Hot Water posted:Dominic Mazoch posted:OGR Webmaster posted:The diesel is doing a nice job shoving her along...
Next year they can use UP 4014 without the helper?
Nope. That train is VERY heavy, and they have a tight schedule, so there is always additional horsepower required.
It was my understanding that the diesels in these trains are there mostly for additional braking.
It may be that the 844 could well handle this consist on its own. I'm not going to take the time to compare pulling power, but years ago, when the Challenger was here in Dallas (pulling a fairly long consist), I asked the engineer if that was a significant load for the engine. His reply was "Nah, it's just loafing."
I suppose it depends on the route. I recently saw a video of the J getting "stuck" on a sharp curve when pulling a very long consist. It eventually made it, but the problem was not power, but traction - keeping the drive wheels from spinning because of the additional friction incurred as the cars rounded the sharp curve (I assume that was the cause).
