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Re: SP power on the point of the starlight
Author: mook
Date: 01-11-2013 - 22:43
I think you kind of answered your own question with the second paragraph above. F40s were not the most reliable machine out there for a while, and even when everything was working you really did need 2 good ones to work as well as 1 SDP45 (HEP took a good chunk of the HP from one of them). For that matter, the current stuff is getting a bit long in the tooth (hence the occasional UP etc help) and the F59PHis were a little dicey when new too (I was on a couple of San Joaquins with BNSF up front and the F59 just supplying HEP).
One downside of freight help is that most freight units (at least on BNSF) were and probably are limited to 70 mph. Where your schedule depends on maintaining 79 (parts of the SJ) or better (parts of the Surfliner) that generates substantial lateness.
In the 80s, could some kind of signaling or train stop equipment have required host-road locomotives instead of Amtrak? That's far enough back that the Coast might have had more signaling than just TWC. I also remember SP power appearing frequently on the Coast during the rainbow era (mixed-origin steam-heated cars), but once HEP got going the SP equipment pretty much went away except for emergencies.
One downside of freight help is that most freight units (at least on BNSF) were and probably are limited to 70 mph. Where your schedule depends on maintaining 79 (parts of the SJ) or better (parts of the Surfliner) that generates substantial lateness.
In the 80s, could some kind of signaling or train stop equipment have required host-road locomotives instead of Amtrak? That's far enough back that the Coast might have had more signaling than just TWC. I also remember SP power appearing frequently on the Coast during the rainbow era (mixed-origin steam-heated cars), but once HEP got going the SP equipment pretty much went away except for emergencies.
