One One of the most interesting things about watching and photographing trains is that you never know what you will see coming down the tracks. Back in the days of steam, if you were out photographing New York Central trains, you were on New York Central tracks. Even when diesels were first introduced, and during the days of modern power, the locomotives of one railroad never ventured onto the tracks of another railroad.
Then things began to change. In the 1970s, the railroads were confronted with serious cash flow problems. As railroads began to consider mergers and acquisitions, interchanging power became more commonplace. Locomotives of the Pennsy would turn up on the New York Central. When the Southern Pacific was considering merger with the Santa Fe, engines painted “SPSF” began to appear.
Before the major railroad mergers happened, interchange of locomotives began in earnest. In Bellevue, Ohio, a former Nickel Plate Road hub, whole strings of Union Pacific locomotives were on the tracks. Soon after the Penn Central merger, engines of the Burlington Road were regular visitors in Rochester yards.
Besides interchanging power with other railroads, railroads also leased engines from third party lessors. Firms such as Helms Leasing and First Union Railroad Leasing supplied locomotives to the railroads whenever any railroad found themselves in a power – short situation. Railroads would also lease power from other railroads to meet power scarce situations. Even Amtrak leased locomotives to the power short Burlington Northern Santa Fe.
Even the Canadians jumped in across the border to make train watching even more interesting. The Canadian National acquired the Illinois Central, thereby giving the Canadians a rail link to the Gulf of Mexico. The Canadian Pacific took over the Delaware and Hudson, thereby getting access to the Port of Boston.
What motivates the use of foreign power? One thing is pooling power. If two railroads will have an interchange point, it may be more efficient to run thru the power to a yard beyond the railroad’s boundary. If a railroad has to drop engines off a consist, there has to be brake tests, paper work, etc. This delays trains by an additional 30 minutes or longer.
The railroads are increasingly geared to operating in trainload lots rather than strings of individual cars that have to be classified at each division point rail yard. Trains operating in this mode are coal, grain, bulk chemicals, and garbage, Where the origin and destination points will cross the boundary of participating railroads, chances are good that they will pool their locomotives.
This brings up power pay back or power equalization. If the above pool exists, and Railroad 1’s run is 50 miles shorter, then eventually Railroad 1 will have to run an additional 50 miles on Railroad 2 to make up the difference. There may not be a limit to where those units will run to make up the horsepower/hours, so you can see foreign power all over the place
Another occasion where foreign power turns up is the testing of units. One company will borrow a locomotive for testing purposes from another railroad. The railroad company will usually test the unit in several places, and if they like it, will buy an order from the locomotive’s builder.
Seriously, the railroads exchange power everyday on run through trains. Let’s look at a typical Norfolk Southern (NS) operation to see what goes on. As mentioned earlier, horsepower hours are calculated and periodically the railroads balance accounts (i.e., 4000 horses per hour on the foreign railroad = 4000 horsepower/hour owed to NS). On any given day, the NS will have dozens of units on foreign railroads and those same foreign railroads will have dozens of units on the NS. On that same given day, depending on where you’re watching trains, it may be difficult to tell who’s railroad your watching. For example, here on the west end of the NS Memphis District, there’s a good chance you will see more BNSF and UP power than NS.
If the foreign railroad wrecks it, they owe the NS the cost of repairs. Maybe the engine will be repaired at the foreign railroad’s shop or a contractor. It might be sent home for repair. One thing about it, if a foreign railroad crashes and burns an NS unit, it will be very hard to hide the damage. If nothing else, the railfan network will have photos on the net within hours, if not sooner.
About the Author
Bob Carper is a veteran information systems consultant. He holds an engineering degree from Illinois and a MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. He has authored one book and several articles on railroading. Most recently, Bob was honored by the Rochester-Genesee Valley Railroad Museum by having thirteen of his rail photos printed in their 2008 Calendar.
You may access his books at www.amazon.com by searching on “FOCUS-The Railroad In Transition.” Bob is presently promoting My Power Mall and you can view this at http://www.mypowermall.com/biz/home/10561.
For additional information go to http://www.secure-webconference.citymax.com. You may also contact him at robertcarper06@comcast.net
Tags: BNSF, bobcarper99, CSX, foreign-power, locomotive-leasing, locomotives, Norfolk-Southern, NS, power-equalization, railroad-power-pooling, Rochester-NY, train-watching, unit-trains
