Excess Horsepower

A southbound NS P56 passes Burke Centre with a short cut of cars. I think this train must have been a wee bit longer coming up here to need 12,000 HP at the head end. And while some of those look like H340s, the rest look more like K-class hoppers, so probably this thing would be maxed at 1500 tons with just these cars.

So if I understand the physics of the deal (which I'm sure I don't) I imagine they could have been making 183 MPH if they'd been notched out right here.

_{And of course this assumes that's even mechanically possible with these locomotives, legal, sane etc...}

Anyways. This shoot was made more interesting thanks to a cheap-o little tripod I attempted to use to hold a tiny camcorder. It didn't. So therefore I have narrative on the video consisting of details of the consist, "fifteen goddamn cars, three engines, f*** you recorder!" and a repeat of the scanner traffic after I'd stopped filming, "that's P56, south two, clear on F***ING Crestwood ... f***ing tripod." And then I didn't frame very well, so this became a panoramic with crappy stitching. Good times, good times.

NS 7520 GE ES40DC
NS 9872 GE C40-9W
NS 7709 GE ES40DC
S/B NS P56 Local - Rock Train, Empties
NS Piedmont Division, Washington District, Burke Centre @ MP 21.4, Track 2

Burke, VA
January 2011

<sub>Nikon D90 DSLR
Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D

Four-frame horizontal panoramic, merged in Photoshop CS5.

© Michael Mueller (Fritzchen | Fotografie). You may NOT use, replicate, manipulate, or modify this image without my permission. All Rights Reserved.</sub>