The Great Freight Debate: A Fictional Photographic Essay (Contains Large Pics)

[wilh]

(First set of pics has been split into five posts. (# 1, 2, 3, 5, 6))
A few years ago, 22 to be exact, the then current British Rail president made a claim in a interview with Trains Magazine (which appeared in their December 1990 issue) that BR freight service was not only faster, but marginally better than American freight service. Seeing as we Americans don't like being second in many things, the Southern Pacific responded to BR, challenging them to what would be known as The Great Freight Debate. The event was set for June 20th, 1991. Two other American roads signed on (the Santa Fe and Union Pacific). The challenge was simple, SP told BR to bring over a train that contained a variety of rolling stock that was in use at the time and to bring some locos. The trains would then be put together and brought to the Mojave Sub, where the trains would traverse the famous Tehachapi Loop and the go to the starting point outside of the town of Tehachapi. The finish was at Mojave. The first to get their fully loaded train to the end won. The rule was that there would be one loco per thousand tons. The BR train weighed close to 2000, so they brought four engines, two to power the train and two as spares. The American train was close to 7000 tons, so it got 7 engines, 2 from each of the three railroads and one from EMD.

Being apart of the Santa Fe P.R Department at the time, I, along with several others, were sent to photograph this unusual event. Below are some of the better photographs that I shot that interesting day in June of 1991. Captions are included above every picture.

The two trains sitting just before the loop.

Front end view of both trains.

The American Train starting towards the starting line.

Brand new centerflow hopper and 20,800 gallon tank car. Lettered for a new leasing company called Jointed Rail Services.

The two lead locos, SP SD40T-2 8564 and Santa Fe SD45 5346.

All 7 locos on the American Train. SP SD40T-2 8564, Santa Fe SD45 5346, Union Pacific SD40-2 3593 "Desert Storm", EMD SD60 Demo 1, SP SD45 9030, SF GP60M 130, UP GP60 2024.

 

[wilh]

The American Train crossing over itself on the loop.

The British Train starting toward the starting line. Locos on the BR Train were a Class 55 "Deltic" 55018 and a Class 47 47363.

Spare Locos pushing up Grade. A Class 37 and a Class 31.

British Train winding its way up the Loop.

American Train thundering its way toward the start.

SP SD40T-2 8564, with oddly fuzzy lettering.

 

[wilh]

The British Train powering toward the start.

Both trains lined up at the starting line.

The British train passing through with an early lead.

The American Train struggling to catch up.

The American Train squeezing toward the lead.

The American Train is in the lead.

 

[kittycraft]

Awesome shots wilh. If only it did happen.

 

[wilh]

The British Train several cars back.

Missed the shot by a bit, British Train is just barely in view.

The British Train falling farther back.

Side view of speeding Class 47 47363.

Pounding over a grade crossing at 65.

PFE Reefer and the British Train gaining lost ground.

 

[wilh]

Dual Set O' Cabooses.

The American Train: 65 MPH
The British Train: 109 MPH

The American Train now well behind.

The American Train now had no hope of winning, but victory for the British Train would be shallow...
This is the first half of what turned out to be a rather eventful event. I will post those later.

 

[wilh]

Awesome shots wilh. If only it did happen.

Only if.....

 

[Isegrinns]

Hahaha, clever idea, sir.

 

[Paulsw2]

Hmm, not sure this is entirely right. If it's 1991 surely it should be a couple of class 60s or even 56s rather than a relatively low powered class 47 (only 2,750 hp) and a class 55 which isn't geared for freight and which had been withdrawn in 1981! Try it again with BR Class 60 Sector, kuid2:125373:60000:4 and BR Class 60 Sector old, kuid:125373:60010, and see what happens. (Probably not 100mph plus freight trains!)

Paul (supporting the Mother Country)

 

[simulatortrain]

Hmm, not sure this is entirely right. If it's 1991 surely it should be a couple of class 60s or even 56s rather than a relatively low powered class 47 (only 2,750 hp) and a class 55 which isn't geared for freight and which had been withdrawn in 1981! Try it again with BR Class 60 Sector, kuid2:125373:60000:4 and BR Class 60 Sector old, kuid:125373:60010, and see what happens. (Probably not 100mph plus freight trains!)

Paul (supporting the Mother Country)

4 of his American engines were built in the 1970s, so they weren't exactly new either...

 

[nikos1]

The Brits would have lost at the starting line anyways, the chain couplings would have snapped with that lenght of train

 

[Isegrinns]

the chain couplings would have snapped with that lenght of train

Good sir, 2000t are well within the possibilities.
Ie, we use to ran trains with 4000t of coal and ore over here without problems.

The BR train weighed close to 2000

 

[wilh]

Funny enough, I figured when I was making this that someone would point the rolling stock inaccuracies. (This is also a view into which country's railroads I am more in tune with)

 

[kamran]

i just lollllllllllll at the camarison between american railroads and british railroads.what i can say british rails is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy behind he great american railroads.and when i saw pics i just lolled at the sight of roaring american spppppppps and a small shy looking br loco

 

[Isegrinns]

Not a big fan of british stuff either, but think who invented it at first.

Where´s the popcorn?

 

[H222]

wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy behind

In what? Levels of pollution are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ahead, fuel use is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ahead, considering lots of freight is hauled by electric. By the way, nice spelling

Jamie

 

[nikos1]

Clearance gauge, couplers (fine they can haul 2000 ton trains, but nothing approaching the size of the average US train) among other things. Someone that knows more might correct me on this one but very little freight in the UK is electric hauled, other than the Class 90's and 92's theres not a whole lot of electric freight motors left with the 87's gone, most of the freight is Class 66 hauled (US designed and Canadian built of course , dumbed down to UK standards, EMD had to remove the dynamic braking equipment to make way for the ridiculous exhaust silencing equipment)

Passenger service is the flip side of the coin, but we won't talk about that since this thread is about freight....

 

[wilh]

Passenger service is the flip side of the coin, but we won't talk about that since this thread is about freight....

I may or may not have done a passenger one to........

 

[nathanmallard]

I just lollllllll at the way kamran bashes UK Railways. Let's see, Fastest diesel locomotive/train: BR Intercity 125. Fastest steam locomotive: LNER A4 Pacific #4468 Mallard. Most powerful diesel locomotive: EE Type 5 Deltic. Not meaning to insult anybody here but Modern American diesels are sluggish and badly designed from a British perspective. No wonder the British train won!
P.S US steamers and early cab diesels are great, things only started going downhill when Penn Central was formed.

 

[Kay9]

This is a really interesting concept, I like it! Just wondering though, how could you hold a race on the Mojave Sub when most of the line is single tracked?

On another note...

Not meaning to insult anybody here but Modern American diesels are sluggish and badly designed from a British perspective.

I'm not trying to start a flame war here but how are American locomotives poorly designed? Sure they're probably less aerodynamic than British engines and definitely slower but I think all of the different grooves and ledges give the loco character. I can see how having a cab on both ends of the locomotive adds versatility, but it lacks visibility for the engineer as he/she has to leave the cab to clearly see behind the engine; I'd call this an upside for American motive power since the conductors can leave the cab easily while the engine's moving and walk to the back. This is exactly why we don't use cab diesels anymore. And for the most part, American trains are usually built for power. Even though British trains move a lot faster, they are shorter and most American trains are long-haul, slower, and just plain longer. So if you think about it multiple British trains would be needed to carry the same amount of cargo, the same distance, and in the same time as one American train. Now maybe our locomotives don't appeal to you personally but as for badly designed, I don't think so. Again, not trying to start any arguments but I'm just fighting for my country (metaphorically) and I just like to be right haha.

P.S sorry this post is so long