They're here... CSX ES44AH's

That brand new CSX 704 went to Selkirk on Q380 this morning, and is currently on it's was to mass.

Well as late fall and winter seasons settle in upon the mountain areas. I'm betting the Heavys will generally gather in that region. Other than that CSX will use em as they see em. Other than that, the loco scene is going to get nearly as boring as the early 80's, EMD spartan cabs, and plain GE's.

While I do see an awful lot of the H's on trains other than coal trains, CSX does do a fairly good job of getting them on coal trains, especially out of Grafton. It is hard to go a day with out seeing at least a handful of them coming out of there. On a related note a number of the single and double digit CW44's have been showing up on coal trains as of late, especially on stuff coming off of the Mon Line south of Pittsburgh.

As for the ubiquitous GE's, can we really blame the railroads. I mean after all a unified roster definetly makes maintenance a lot easier, as you only have a certain number of parts to keep on hand, and the personnel only has to know a certain style of loco, or locos, rather than a myriad of different models. While this may be boring, and believe me I have seen enough NS CW40-9's that I am by no means arguing with you, it does make sense for the railroads. Just my point of view.

Scooter

Well, I finally found it. TRAINS, oct. 2006 issue has an indepth story about the CSX "heavy" Loco's and also list said loco's. I was surprised in rereading the article that most SD70Mac's are in fact "heavy's" being ballasted after testing of the principle, along with most CW60's. ES44DC's (5200-5299, are ballasted, and maybe all because article was released before the 5300 and 5400's hit the rails) I wouldn't dought that all ES44's AC or DC are ballasted to be "heavy's".

Does any one know if there is going to be a 700, or is this another one of those (like the 4700's) where CSX says OMG, it will mess up the computer system if it ends in zero. BTW when I trace the new units all the trace system tells me is that the 701 became the 4501 and then where the 4501 is.

I would find it hard to believe that CSX would ballast the ES44DC's and not the AC's. For most of the CW44's I believe that the extra weight was added right to the frame of the locos in the form of steel plates. If I am correct the 495 and 496 served as test units for this and then from 497 upward through the last 5100 series CW44 they were built with the extra weight already in place. I would imagine that the ES's were all built in the same manner. As far as I know the former 700 series 70MAC's were the only ones were the extra weight is visible on them.

You do bring up a good point CSXT 700, or should I say CSXT 4500. Most of the stuff that I have heard about the new units doesn't mention a 700, but rather the 701 through the 703.

Scooter

scooter3798 wrote:You do bring up a good point CSXT 700, or should I say CSXT 4500. Most of the stuff that I have heard about the new units doesn't mention a 700, but rather the 701 through the 703.

I seem to recall that they did the same thing with the ES44DC's, releasing 5401-5403 first with 5400 sneaking out later on. I'm sure it'll be there, just not right away.

roadster wrote:TRAINS, oct. 2006 issue has an indepth story about the CSX "heavy" Loco's and also list said loco's.

To elaborate on my prior posting, the "heavy locomotive" list in that article is informative; however it's not particularly operationally significant because it's nothing more than (1) the AC-traction units that can be dispatched east onto the Mountain Subdivison in two-unit consists in adverse weather and (2) the DC-traction units which (at the time the article was written) were heavier than the manufacturer's standard weight.

In other words, CSXT beyond the Mountain Subdivision makes far less distinction between "heavy" and standard-weight units than it does between the "AH" units (i.e. with HTE software) and the other "heavy" units. This is because the AH units can be assigned to longer trains. The other "heavy" units simply move standard-length trains more reliably.

705 sent out this morning

I've heard 700 is undergoing testing at Erie... That tends to happen with all class units of fleets as of late...

>>MC

CSX 700 "The Spirit Of Downtown Rochester"

CSX-Dan5377 wrote:CSX 700 "The Spirit Of Downtown Rochester"

Are you serious?

Sucks that there aren't any lightning bolts.

EDIT: Never mind.

Here's mine:

CSX 800 "Spirit of Folkston"

Hey gang, just a thought on all the comments about the continual purchasing of new units...

EPA is continuing to tighten their belts on locomotive pollution, and Tier IV is speculated to have the first of 'retirement' clauses, in that they will begin forcing certain locomotive polluters to be removed from service, either completely or until a cleaner engine is installed.

NS is continuing to purchase new units despite seeming to have an abunance of new wide noses. When they arrived, the ES40DC's were captive to coal and trucks, and are just now starting to see service in the general freight pool.

As for helpers, you aint seen nothing till you journey on down to Railroad City in Altoona and watch the helper action lift the tonnage up and over the Alleghenies along the line where the FIRST railroad crossing of the Alleghenies occured via the Portage inclined plane and eventually the New Portage Railway which would become Conrail's New Portage Secondary.

NS might not have the most colorful of engines, but give'em credit, they've been moving tonnage over steep grades throughout their history... The Virginian's electrified coal route, N&W's Saluda Grade. I'm sure there are others, but those are the only two I'm know about.

Happy Railroading!

-J.D. - Locomotive Engineer - Pittsburgh Divn.

"N&W's Saluda grade"????? Never heard of it - the only one I'm familiar was SOU.

Okay, I stand corrected... I must have misheard the video I was watching... has a segment of the 611 pounding up the grade under teh steam program