A bit of a correction here but this train wasn't actually using 46,000 horsepower. Only the first three units on the head end were online. The CN SD75I #5679 was offline as was the UP SD70M #3881 trailing it. They were simply DIT and not part of the active consist. Furthermore the lead MRL SD70ACe #4301 was online but isolated. The remaining four SD70ACe's were however online and cut in adding their power to the consist as was the BNSF DPU on the rear. MRL commonly does this where they don't break up 4+ unit helper sets but rather on trains that don't require all 4+ units they will simply isolate one or more units to save fuel and maintenance costs. Technically this train was only actually using 33,400 horsepower (not subtracting altitude losses) not 46,000. I've worked for UP for a bit over 18 years now (scary as that is to think about) and it's not uncommon for us to do the same thing ferrying units along either for later us or having them DIT for one reason or another.

@ScottHiddelston

4 жыл бұрын

Henry. Thanks for the clarification Henry.

@Linda-be6se

Жыл бұрын

E÷÷e÷÷÷e

@Lakeside1943

Жыл бұрын

What is the meaning of DIT ? I can't trace it.

@StaceyV51

Жыл бұрын

@@Lakeside1943 "Dead in tow"

That's one of the most impressing videos on youtube, 11 locomotives on 1 train, that's something . Thank you very much indeed for sharing.

OooooWEEE!! BNSF, CN, UP, and MRL and ALL EMD with the exception of the D9 in the rear...A HELL of a catch there!

Absolutely fantastic, love those two 70MACs on the front, one of my favourites and always nice to see them on something other than coal.

That's a lot of math. Great video per usual. MRL isn't shy about using their ACes.

Mullan Pass... a railfan can spend a day here and lose himself, and not care at all. I've done it many a time.

that is a lot of power for moving trains. NS ran a dedicated coal train that had 7 diesel units, 4 lead, 3 radio units in the middle. the units brought 112 cars of coal down a 6% grade in Saluda, NC. full dynamic braking was used on the grade. The wgt was usually 11.000 to 12,000 tons. I enjoyed working on that train. there is a video on youtube about the train.

At :34 there is a metal table to the right of the wooden pole. On it are broken knuckle couplers... all piled up! If you are up there, check it out!

I love those 4 window wide cab Canadian models for some reason

Very nice video. It isn't only the grade on the line that causes problems but also the curves. Before you get to the trestle you have already gone thru more than 360° of curves. By the time you get to Blossburg you have gone thru another 360°. It really is something to see from a train.

Wow. Not often you see a five unit MRL SD70ACe set in action. Nice.

I like the way they sound. From 40-2's through the 70 series, the look is clean.

nothing better than roaring EMD I listen to loud Rock music from the '70s on my Sony power box with KZread. when videos like this come up the volume is at the same setting

11 engines, that will be some expensive corn. Anyway awesome clip!

@ScottHiddelston

8 жыл бұрын

Thanks framfull.

@traceybonds8794

3 жыл бұрын

..haha ..uk

Probably the best video yet

Beautiful work as usual Scott! Can't believe I missed this one? Starting to plan my trip for May next year, will keep you informed . Cheers Gregg

@ScottHiddelston

10 жыл бұрын

Excellent Gregg !! Let me know.

Like that cn sd60 and the sd70m-2's! Very beautiful sound!

My speakers really rumbled at 1:30. The desk vibrated!

Nice video. If BNSF puts 12 locomotives on this train, there's no excuses why they don't use the Raton sub, "Raton Pass" line!!!!!

Wow!! Fantastic video!! Gorgeous scenery, love the opening shot of climbing the grade and the bridge shot great!! Nice angle, also liked how you catured the prime mover sounds. Looked fwd to watching more like this. WCR

Wow, have watched trains in and out of Helena, but never had time to go watch them crawl up this 'hill!' Thanks! Seems like a bit of overkill on the power, but fun watching. Will have to try to make time to go up there in April after the Railfair weekend!

That's a lot of locomotive!

@ScottHiddelston

10 жыл бұрын

Almost certainly not all online, Amtrakguy, but good to see nevertheless. Thanks for commenting

Awesome. A lot of power from a lot of railroads. Glad that bridge held up.

Nice to see a "Draper Taper" 60F in the mix. I always thought those were cool looking. And everytime I see that much power going over that bridge, I always imagine all of the torque the engines are applying to the rails just pulling the whole dang thing over.

Beautiful images of the freight train!

10 out of 11 EMD's ...I did not think it possible in this GE era...

Love the sound of the Dash 9

One GE. Just on GE. lol Awesome video!

Thank You For Awesome Great Job's ! CONGRATULATIONS LOVE BUGS Y'ALL. .

EMD. Impressive Scott, would have been a kick in the Axxs to see this in person. Great Video. Robert

Man, there is nothing so sweet as the sound of an all EMD consist in run 8!

@ScottHiddelston

6 жыл бұрын

realvanman1 agreed!! Thanks for commenting

Your videos are great. Please keep uploading these; I have never seen anything like this before!

As an EMD fan its good to see them making a comeback

No absolutely does not need this many locomotives. I suspect it was a power move and I'm not sure if they were all even running. But if they were then the power settings would have been much reduced, so I think the fuel consumption would not have been increased too much . Thanks for commenting.

Thanks Cameron. All videos shot prior to July 20 2011 (including this one) were shot with a Panasonic HMC40 . All of the videos shot after that were shot with a Canon XF100. Any preference? Thanks for commenting.

Nice video!

@stlgevo51 thanks, and sorry for the late reply. Just heard that using 5ACe's as a helper set is no more. From now on 4 will be all, unless the experts get it wrong!

An other great wondeful video (after "Congestion on Mullan Pass"). Excellent work! I'm fan of your work ;)

Don’t know what equipment you use, but another beautifully clear and audio perfect video. Really great. Mick.🇬🇧

@ScottHiddelston

4 жыл бұрын

Mick Boakes thanks for the kind words Mick. Camera is a Canon XF100. For Audio I use a Sound Devices MixPre mixer and an Audio Techica BP4029 stereo mic. I appreciate the comment.

Nice and clean!

Awesome video !

Holy crap! That was too awesome, damn!

NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL A TRAIN TO WATCH FIVE UNITS INFRONT, FIVE IN THE MIDDLE AN ONE AT THE END VERY ATTRACTIVE.

in the pan at 2:26 you can see all three sets of power, Nice vid

@TheMadNorsky Thanks Norsky. The answer is: in Winter, no, in Summer, maybe. In Winter Austin Road is blocked just past the Skyline trestle. Its about 7.5 miles on the rails from Austin to Blossburg. That takes the train about 30 minutes on average. In Summer it might be do-able to take Austin Road all the way over and catch the train at Blossburg. But in Winter it would mean 15 miles back to Helena, maybe 30 miles on Hwy 12 west, and 6 miles up Mullan Pass (Dirt) Road . Going back in Summer !!

@jigbobby thanks. I've looked at the area on Google Earth, but that doesn't give a full feeling of what driving in the roads there would be like. Kind of figured it would be tough to do.

Scott, I had a question, but you answered it in one of the replies (RE: regarding how many engines at the front of the train, or powered axles, are allowed on westbounds climbing the pass. ). Kind of confused me when I compared this video versus the one where the MRL locomotives stalled on the Laurel-Missoula freight. Love the videos, but I am just a fan, and not technically knowledgeable about some of the aspects of railroad operations. Really appreciate the education one gets when watching your videos, and reading your replies. Please keep up the great work, it is much appreciated.

@ScottHiddelston

9 жыл бұрын

TheMadNorsky Thanks Norsky. I really appreciate it. Let me know if you would like a copy of the operating guidelines for MRL which cover all aspects of setting up these trains throughout the MRL network. Thanks again.

Thanks for this top quality video .

Long time ago but a great video 👍

Excellent video.

Thanks Martina. I appreciate the comment.

46,000 hp for 100 loaded cover hoppers, at what, 125 tons gross per car? That’s over 3hp/ton. Wow! Those almost sound like Tennessee Pass numbers. Gotta get to Mullen someday.

Overpowered yes, but 100 bulk cars usually sees a minimum of 7 locos on this pass. Thanks for commenting

How on earth do they work together adding constant power, I would have the couplers ripped off, beautiful landscape, boy finds a girl out there she is a keeper,

What a colourful train good catch

5530 doing all the work

Wow that’s a lot SD60 SD60 C408M SD75I SD70MAC SD70ACE C44-9W Raw EMD/GE Power at its best

Great video, it was almost as if they made music as they crossed that trestle.

Canadian locomotive deep inside the US... interesting!

@lr2127

3 жыл бұрын

Its not that deep in the US.

Love the SD70Ace's they look soo mean

That ZEB is plying North Dakota now with a local there I do believe. Great video

We see alot of those sd60f's and sd75i's on the main where I am from!

Brilliant! I hope to be up there June 2012. UK railfan.

Good Video.

How do they get the traction units power 🔋 distribution equalised?

It's very likely not all engines were online. The maximum permitted online units at one time is 4 at CN. (Yes, this is BNSF, but I doubt their rules are 3x higher)

@ScottHiddelston

10 жыл бұрын

Hi Chad. Thanks for commenting. Actually this is a BNSF train in Montana Rail Link territory via trackage rights, so it falls under MRL operating guidelines. MRL rules state that on westbound Mullan Pass, any loaded unit train above 12,000 tons (like this one) must have helpers cut in instead of at the rear. In this configuration the maximum RPA (rated power axles) at the front must not exceed 32 and the cut-in helpers must not exceed 40 RPA. The rear locos must not exceed the front by more than 5 RPA. AC locos (and this is in general only ) have a rating of 8 RPA (I know, we are talking axles here and the locos have only 6, but its railroads we are talking about), and most newer DC locos have an RPA of 7 . So I would suspect all five cut-in helpers are online, and the engineer would have cut out some axles in the leading locos to fall into compliance with these RPA restrictions. Hope this helps

@TheMadNorsky jigbobby is right in winter there is no way you can do it. In summer it is also very challenging since the road is pretty rutted out in places and it puts you down to a crawl. I know that depending on the train (heavies such as grain or coal) you can actually get back into town and over the pass and back towards Blossburg if you say at Birdseye/Tobin about 5 or 6 miles east of Austin. It is always a tough chase to shot a train and catch it twice but it can be done.

Not really sure what you mean BCOL, but this is Mullan Pass not Marias, and has 17 miles of 2.2% comp. gradient as opposed to Marias' 14 miles at 1.8%. Thanks for the comment and the sub.

Amazing mix of power. Great video.

How hard would it be to catch this same train coming out at Blossburg????? That is, say just the Austin video, could one make enough time on those mountain roads to get ahead of the train at Blossburg????? Again, very nice job.

This ones are the big boys 1:21 30hz

it looks like all the MRL's are running atleast, you can see the heat waves off them in th efirst shot. that bridge is sweet too!

Superb videos !

@ScottHiddelston

9 жыл бұрын

irelandbloke Thanks ireland bloke I appreciate it.

@irelandbloke

9 жыл бұрын

You're very welcome :)

How do all the locomotives work together, is there an engineer in each locomotive or are they remote controlled. sorry dont know much about trains

@ScottHiddelston

Жыл бұрын

Hi Lyle, the locomotives at the front and back are controlled by the engineer in the lead locomotive. The ones in the middle have one engineer and he takes instructions via radio from the engineer in the lead locomotive

love those cn cowl sd-60s!!!!!!

I hope before I die I can see what it’s like to be a locomotive engineer! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽

Nice catch. Like the MRL SD70ACe's.

@aruncp1980

4 жыл бұрын

Sd70ace

nice editing

@antias123 Thanks. Glad you enjoyed.

Awesome. That is a lot of power.

Awesome railfan video.

.. that's not corn.. that's heavy nuclear ..

I just had to watch this again.

Great video= love the EMDs

That was an awesome video. But how did you get in that gully ahead of that train? Also I'm glad I wasn't on that train, I'd be shaking like a leaf :-)

@ScottHiddelston

9 жыл бұрын

Sam Cusimano Sam, its a lot quicker from the first spot to the second by road than it is by rail. You can easily beat the train to the second spot from the first, even in bad weather. Thanks for the comment.

Does any one on here know if torpedos are still used by any railroad because i know in the 60's and 70's they were used to signal the engineer he had backed up or passed a certain area and stop the train. Torpedo was placed on one of the tracks and when a car wheel ran over it the thing would make a loud explosion to alert the engineer. I set one off with a ball pen hammer and i never tried that stunt again.

you're welcome. Keep those great loco vids comming. :)

If you follow this track will it eventually take you to Greenhorn Trestle?

Is there a driver for each locomotive for the middle and the end? How do they control all of them at the same time???

@billwarman5206

6 жыл бұрын

By satellite

@maggy3418

6 жыл бұрын

Distributed Powers Units are usually controlled by radio using the Locotrol system. They are not controlled by satellite.

@la6335

6 жыл бұрын

so does that mean when the driver puts the lead loco into notch 6, all the other locomotives go into notch 6? cause i thought they were just left on idle, but then again that just means there not putting any power down.

@MatthewMello

5 жыл бұрын

@@la6335 There is no driver, as there is no steering wheel. You have the option to control them as 1 or independently. kzread.info/dash/bejne/hJyjxNWjXZi2j9Y.html

gotta like that power lash up

Thanks Cameron. Me too. The Canon image is a bit flatter but those cyan skies just killed me

How are these controlled ? Does the lead loco control the rest ? How many of these are manned. There are different makes and models too. Amazing !

@ScottHiddelston

9 жыл бұрын

Hi Thinker, The two CN locos and the UP loco are dead in tow. Of the others, the front two and the back one are controlled by the engineer in the lead loco. The mid-train helpers have a two-man crew. Thanks for commenting.

@sanjaymurthy1719

9 жыл бұрын

Scott Hiddelston Thanks Scott. By "dead in tow" you mean they don't contribute any pulling power ?

@ScottHiddelston

9 жыл бұрын

***** Sorry Thinker, I based my answer on what is the usual practice, with two locos up front. However looking again, it seems the third locomotive is online and pulling, with the two after that not working. There are specific regulations regarding power placement on trains climbing this pass. On a unit train such as this one, which is a unit train, meaning all cars are the same, and having helpers cut in to the middle, the maximum power allowed at the head is 32 Rated Powered Axles, or RPA. Each locomotive type is rated this way. The two SD70MAC's are rated at 8 each, and the three following those are rated at 7 each. So the engineer could have activated a fourth locomotive but not a fifth. Sorry for the long winded reply

@sanjaymurthy1719

9 жыл бұрын

Scott Hiddelston Thanks for the detailed reply. One more. Can an EMD loco be controlled from a GE loco and vice versa ?

Wow, that's a lot of power and force..

My younger years...rode a BN GP9 helper trio to the top

Save the best loco in the lashup for last. Good choice! Nice catch!

Awesome Catch love the MRL's 5*

Wow thats a great lashup!

I checked out the area on Google Maps. Was that the trestle over Greenhorn Creek or over Austin Creek?

@ScottHiddelston

4 жыл бұрын

Robert Ramsay Robert that is the skyline Trestle crossing over Austin Creek. Thanks for commenting.

Great shots you have here, really shows the brute power these units posses. That's a hell of a camcorder you are using, what model is it?

We start and finish at Salt Lake City and aim to see eastern Idaho, Tetons and Yellowstone (briefly), Northern Pacific / MRL, possibly Great Northern line, Powder River traffic at Gillette and UPRR Transcon. For better videos than mine see TomandMattWaldren.