@Hot Water posted:…the axle loadings on the Santa Fe 2900 class is a whopping 77,500 lbs per axle, while the UP 4000 class is only 67,800 lbs per axle.
It is those high axle loadings that will restrict where this locomotive can operate.
To put those axle loadings in context:
- A big, heavy, 6-axle diesel has axle loadings of 70,000 to 73,000 pounds.
- NKP 765 comes in around 64,000 pounds.
- N&W 611 is around 70,000 pounds
- A 286,000 pound freight car (a very common maximum loaded weight) has axle loads of 71,500 pounds.
- A 315,000 pound freight car on four axles has axle loads of 78,500 pounds. However 315,000 pound cars are rarely used, precisely because of these extreme axle loads.
With 77,500 pound axle loads, 2926 will be restricted from crossing a lot of big and small bridges, and may not be able to run on anything less than class 3 track. They were main line runners, not branch line locomotives!
