ULTIMATE POWER

unbounded

Freight train,

Distributed power: Its a bigger deal than you think

by David Lustig

Six locomotives distributed throughout a Union Pacific train muscle coal loads through Colorados Little Gore Canyon on Sept. 27, 2009. Scot t Lothes

o motive-power technology has expanded the boundaries of the freight train as profoundly as modern distributed power technology since Electro-Motives FT diesel emerged in 1939. If you thought remotely controlled in-train and end-of-train locomotives were simply a means to help lift freights over mountain ranges without breaking apart, its time to take another look. Trains with distributed power stop faster, use less fuel, put less wear on rails, and can operate at greater lengths and carry dramatically heavier tonnages than their conventionally operated brethren. Distributing locomotives throughout a train is a practice that mountain-crossing steam railroads were acquainted with, but the limits of the technology of the era prevented widespread use. The advent of diesels and improvements in radio communications led five Appalachian railroads to experiment with remote locomotives in the 1960s [see pages 34-35], but the industry at large didnt see fit to adopt the concept. Now, as railroads place ever-greater levels of trust in distributed powers modern incarnation, theyre finding benefits in surprising places.

BNSF owns the worlds largest fleet of Locotrol-equipped diesels. Five power a 15,724-ton grain train through the reverse curves at Palmer Lake, Colo., on March 27, 2009. Distributed power makes a big impact on sharp curves. Chip Sherman

GEs Locotrol team, from left: Brian Schroeck, Robert Bremmer, Gene Smith. David

Lustig

Theyre also changing the look of their lines to accommodate the longer trains distributed power enables. Longer sidings and yard tracks? Par for the course. A decade after distributed power began creeping into the mainstream, lets examine where it came from, how it works, and why Union Pacific plans to move 70 percent of its gross ton-miles with distributed motive power by the end of this year.

BnsF: WorLds Largest FLeet

BNSF SD70MAC 8938 shoves coal through Glen Ullin, N.D., in 2009.

Tr a i ns : Andy Cummings

BnsF railway inherited small-scale distributed power operations from its two predecessors; Burlington Northern and Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe had both employed it since the early 1970s. Todays distributed power operations center primarily on Powder River Basin coal trains, although every type of train BNSF operates incorporates some distributed power operations. According to General Electric, BNSFs fleet of diesels equipped with Locotrol technology is the worlds largest at more than 4,000 units, or roughly a third of the worlds total. Included are most of BNSFs 1,792-unit C44-9W fleet, all 1,500 Evolution-series GEs, most of the SD70MAC, SD75M, and SD75I fleets, and all SD70ACes. Major maintenance bases for distributed power diesels include Kansas City, Mo.; Alliance, Neb.; Lincoln, Neb.; Glendive, Mont.; and Barstow, Calif. BNSF Director of Locomotives Tom Lambrecht estimates as many as 300 BNSF trains operate in distributed power mode during peak times, including 80 percent of its coal trains. BNSF locomotives operate in distributed power mode in run-through agreements over at least three smaller foreign railroads: Montana Rail Link, Kansas City Southern (see KCS: Ouachita Mountain Masters, page 29), and Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern. On MRL, operations began in 2006, with the regionals personnel instructed on distributed power operations at BNSFs contract training center, the National Academy of Railroad Sciences in Overland Park, Kan. Like CSX on the former Clinchfield (see CSX: Across the Blue Ridge, page 27), MRL had to install leaky coaxial cable through its Bozeman and Mullan tunnels to enable distributed power radio communications. MRL employs distributed BNSF power on manifest trains operating above 11,000 tons, plus all coal and grain trains. Its own diesels arent equipped with the technology, however. On DM&E, unit grain shuttles originating at New Ulm, Minn., employ run-through distributed BNSF power to make the 1.5-percent climb out of the Minnesota River Valley. Operations began in 2006. Trains return to BNSF rails at Florence, Minn. David Lustig and Tom Danneman

A freight train is a creature of simple physics. Most still operate with brakes that depend on compressed air to alert freight cars that its time to clamp brake shoes to wheels, or to release them. Likewise, the link among the trains cars continues to be steel drawbars that push into one another or pull apart from one another as the train moves, giving the train an accordion-like feel. Distributed power uses a radio link between separated sets of locomotives to transmit operating instructions through the atmosphere. But the advantages it offers come through the familiar conduits of the trains compressed-air brake pipe and its drawbars. A conventionally operated moving trains drawbars are constantly stretching and compressing as a train travels uphill and downhill, and in response to the engineers use of throttle and brakes. On undulating routes, its common for a long freight train to drape over multiple small summits. In fact, thats a desirable situation, because the engines dont have to pull as hard when parts of a train are traveling uphill and parts are traveling downhill. In this situation, parts of a train may move with their slack pulled out (stretched), while other parts may move with their slack pushed in (bunched). Where conventionally operated freights can get into trouble is when an entire loaded train enters an uphill grade. Suddenly, the drawbars between each car become stretched, with the locomotives considerable draft (pulling power) battling to keep the whole weighty affair in motion. Theyre fighting against thousands of tons of weight that, thanks to the force of gravity, want to move in the direction opposite the locomotives. The drawbars connecting the trailing locomotive to the trains first car bear the brunt of this tug of war, with forces gradually dissipating as one gets closer to the last car. If theres a weak spot in the connections holding the train together, particularly near the head end, an uphill climb is likely to find it. When that happens, at best, the train

What it does

screeches to an emergency stop and the conductor must change out a 50-pound knuckle, a tough and time-consuming chore. Often, though, a drawbar snaps, or is torn from a freight cars frame. In rare instances, the structure of the freight car itself can fail, and the car is literally torn in two. A locomotive pushing on a freight train from behind exerts the same tractive effort as a locomotive thats pulling from ahead, but it boasts a simple advantage: It compresses slack instead of yanking it out. This is the reason railroads have often employed in-train or end-of-train pushers in mountainous territories, instead of simply adding locomotives to the head end, a logistically simpler proposition. In fact, distributing power all but eliminates break-in-twos, one of the technologys biggest advantages. But just as important, distributed power transforms the fashion in which a freight train negotiates curves, and decidedly for the better. Picture a piece of rope with a weight on one end thats looped into a horseshoe shape. Now pull on the weightless end. The rope pulls taut, and you lose your loop. Now picture a freight train rounding a curve. Identical forces are at work. What

Cn: CoLd-air Warriors

CN ES44DC 2244s marker lights trail train Q198 at Waukesha, Wis.

Drew Halverson

Canadian national officials long assumed their railroad wasnt a good candidate for distributed power owing to its generally light grades. However, in April 2004, CN deployed six new C44-9W locomotives with Locotrol to its Lac St-Jean Subdivision in northern Quebec to solve an operating problem on the hilly and curvy route. The decision came in specific response to metal fatigue problems with car couplers that were plaguing the increasingly heavy trains on the route. The 2-by-2 in-train arrangement proved so successful that CN became a distributed power convert. Its since expanded distributed power operations across its system. As of this summer, the railroad ran Locotrol on 320 of its roughly 1,200 road locomotives, but new deliveries and retrofits of the current fleet should push that number to 411 by years end. Currently, CN runs 75 percent of its loaded bulk trains (mainly coal and grain) with distributed power, plus half its intermodal trains and 20 percent of its manifest trains. Robert LeBlanc, CNs senior transportation engineer, says distributed powers impact on train air in cold weather makes it ideal for the harsh conditions CN operates in, not to mention the long trains its famous for. Expect to see more distributed power on CN going forward. When it comes to distributed power, CN is not looking into the rear-view mirror, LeBlanc says. David Lustig
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distriButed PoWer at the draWBar

Conventional train 3 locomotives 100 cars

Flat land, loaded train, engines in power throttle Slack pulled out (stretched) Drawbar forces Pulling Slack pushed in (bunched) Pushing

All cars stretched Drawbar forces Rear-end distributed power 2 locomotives 100 cars 66 cars stretched Drawbar forces 23 drawbar force of conventional 1 loco 25 cars 9 cars bunched 25 cars stretched 13 drawbar force of head end 25 cars stretched 34 cars bunched 1 loco

In-train distributed power 2 locomotives 75 cars 64 cars stretched Drawbar forces 23 drawbar force of conventional

CP: seeking the Best distriBution

Conventional train (3 locos=219 feet; 100 cars=6,200 feet; total=6,419 feet) 3 locomotives 100 cars
Air reduction 10 cars set up

24 cars setting up
Mark Jackson

CP muscles 14,000 tons of grain past Notch Hill, B.C., in 2007. Rear-end distributed power
2 locomotives 100 cars

Canadian Pacific is no stranger to distributed power. It began using remote robot engines in thereduction 10 cars set up trains of coal, grain, and potashup Air 1970s to lift heavy 24 cars setting over three mountain ranges on its transcontinental main line in British Columbia. Now CP has begun using its mountain railroad, where ruling In-train reach 1.25 percent westbound and 2.4 percent eastbound, as a test bed to study how disgrades distributed power 2 locomotives 75 can tributed power cars work in tandem with new friction-management devices to save track wear. Uphill trains tend to lean on the low rail and produce high damaging loads. Downhill trains run at Air reduction 10 cars set up higher speeds and tend to lean on the high24 cars wrote up General Manager-Technical Standards rail, setting CP Mike Roney in Interface: The Journal of Wheel/Rail Interaction, where he shared his findings. On a 6.5-degree curve west of Revelstoke, B.C., CP installed a system to measure the lateral and vertical forces produced by passing trains on the curves 1 percent grade. Roney found CP could minimize track wear and maintenance costs on grades by running uphill and downhill trains as close to the same speed as possible. CP implemented a one-speed operating plan on the Western Corridor in 2008 that included adding a fourth GE A.C. locomotive to unit trains and superelevating curves. The extra engine not only helped CP achieve more uniform speeds, but increased average speeds overall (from 19 to 25 mph with aluminum trainsets, and 20 to 27 mph with steel sets), and by extension, its route capacity. Test results also showed that a 2-by-1-by-1 arrangement cut lateral forces to the low rail from the trains leading axle 9 percent in aluminum trains and 18 percent in steel sets. (A 2-2-0 configuration produced a slightly higher average speed, but did not cut lateral forces as dramatically.) Running trains 2-by-1-by-1 on tracks with friction management systems cut lateral forces on the low rail another 30 percent for 129-car aluminum trains and 14 percent for 115-car steel sets. From the tests, CP increased standard train lengths to 129-car aluminum coal trains, 142-car potash trains, and 168-car grain trains (with a fifth engine), helping the railroad cut train starts and improve fuel efficiency (see page 31). Matt Van Hattem

keeps the train from jumping the tracks is the rail on the inside of the curve. The flanges of each freight car wheel pull against the inside of the rail, but the strength of the link from rail to spike, spike to tie, and tie to ballast fights back, holding cars onto the rails. However, the sharper the curve and the more tightly freight cars are stretched, the more force the train exerts on that inside rail. With enough force, the train can stringline the curve, rolling the inside rail and derailing. Additionally, such forces impose wear and tear on the inside of the rail, necessitating more frequent maintenance and replacement cycles for rail and track components. When you reduce drawbar forces around a curve, you reduce wear on rails, and you make stringlining derailments less likely. And while the starkest improvement on this front 66 cars released comes in mountain territory, bunched trains are easier on every curve they traverse. Additionally, the friction wheels create as they round curves leads to drag, which is essentially wasted energy. By reducing wheel32 cars released to-rail forces and the resulting drag around curves, distributed power saves fuel. Bob Bremmer, a product manager with GE Transportations Melbourne, Fla., offices, 7 cars is developed, says the com24 cars setting up where Locotrol released pany partnered with Norfolk Southern to quantify fuel savings. As the developer and manufacturer of Locotrol, the software that controls 99 percent of the U.S. distributed power market, GE had something to prove. GE and NS chose a manifest train operating between Macon, Ga., and Chattanooga, Tenn., as its case study. The railroad operated the train as a conventional freight train with locomotives only at the head end for one week, then switched to distributed power the next. Whenever possible, the railroad used the same engineers. As a conventional train, it ran with 150 freight cars; in distributed power mode, it ran with 180. We found distributed power, on average,

had a much higher gross-ton-mile-per-gal- theres no interference in the signal between no freight car is as far from a locomotive as lon performance than conventional, Brem- separated diesels, distributed units will in- in a conventionally operated train, GE estimer says, with savings of about 5.5 percent stantaneously mimic the lead locomotives mates an in-train locomotive commanded over the corridor for those two months. brake-pipe opening, and the air-pressure by Locotrol reduces stopping time by 22 The experiment points to another area in signal will travel from both the lead loco- percent and distance by 30 percent. which railroads can save fuel with distributed motive and the remotely operated sets Brakes release when the engineer orders power. Locomotives are at their most fuel- through the brake pipe. Simply by ensuring his locomotives to charge the brake pipe efficient when pulling at full power. By moving 30 more cars with the same locomotives but working them harder, NS added fuel efficiency to the train. It also moved the additional 30 cars with the same two-person crew. Distributed powers advantages also extend through the trains brake pipe, a closed3 seconds after a set air system that runs from the lead locomoBrakes released tive to the last car. When the engineer wants Brakes setting up to apply the trains automatic brakes, he Brakes applied moves the brake handle on the lead locomotives control stand to the right. The system responds by opening a small hole in the brake pipe beneath the control stand, allowing air in the brake pipe to escape in propor1 loco tion to how far the engineer moves the handle. This reduction in air serves as acars setting up 24 sig10 cars set up Air nal to the trains cars that they must clamp reduction their brake shoes against their wheels until 1 loco 25 cars higher-pressure air returns, also at the engineers command. The more air he releases, 10 up. 15 cars setting up Air 10 the rear the more braking power he conjurescars set up CSX 784 shoves oncars set up of coal loads at Poplar, N.C., on Oct. 25, 2009. Ron Flanar y reduction When the hole opens, compressed air moves from the high-pressure (generally 90 CsX began distributed power operations in July 2008 out of just one terminal: Erwin, Tenn., psi at full charge) brake pipe to the low-preson the railroads mountainous ex-Clinchfield main line. Trains there carry Appalachian coal over sure outside air. However, it takes time for the Blue Ridge at Altapass, N.C., then on to power plants in the Carolinas and Florida. that reduction in air pressure to work its way Implementation followed 13 months of planning and preparation. The railroad had to install from the locomotives through the brake pipe antenna and transmission systems through 17 tunnels between Erwin and Spartanburg, S.C. It to the farthest-away freight car: The reducedemploys leaky coaxial cable, which transmits signals between power sets on either side of a pressure signal travels at about 600 feet per bore, and can also send exchange signals with locomotives inside a tunnel. second. For a 110-car conventionally operCSX has installed distributed power on 300 ES44ACs, and operates them in a 2-by-1 orientaated train, more than 10 seconds will lapse tion. The technology has enabled the railroad to operate 90- and 110-car trains over the line. from when the engineer gives his order to Our coal trains can now run the speed limit, 20 to 25 mph, to the top of the Blue Ridge, when the 110th car gets the message. says Chris Corey, CSXs Erwin-based road foreman of engines. One Waycross, Ga., to New Orleans freight now also operates with distributed power. The When an engineer operating in distribrailroad says its considering replacing some manned helper districts with the technology. uted power mode makes a reduction, however, the radio signal travels through the atRON FLANARY is a 42-year Trains contributor. He lives in Big Stone Gap, Va. mosphere to all linked power sets. Assuming

CsX: aCross the BLue ridge

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distriButed PoWer at the Brake PiPe

Conventional train (3 locos=219 feet; 100 cars=6,200 feet; total=6,419 feet) 3 locomotives 100 cars
Air reduction 10 cars set up

3 seconds after a set Brakes released Brakes setting up Brakes applied

24 cars setting up

66 cars released 1 loco

Rear-end distributed power 2 locomotives 100 cars

Air reduction 10 cars set up

In-train distributed power 2 locomotives 75 cars

24 cars setting up

32 cars released

24 cars setting up 1 loco 25 cars

10 cars set up

Air reduction

Air reduction 10 cars set up

24 cars setting up

7 cars released

24 cars setting up

10 cars set up

Air 10 cars set up reduction

15 cars setting up

back up with their air compressors. By keeping cars near the back of a train closer to a locomotive, distributed power also ensures a quicker release. This in turn reduces slack action, preventing a situation where cars near the front of a train are rolling freely while cars near the rear remain braked; these occurrences can lead to break-in-twos. So at the physics level, distributed power offers advantages in several key arenas. But how does it work in the field? Aboard a Union Pacific locomotive at the railroads City of Industry, Calif., yard, Mike Iden explains how to set locomotives up for distributed power operations. Iden, the railroads general director of mechanical, says it takes about 30 minutes to do. Working with the locomotives computer display on the engineers console, one person pretests the locomotives and sets them up for distributed power when theyre still in the servicing facility, he says. For front and rear, it would be an a and a b consist. When they get in the yard, they spot the b consist on the rear, then take the a consist to the head end and connect the brake pipe. Once you do the brake-pipe test, you can quickly tell if its set up correctly or not. Trains employing three power sets (frontmiddle-rear) will have an a, b, and c set. How does the railroad decide where to position the remote set? UP uses a formula. This is like a science, Iden says. Its not like the old days when people sometimes guessed where to run remote units. The formula takes into account train length, tonnage, types of cars, and the territory. The gist of it is this: Its easier and quicker to set a train up for a front-rear configuration, because the train doesnt need to be separated. But, in-train diesels enable the train to set and release its brakes more quickly [see diagram, above and on page 29].

hoW its oPerated

CP engineer Ken Maloney sets dupe AC4400CW No. 9708 (left) to the rear of intermodal train 102 at Coquitlam, B.C. The Locotrol screen is on the right. Tr a i ns : Mat t Van Hat tem

Synchronous mode (fence down).

Separate operations (fence up).

Both, GE

the regionaL PLayers

three regional roads run, or plan to test, Locotrol. Alaska Railroad began distributed operations in 2007 to help coal trains over the mountainous AnchorageSeward, Alaska, line, operating 70-car coal trains with a front-rear 3-by-3 SD70MAC setup. Loads now operate with distributed power all the way from the Usibelli mine near Healy, Alaska, to Seward and Fairbanks. Iowa Interstate began distributed power operations with a 12-unit order for ES44ACs in 2008 [see Locomotive, Trains, December 2008]. Operations center on the Iowa CityCedar Rapids, Iowa, run, where the resulting longer trains have all but eliminated the need to run extras; the railroad ran 1215 monthly until it began distributing power. The railroad also uses distributed power on its main line to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Frontrear is the most common setup. Indiana Rail Roads 10 SD9043MACs are Locotrol-equipped, and the railroad has begun operating 1-by-1 frontrear test trains from the Bear Run Mine near Dugger, Ind. David Lustig

Robert LeBlanc, Canadian Nationals senior transportation engineer, says his railroad typically prefers frontrear setups for bulk commodity and inermodal trains less than 10,000 feet. For intermodal and bulk trains longer than 10,000 feet, CN prefers to situate the remote units in the train consist. Thats both to assist in air-brake sets and releases, and to minimize communication failures; the farther the radio signal must travel, the more likely it is to encounter interference. On manifest trains, CN prefers in-train distributed sets. This is done primarily because of the wide variety of car types moved on manifest trains, often with a high percentage of cars equipped with end-of-car cushioned devices, which tend to amplify slack action in certain situations, LeBlanc says. In extremely cold weather, he adds, trains that normally operate with a front rear setup switch to in-train orientations. Whatever the arrangement, locomotive fleet makeup limts a railroads ability to operate in distributed power mode. Locomotive assets dont sit around for too long, LeBlanc says, and its tough to hold back a distributed power locomotive awaiting a train that wont be ready to depart for several hours. However, the fewer Locotrol-equipped diesels a railroad keeps on its roster, the more likely itll be forced to do just that. CN plans to have Locotrol installed on 35 tpercent of its road fleet by years end, and to continue to expand its fleet. Fortunately, not every locomotive distributed in a train needs Locotrol. The controlling unit, plus at least one dieLocotrol hardware. sel in each separated Tr a i ns : Mat t Van Hat tem

consist, must be outfitted with the hardware, which consists of a computer unit mounted in the nose. It also doesnt matter which way locomotives face; you simply have to tell the computer whether a remote unit is pointing the same direction as the controlling unit or opposite. On Canadian Pacifics west end, railroaders are intimately familiar with Locotrol.

Don Gardham recalls using Locotrol 1 when he began working as a conductor out of Kamloops, B.C., in 1983. The control cars, he recalls, were robot boxcars with ballast in them. (North Electric of Galion, Ohio, introduced Locotrol in 1965.) CPs distributed power operations in this region predate Gardhams tenure; they began in the 1970s. Trains operated with four

kCs: ouaChita Mountain Masters

KCS and BNSF power team up to pull coal loads past Noel, Mo., in 2008.

Craig Williams

kansas City southern employed Locotrol beginning in late 1966 with the arrival of its first SD40s. Trains operated at 12,500 tons in a 4-by-2 arrangement between Pittsburg, Kan., and De Queen, Ark. In 1977, the railroad began operating 110-car, 14,000-ton coal trains between Kansas City and East Texas, again using a 4-by-2 setup. Eventually, manned helpers won out. With delivery of the railroads first high-horsepower General Electric AC4400s in 1999, however, distributed power came back for good. Today, unit coal and grain trains leave Kansas City with locomotives distributed for surmounting the grades south of Neosho, Mo., and Heavener, Okla. [see Midwest Mountain Railroad, Trains, September 2009]. The typical coal train comes to KCS from BNSF Railway or Union Pacific with two locomotives leading and one pushing. Prior to leaving Kansas City, two more locomotives are inserted after the 89th car. Distributed units are set out in Wade, Ark., south of De Queen, to work back to Kansas City on northbound trains. Configurations on grain trains vary by train length, but those headed to Mexico keep their power all the way to destination. Fred W. Frailey
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ForCe against raiL on Curve

LoCotroL = Bigger trains = eFFiCienCy at Canadian PaCiFiC

Fuel efciency (U.S. galons/1,000 GTMs)
1.500 11% improvement 90 80 70
86.9 88.8 78.7 70.1

Train weight* (tons)

Conventional train 6000 10% improvement 5500 5000 4500 4000
*CP only

Train starts (thousands)

100
5,878 5,347

6% improvement 1.375 1.250 1.125 1.000

1.23 1.26 1.18

5,071

5,199

1.20

Train with distributed power

Force against rail Outward Inward

60 Q4-06 Q4-07 Q4-08 Q4-09 50 Q4-06 Q4-07 Q4-08 Q4-09

Q4-06

Q4-07

Q4-08

Q4-09

*DM&E included in 2008 and 2009

SD40-2s in the lead and two or three cut into the train. At the site of big climbs, additional manned units would shove on the rear. Though CPs line follows the canyons from Vancouver to Kamloops, its not flat in the way that would imply. And once the canyons are surmounted, trains must cross Rog-

ers and Kicking Horse passes, two of the nastiest mountain grades in North America. Todays incarnation of distributed power has greatly tamed operations over CPs British Columbia routes. As engineer Ken Maloney and conductor David Gunderson arrive at Coquitlam Yard in Vancouver at 5:40 on a

ns: taMing the PoCahontas

Two tail-end ES44ACs shove grain past Powhatan, W.Va., in April 2010.

Brent Harrison

norfolk southern uses a cost-benefit approach to decide how and when to deploy distributed power, says Shannon Mason, system road foreman of engines in Atlanta. If the railroad can run a train more efficiently, saving crews and fuel over longer runs, distributed power is the choice. For this reason, the primary use is on unit coal trains the ideal situation is a 16,000-ton coal train of 110 to 130 cars and selected intermodal routes. NS typically has 16 unit coal trainsets operating with distributed power. Of 2,000 road units, only about 150, or about 7.5 percent, are set up as distributed power units, and 125 of those are General Electric Dash 9 or ES44 units. NSs normal configuration is to run three units on the point and two on the end. Limiting NSs use of distributed power are short hauls (average length 200 miles) and small yards, but Mason says NS will increase its use of distributed power where it makes sense. Jim Wrinn

summer morning, they climb aboard a three-locomotive power set and deposit AC4400CW No. 9708 at the rear of intermodal train 102, bound for Toronto. Workers at the Coquitlam engine terminal have already set the three units up for a 2-by-1 orientation. The crew couples the two lead locomotives to the head of the train and, after some troubleshooting, Maloney takes a clear signal to enter the main and begin his journey. Maloney has No. 9708 operating in synchronous mode, meaning it mimics whatever the lead locomotives are doing. One of the two computer screens on the engineers desktop tells Maloney what his head-end power is doing and what his distributed power is doing. As he slides his throttle to Notch 4, the lead power set increases its load. No. 9708 follows suit, and confirmation appears on the screen about 10 seconds later. Maloney says the delay isnt unusual in canyon country. It varies depending on where you are, he says. It happens a lot more often since they put the remote on the tail end of the train rather than in the middle. There was a time when, if you had a loss of communication, the train would go into emergency, Maloney says. But no more. With modern Locotrol setups, the distributed units continue to operate under the last command they were given. And if Maloney doesnt want the added power shoving from behind anymore? He makes a 15-pound airbrake set, and as soon as the reduction reaches No. 9708, it throttles back to idle. Maloney will make his Coquitlam-North Bend, B.C., trip entirely in synchronous mode, so to see the alternative, we drop in on Union Pacific engineer Steve Habeck, whos charged with taking eastbound intermodal train LKTG1 (Lathrop, Calif., to the Global 1 intermodal yard in Chicago) across Californias Donner Pass with a 4-by-1 frontrear Locotrol arrangement. From Lathrop over the pass and starting down the
>> Find out how engineers set a train up for Locotrol at www.TrainsMag.com

east slope to Truckee, Calif., he uses synchronous mode. But beyond Truckee, as his descent goes from a steady, linear drop to one more closely resembling a set of stairs, Habeck begins operating his tail-end dupe separately. With the push of a button, a green line known as the fence appears in the middle of his distributed power control screen. Now, Habeck can use the locomotives power throttle to control the head-end power set, while he can push buttons below the Locotrol computer screen to order the remote set to throttle up or down. The setup resembles an automated teller machine. Habeck drops his rear unit into idle and uses the head ends dynamic brakes to control his speed. A few minutes later, he throttles his dupe up to Notch 2, keeping the head-end powers dynamic brakes in Notch 3. With the dupe pushing, it keeps the slack from going in and out, Habeck explains. Roseville, Calif.-based Manager of Operating Practices Lonnie Dickson notes that, in years past, conventional helper operators used the same technique. Back then, however, the toughest part was trying to figure out where the head end was. With one engineer now controlling both power sets, the guesswork has gone away. For GE, the greatest opportunities to expand Locotrol exist overseas. The company has already sold Locotrol to seven countries outside North America, and it sees opportunities across the world. In China, weve gone from zero distributed power units to 1,000 in three years, GEs Bremmer says. Were hoping to double that amount in another three years. Then theres India, where they have nothing. But what about the U.S.? Indeed, the entire northeast quadrant of the country is practically devoid of distributed power. Norfolk Southerns system roadforeman of

A front-rear distributed power BNSF train passes the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains as the sun sets on Wellington, Colo., on Sept. 26, 2009. Scot t Lothes

Qns&L: the Biggest, the heaviest

if any north american railroads daily operations prove the transformative capabilities of distributed power, its iron ore hauler Quebec, North Shore & Labrador. The railroad uses EMD SD70ACes, plus GE Dash 8, Dash 9, and AC4400CW diesels to move monster 240-car unit trains of ore for parent Iron Ore Co. of Canada. Trains move between mines in the Labrador City, Labrador, area, and the deepwater port of Sept-les, Que., on the St. Lawrence River. QNS&L operates the behemoth trains, which weigh in at 32,000 to 34,000 tons, over its 526.2-mile route with two locomotives at the head end and a third 164 cars deep. Railroad spokesman Marcel Le Boulay says the locomotives and cars remain together throughout the trip unless a car or locomotive has to be set out for maintenance or repair. In addition to its own trains, QNS&L uses the same arrangement to move ore trains for Wabush Mines. Wabush, a consortium of several steelmakers, owns the Wabush Lake Railway and the Arnaud Railway, and QNS&L serves as a bridge between the two. It picks up loaded trains from Wabush Lake at Labrador City and moves them to Arnaud Junction, Que., 8.3 miles north of Sept-les; Arnaud then moves the ore to its dock at Pointe-Noire, Que. Similar trains were also to start running this summer for Genesee & Wyomings Bloom Lake Railway, also bound for interchange at Arnaud Junction [see News, Trains, July 2010]. JOHN GODFREY is a lifelong Montrealer and former Trains correspondent with a quarter-century of experience in the railroad industry.
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distriButed Future

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On May 3, 2007, a single BNSF SD70MAC shoves on the rear of an empty coal train just north of Bill, Wyo. Tom Danneman

Erwin, Tenn.-based CSX Roadforeman of Engines Chris Corey (left) discusses ES44AC No. 859s distributed power controls with Trainmaster George Stevenson. Ron Flanar y

uP: 70 PerCent By years end

A Locotrol-operated tail-end dupe shoves UP containers past Dallas.

Steve Schmollinger

union Pacific is ramping up its ability to run trains with distributed power. By years end, it plans to run distributed power on all types of road trains equipped with the technology, with just 30 percent of its gross ton-miles traveling conventionally. Currently, UPs fleet includes 2,832 Locotrol-equipped diesels of a total fleet of just under 8,000. Equipped units include all A.C.-traction General Electric-built diesels, plus all EMD SD9043MACs and all road-service SD70ACes. UP has focused its expansion in recent years on its fleet of manifest trains, having long employed the technology on bulk and intermodal trains. Bill Oates, the director of locomotive management at UPs Bailey Yard in North Platte, Neb., notes that from early 2008 to late 09, he went from no distributed power manifest trains to 13 daily (of 20 total). UP runs both front-rear and in-train configurations, depending on territory and tonnage. Some trains have Locotrol-equipped lead units, two separate mid-train setups, and one on the rear. Powder River Basin coal trains run with front-rear setups, while those traversing the knuckle-busting Moffat Route west of Denver employ three separated power sets David Lustig

engines, Shannon Mason, says the shorter distances his trains operate make the setup time and logistical challenges of distributed power less worthwhile. Even UPs Iden, a distributed power proponent, says he believes its a tool thats not for use everywhere. You cannot look at distributed power as a technology you can just plug in and use, he says. You have to have the right operation and the right railroad to use it properly. In 2010, NS and CSX officials believe only certain routes in their networks justify the expense and effort that distributed power entails. The future of Locotrol in the Eastern U.S. lies in their hands. As to the technology itself, GE continues to make upgrades. In particular, its reconfigured some railroads systems to function with one another. Kansas City Southern, for example, can operate its units in concert with UP and BNSF power sets. However, interoperability remains limited between certain railroad pairs, and is nonexistent among others. Thats also the reason GEs Locotrol is likely to remain dominant. Though Canac (now Cattron) and Wabtec [see Locotrols Competitors, page 33] have offered distributed power hardware, GEs dominance ensures Locotrol is likely to remain the industry standard. Indeed, its difficult to imagine a Class I railroad maintaining two fleets of distributed-power-capable diesels that cant talk to one another. Radio signals have their limitations, and those will continue to plague rail lines like CPs Fraser Canyon route. Short of adding lineside repeaters, communication interruptions will continue to occur. Whatever its limitations, distributed power is a powerful tool thats caused railroads to rethink the limits they once placed on freight trains. To CN, its about running

A UP loaded coal train with a total of six locomotives (see front cover), glides down the Front Range west of Clay, Colo.

Tom Danneman

lengthy freights through 30-below-zero cold in Manitoba while keeping trainlines pressurized. To CSX, its about keeping 14,000ton coal trains at 25 mph even as they climb the Blue Ridge. To UP, its about a 5 percent fuel savings that adds up to staggering sums, and sending long coal trains across Colorado where they otherwise couldnt go. The railroad industry has pulled itself back from the brink by gradually implementing practices that have enabled it to do more with less. In the first decade of the 21st century, distributed power must be seen as the dominant technological advance thats pulling and pushing the railroad industry toward greater efficiency. 2
To see video of the UP train pictured above, plus video from the cab of a distributed power train crossing Donner Pass, go to www.TrainsMag.com

LoCotroLs CoMPetitors
general electrics Locotrol dominates the North American distributed power market, but its not quite alone. Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway and Northshore Mining Co. employ a Canacdesigned system that functions similarly to Locotrol. W&LE operates trains of taconite (iron ore) and limestone with a single SD40-2 on each end using the system. For Wheeling, an engine on each end of its train enables crews to change direction at places like Bellevue, Ohio, where junctions necessitate such a move. For Northshore, trains of tailings (waste rock separated from raw iron ore) shuttle seven miles from Silver Bay, Minn., to a landfill, and again, quick turnarounds are needed. Northshore typically puts an SD40-3 on each end of its tailings train. Under the Canac system, the tail-end power always mimics what the head-end power is doing. If the two ends lose communication, the tail-end power will gradually throttle down to idle. Cattron, Canacs successor, says its not actively marketing the system. Wabtec Corp. markets its own distributed power product, but Trains was unable to find any North American operators, and the company declined to comment for this article. The only confirmed current operator is Spoornet, on its COALink line in South Africa. David Lustig
www.TrainsMag.com

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