for my company
Great video! Thanks for sharing it here. When do you go to the loop? Id love to watch trains there. Thanks!