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Author Previous Topic: What''s everybody''s favorite train films? Topic Next Topic: Catenary going up in El Paso  

Chops124
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 Posted - March 02 2021 :  12:46:14 AM Link directly to this topic  Show Profile  Add Chops124 to Buddylist
In this week's LOTW (Feb. 28- Mar. 6, 2021) I pondered aloud why the UP, f'rinstance, didn't use caternary
on the heavily traveled East-West route from Dallas and Houston to LA. This Wikipedia excerpt was in refernce
to the British Rail, formerly Southern Railway, Class 71 Electric:

"Their reliance on the electricity supply proved a hindrance. Much freight is moved overnight, when congestion on the busy commuter corridors is low; but this is also the time when engineering possessions of the track take place, the power being switched off to whole districts while this happens. Class 71 was therefore faced with frequent circuitous detours purely to stay "on the juice". An electric-only locomotive was also limited in scope for inter-regional freights. The flywheel booster allowed the locomotives to make short movements "off the juice" – in yards and depots for example – but not for significant distances. The smaller Class 73 electro-diesel locomotives deputised for them with ease (albeit often in pairs) and they had the ability to work lines when the power was off, and to run (at reduced power) on other regions where there was no third rail electricity supply. Class 71 was beginning to look (once again – see Class 74) like a white elephant. When the end came, most were scrapped in full working order, purely because they had no work."
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microbusss
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 Posted - March 02 2021 :  11:57:00 AM Link directly to this reply  Show Profile  Add microbusss to Buddylist
the BN was thinking of electrifying lines to get the coal out one time
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Chops124
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 Posted - March 02 2021 :  2:36:18 PM Link directly to this reply  Show Profile  Add Chops124 to Buddylist
2009, and I had no idea Busss. Of course now, with people like AOC
running the program, nothing too idiotic is out of the question. Here's a
quote from a trade journal on BN's speculation:

"Of the power line projects BNSF is discussing, one would draw from an alternative energy production
site, another from a nuclear plant. So if BNSF tapped them, that electricity would not come from
carbon-emitting coal plants."

So just how many windmills would it take to power one unit coal train? Or maybe a tide generator.
Perhaps blanket North and South Dakota with solar panels, remove all the carbon generating foot
prints of buildings and flatulent cows. And export the coal to China, where environmental regulations
are non-existent.

Edited by - Chops124 on March 02 2021 2:37:32 PM
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Gary B
Hudson

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 Posted - March 02 2021 :  2:45:03 PM Link directly to this reply  Show Profile  Add Gary B to Buddylist
It has been done successfully before

The Pacific Extension was the successful attempt by the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul Railroad (the Milwaukee Road) to build a transcontinental line over the Rocky and Cascade mountain ranges and reach the Pacific Northwest, specifically the Seattle area. Construction on the line began in 1906 and completed in 1909; the line represented the shortest route over the Continental Divide. Upon completion, the name of the CM&StP was changed to the Chicago, Milwaukee, Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad, adding "Pacific" to the name in order to identify its extents. This route was the last of the great transcontinental routes to be constructed in the United States.

Due to the northern regions through which the line traveled, the Milwaukee Road found that electrifying various parts of the Pacific Extension produced more favorable results than the usual steam power that was typically found elsewhere during that time. At the height of electrification, 656 total miles along the extension were electrified (albeit in different locales and therefore disconnected), making the Milwaukee Road the largest electrified railroad in the US. It dismantled its electrified infrastructure in 1973, during the onset of the oil crisis -- as diesels started roaming in previously electrified territory and with oil prices soaring, the de-electrification of the Milwaukee Road ultimatley proved ill-timed.

Master Of Plasticville
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microbusss
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tiger

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 Posted - March 02 2021 :  3:41:59 PM Link directly to this reply  Show Profile  Add microbusss to Buddylist
there was a gap in between the Milwaukee Road line that should of been connected but it wasn't
Only reason it got scrapped was copper prices were hign & tyhen the price dropped as they were removing it
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Chops124
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 Posted - March 02 2021 :  6:48:07 PM Link directly to this reply  Show Profile  Add Chops124 to Buddylist
Wow, that's crazy.
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