stevea Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Hi While browsing on YouTube I've seen occasional trains formed of one hopper wagon and one coach (on one occasion hopper + coach + hopper + coach). I was just wondering what the purpose of these trains was. Is it a dangerous (or possibly valuable) commodity being transported needing security, or are the coaches test vehicles monitoring the wagons' performance? Hopefully someone can solve the mystery for me. Thanks in advance Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pH Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Any examples showing these trains? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted February 12, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) 42 minutes ago, pH said: Any examples showing these trains? They often appear on the Virtual Railfan grab bag (that is released every 1/2 days) - for La Plata or Fort Madison as they are BNSF workings. Pretty certain they are test trains as the coach has a full width observation window at the end. (The BNSF one has a high intensity light below the coach) I'll try and find some. The other test trains that regularly pop up on the grab bag are the NS ones with a ex-loco as a dynamic load and the CSX Geo train Edited February 12, 2021 by newbryford 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted February 12, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 12, 2021 4.20 and 15.30 in this video for the BNSF and NS trains 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevea Posted February 12, 2021 Author Share Posted February 12, 2021 Thank you for providing the video link. Just looking at the Fort Madison clip - after further consideration could the hoppers be providing extra brake force for the light two coach load? At least one coach seems to be recording as there are lights onto the track. In the NS Horseshoe Curve clip that does appear to be an inspection saloon, with the maroon loco possibly providing auxiliary power supplies to the inspection saloon... Thank you to all for your feedback Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Actually, NS 38 "The Brick" is a track inspection vehicle, designed to allow them to measure the track when being subject to the actual weight of a loco - it is ballasted to be the same weight as a real loco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted February 12, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 12, 2021 12 minutes ago, mdvle said: Actually, NS 38 "The Brick" is a track inspection vehicle, designed to allow them to measure the track when being subject to the actual weight of a loco - it is ballasted to be the same weight as a real loco. And there's NS34/33 as well. http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=5340706 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevea Posted February 12, 2021 Author Share Posted February 12, 2021 Please excuse my ignorance on this topic. My favourites are EE- and Sulzer- engined BR locos, but the sheer scale of US operations is spectacularly impressive. Thank you again for the updates Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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