Re: slug railroad or slug railway
Author: SP5103
Date: 01-12-2020 - 10:09
>The Southern Pacific used slugs (TEBU's) on the Coos Bay line.
Also used on the Tillamook Hauler between Brooklyn and Batterson, and I believe the Toledo Hauler too.
A spare TEBU set or two may have worked out of Eugene either on the Siskiyou or as helpers on the Cascade line. Some of the copper branches in Arizona/New Mexico were regular assignments. Don't recall if the NWP ever had them assigned, even though the GE mate set tested there.
A GP40-2/TEBU/GP40-2 slug set allowed SP to have the same tractive effort as a pair of SD40-2s without the wheel/rail wear of a six-axle unit or having to maintain a third prime mover of a third four-axle unit. Likewise, the OC&E sets approximated a pair of SD7s.