MRL Laurel-Missoula stalls on Mullan Pass
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- čas přidán 10. 06. 2013
- The story: The Laurel - Missoula (LM) takes a good run at Mullan Pass, as can be seen at the start of the clip. However by Skyline the crew are calling saying insufficient power has them stalled. Unfortunately a coal train had already started out up the hill, and did not want to stop at the Austin siding, so no helpers could get up the hill to help. In the end a crew coming eastbound had to set their train in the Blossburg siding and bring their locomotives over the pass to assist. And of course the rain was getting serious by then. Apologies for the poor panning and zoom, but one hand was occupied holding the umbrella. Feel like Mike Beckett here!!
- Auta a dopravní prostředky
Man, that was a tough start! Wet rail, plus the whole train is stretched out on the hill, no pulling the slack there, you gotta start the whole train at once. Good job by the crews, and great video. Thanks for braving the rain for us!
Wonderful job. Superior camera work with no fast pans, seasick stunts or any of the common stunts on CZcams. Perfect audio, no idiotic background blather. Perfect in every aspect and the sound of the rain was a wonderful Bonus.
THOSE BIG JETS INSIDE THAT BIG ENGINE CAN BE HEARD MILES AWAY, I'VE ALWAYS LOVED THE SOUND OF DIESEL ENGINE'S AND THE POWER THEY POSSESS.
This grade must be steeper than it looks, it was a short train. Great job on the camera, even as bad as the rain was coming down.
That's an awesome video and shows what the railroads go through to "get the goods to market". Few people realize or stop to think of how important the railroads are and how much trouble they go through to get the job done. I like how you stuck it out to the end and even filmed in the rain. This is awesome mountain railroad action! Thanks for the vid!
Clean, steady video.
Good work.
Interesting problem.
I would have thought that two DPUs would be able to pull that small train.
Pretty miserable day to be railfanning!
Thanks for putting up with the weather.
Bill rouleau thanks Bill. At least the wind wasn’t blowing
I just love those big American engines. Fantastic ! Thanks a lot, Colin UK 🇬🇧
This video confuses me. There is no camera shake. The videographer followed the train without jerking movement. The sound isn't muddy. The shot is clear. Nice job Scott (if you are the photographer)
Boss302fan Thanks Boss. I appreciate you taking the time to comment.
Boss302fan that's a nice compliment. Oh and....that is a cool username too. :)))
Can't forget you Scott, for standing out in the rain for the terrific shots you captured and shared. Very nice indeed.
Boss302fan new stabilization equipment makes this possible.
New stabilisation equipment, like a tri-pod maybe? Excellent video and tip top effort out in that weather. Videos like this which are rock steady and don't have a zoom in, then out, then in, then out are so much nicer to watch. Love this stuff and the great technique is much appreciated while balancing an ubmrella. I think there are many people posting videos who should look and learn. By the way, I/m not one of them. I just don't have what it takes to get all the parts of making a good video like this so don't do it out of frustration.
Relax, it is called a tripod and skillful camera handling...
This is old school railroading up Northern Pacific's line over Mullen Pass. Kudos for a great job on capturing this fantastic event. I turned up the sound and it was GREAT!!! Lived in Helena, MT for 6 yrs and it is a great railroad town.
Scott, this reminds me big time of when I worked on the Milwaukee Road back in the 70's. I was with Signal Maintainer Elton Treible on the west side of the hill.
We had a westbound sitting at East Portal and there was a slow freight coming eastbound. We were about halfway between Adair and Roland at a set-off awaiting the trains. Time dragged on when the power of the westbound came by. I couldnt tell you now but only that they were deisels. We knew that something had gone wrong with the slow freight and hoped it wasn't another of the many derailments. It turned out that the eastbound was being pulled by a single boxcab that had stalled out somewhere below us(we pretty much only called them helpers) and the other power was used to get it to the top. As they came by us uphill I really got the feeling that the helper was an old lady being manhandled uphill by the new deisels. On another note I have written a record of my time on the Milwaukee and would be more than willing to share this with you. It is about 54 kb in length. Am working on Vol 2 now. You can let me know if you want this at jonnmiller@msn.com I really want to keep memories of the Milwaukee alive as best as I can.
@killsalive1 im 9 years late to your comment unfortunately, but ever since I discovered the Milwaukee Road about 15 years ago, I've been in awe of their electrified division. Their 1915 vintage boxcabs, the bipolars, the Quills, & the Little Joes showed how impressive electric traction was 109-50 years ago. I wasnt born until the 90s, but man if only I could go back to witness those motors climbing a grade with that low hum among the Montana mountain landscape...a far cry from my native area of north Florida..
I agree. Yet the crew specifically said they were stalled due to a lack of power. Thanks for commenting.
Gentlemen... that is how you lift a train on the ruling grade. Nicely done without any wheel slip on the wet rails, and nicely shot too!
What amazes me is the strength of the car couplers. The first one has to take the stress of all the rest of them.
DW Hilman they do break
I love the Montana skyline. Great videos my friend. Trains and mountains...
Nice story and video! I was surprised like other posters here that three more engines were required to hall the stalled train up the grade. Must have been heavy - the five units really had to crank the power up to climb the hill from a standing stop on wet rails. My compliments to you for standing out in the rain through the run. As others have mentioned - good stability and panning!
Cheers from Montreal.
Thanks Frederic
Glad to see the 290 still on the roster and in new paint. Great catch.
Thanks Gregg. 2.2% there, and about a mile from the top.
Awesome video man! As an East Coast railfan I've never had the chacne to shoot anything MRL but it has always been one of my favorite railroads!
kudos for your dedication, out in the rain like that - it's a good clip, interesting, and well-enough shot (certainly better than mine :)
Great bit of work, thanks. Also like the explanation you gave. All thumbs up.
Very good video and audio. It almost felt like being there. Thanks for the reference quality clip.
Aaron Summers Thanks Aaron. I really appreciate you taking the time to comment
I couldn't tell if a bearing cap was turning or not. You guys got some good eyes. All I can say is, Look at the choo-choo. For a rainy day and holding an umbrella while filming, you did an excellent job Mr. Hiddelston.
Listening to the rain drops, sounds like your cooking bacon :-)
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, bacon
Love that sound.
Damit now i want a blt!
Raindrops on umbrella sound.
It's insane how much power it takes for that little train. Great catch.
I loved this video, love the rain and the train sounds.
Loved the sound of the rain. Added atmosphere to the shots. Hope the carrier did not lose too much money on the trip!
Take it from a seasoned Engineer, there's nothing like cracking the throttle on 16,000+ horsepower and feeling those traction motors bite into the rail and having however many tons of train behind you start to roll. It becomes a part of you. Like getting on a hot rod Harly and cracking the throttle hard as you make thunder as you roll.
Nice clear video. Thanks for sharing! Keep them coming!
Nice job! Excellent cinematography and a compelling story to go along with it.
Excellent video, it feels like I was there on site, while watching it on my home computer in a dry warm house.
GREAT catch Scotty !!!
Great video! I appreciate your work.
Hello Scott. New subscriber. Can’t believe how super clear the picture and sound is in this video compared with other sites. It’s nice to hear the big diesels, even when ticking over. Looking foreword to catching up with your other videos. Hope you didn’t get to wet it was well worth it. All the best. Mick🇬🇧
Thank you, great video and nice explanations especially considering the weather! - Ciao, L
Thanks for sharing and great job with the umbrella too!!!!!!
Thanks Airman !! I've since figured out how to mount the umbrella on my tripod so both hands are free!
Beautiful Video!! The Rain 🌧 make's it even more awesome!!!
insane camerawork, cool action, no road noise or light pollution, .... his is why I love watching your videos. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks BCOL. Appreciate it.
Always love seeing that old warbonnet paint, even on the blocky new units :D
Great video! Really enjoyed it.
NICE sharp video. Rain makes it even better. Yep; Five tough engines made short work of that HEAVY train.
No need to apologize, great catch and very nicely executed. Nice to see things other than monster lash ups and mile long trains blasting by.. Good one.
Thanks Snowy. Appreciate the comment
This is absolutely phenomenal footage.
Thank you Kevin.
Nothing beats railroading in bad weather! Great work...
that was a awesome video of the Mrl sd70ace and Burlington es44ac locomotives powering up and taking off, all that horse power is sweet!
Learned a lot from This-Fine-Video and It's Story... The Comments are An Education for a Trainwatcher like myself.... Here just West of Boston out in, Gardner, There are Super-Grades.. I'll keep my eye on Late-Fall and Winter icing problems... Thank-You One and All.....
Loved seeing the old War Bonnet livery .
Well filmed the moment of coupling and then the superb route of the freight train!
Love your video, outstanding video quality and great drama! Thanks
Lyn Durga Thanks Lyn.
Excellent Video, from Australia ! No shakes, great shots and i just love listening to the rain in the background... wish i could be standing there ! Keep it up and thanks for posting.
Thanks Rebel. The old warbonnet had a nice growl to it.
Exelent job, Scott.
I love the parts in this video where the train stops, then unstops again. Great.
Thank you very much Moonwolfe. I really appreciate your kind words. Glad you enjoyed the video
Loved the sound of the rain.
The bearing cap is turning on the 759 unit, watch it again. The ones of the 6550 are mostly covered by plates for mounting other equipment. Not hard to understand this train stalling with power problems, wet rail, curves and the grade. All combined proved too much.
Great video. Thanks. The cavalry engines come to the rescue. Ya done good, mate!
Well now it took 5 diesels to get this train up the grade when 1 Big Boy would've been more than enough to walk that train right on up the hill like it was nothing; long live Big Boy.
Probably didn't need all three additional units, but it would've been much quicker not to have to deal with disconnecting all the MU cables and hoses and stuff. And too, while it wouldn't take much more power than the MRL pair had to *move* the train over the grade, getting it *started* again on the grade (no slack when your load's dangling downhill of you!) must've been a cast iron pain in the neck.
A Big Boy would not have even come close to moving this train. A single modern SD70ACe is capable of developing more tractive effort. The trains that the Big Boys hauled consisted of freight cars a little over half as heavy as those of today, on grades half as steep as Mullan Pass.
Even the cab forward has more power than the big boy and one single unit like a dash 9 can out do a big boy. Haven’t u seen how long one unit wonders are?
diddlebug72..... I don't want to "burst your love bubble" with the UP's F-E-E-F "Big Boy".... but don't confuse the "romance " of steam, with actual facts. I love steam (& the bigger, the better!!)... but the facts are what they are. The UP 4000 class (aka "Big Boys"), of the 1st & 2nd groups (#4000 to 4019 / 4020 to 4024) could develop 135,375 lbs of starting effort, an EMD SD70ACe develops 191,000 lbs starting, and 157,000 lbs continuous at 12 mph.
PS: During its restoration, the 4014's cylinders were bored 1/4" over, increasing them to 24" (from 23.75") while retaining the 32" stroke (same B&S as B&O's EM-1's [2-8-8-4] and SP's AC 10/11/12 classes w/4-8-8-2 wheel arrangement).... which increased its starting tractive effort to 138,240 lbs
Awesome video. Thanks!
Awesome video, Scott
Wonderful video, it really shoes how it is done.
Robert
Very nice shots!
Thanks CSZXACe. Well worth a trip!!
Must be really steep as that was a short train.
Wet rails don't help. Wheel slippage.
Maybe cooked a motor on the way up?
0:12 I could watch those vent covers flapping around all day. Reminds me of the radiators on MLWs
your freight trains are always amazing. Much longer and heavier than in germany even the locos. We have only a few 6 axles diesel engines. I am always happy to see 6 axles :-)
Absolutely phenomenal camera work and such majestic scenery. Doesn't get any better than this.
Wonderful video, Scott!!! An interesting story! Maybe one of the engines MRL broke down and they did not have enough power to continue the movement? Thanks for braving the weather for us!!
Very nice video Scott
Mark Duxberry Thanks Mark. It really is hard to screw up Mullan Pass !!
Yeah ! Heard the rain on your brella. They just put too many cars on those trains, thought they had a foolproof formula for power to load and gradient, weather cond. etc. Guess not!🙀Thanks, was fun watching!🌈
There were only 32 cars on that train.
Interesting video and really good quality. That must have been quite a grade or a really long one.
Hope you brought your umbrella! Looks like it would get pretty chilly out there without one!
Wow, beautiful scenery, great video. I just subscribed to your channel.
excellent train video ...
That wasn't much of a train for those two units to stall out with... and several of the cars were visibly empty.... Must have had mechanical issues?
My thoughts exactly. That SDP40 was 47 years old!
Excellent video quality........👍
Very nice vid considering the rain. Cheers
holy shit, I've need seen an sdp40 in service ever. cool! :)
Good job! I don't know if I would be in the rain filming this...
Excelente video!!
Saludos.
great video, i say those engines really sunk into the red taking off
Interesting video, good stuff.
Nice video, not too many War Bonnet units left in 2019.
We were at Disneyland, riding the steam train in the rain. It stopped at one station to pick up passengers, on a slight uphill section. It took several attempts to get out of that station, due to wet rails.
Those rail link engines are CLEAN
Great video, and excellent work with the background info. Thank!
Looks like they had Kadee couplers, not the NMRA plastic horn couplers, so they could stand that pulling power.
Wow great camera work! A+++++
First, great job. And to answer some of the comments, 2.2 %, 10 Degree curve and 7500 hp. in the rain, with little momentum, physics gents. 759, boys I see these aging GE's on a an almost daily basis, usually huffing hard and with one or more bearings still. But great video Scott, really glad I subscribed.
Joe Saurina Thanks Joe. I appreciate your comments.
Great video! I'm a huge GE locomotive fan. But one of my favorite parts of this vid, is the opening sequence and the mean sound of the 2-stroke prime movers in both that SD70ACe and the SDP40-2XR. Awesome stuff! It's a shame that EMD is switching over to 4-stroke prime movers, in response to the EPA's Tier 4 regs. We already have enough mean sounding 4-stroke prime movers with the GE platforms. The EMD 2-strokers provide railfans with an additional mean sounding platform. Look at me getting all emotional! LOL Again, great video Scott!
EMD is still building and selling LOTS of 710 G powered locos internationally... at least railfans & engineers and other train crew can still enjoy the sweet sound & power of the 2 cycles.
Lots of empty bulkhead flat cars that are used to haul lumber, as well as all the empty A frame cars used for the same purpose.
man, that must be a steeeeeeeeep grade for there to be 5 engines on such a short train
beautiful video
TLew01 Thanks Tlew.
It boggles my mind to think what would have been involved if these were steam locomotives! (I REALLY miss that!)
thanks Z. I appreciate the comment
Nice video ! Thanks for sharing. Greetings,
Clearest and sharpest video ever!!! Even better than the movies:)
Aussie Rob thanks Rob. Glad you enjoyed the video.
@@ScottHiddelston Keep on uploading. Awesome quality . . . How many loco's would come past on any given day. One an hour etc
Aussie Rob about 30-35 a day Rob. And if say half of those are westbound then you get the helpers returning to Helena also.
I realize this was a number o years ago on The Mullan. Once the power units r added where they controlled from is there a remote on the lead unit to control the whole package. James Dean. Ayrshire UK
I love the photo-quality of the video. Thanks for posting.
Thanks, specR. I appreciate the comment
Great video! 15 to 20 million pounds from a dead stop, up hill...!!!
I agree. MRL has one of the more scenic routes, and challenging.