Chasing NS 18D with Eng. Clifford Duggins at the helm!

Recorded 9/4/2024. Got to enjoy that man Clifford Duggins! He's always such a joy to chase whenever he's running something on the W-Line. Speed-wise, these catches were ok. They weren't the best, just ok. At Jonesville, I believe their TA limits were coming up, so that's why Clifford began to slow down. In Carlisle where the slight incline into the area is, he didn't throttle up like I was expecting. Again, engineers are discouraged from touching that throttle. Also, I believe the AC44C6Ms just have crappy Trip Optimizer or auto controls. Some may be better than others, I guess. Power-wise when it comes to track speed, I find it that foreign power is the best, then under NS power it's GEVOs, EMDs (ACe/ACC), and lastly D9Ws/AC44C6Ms. Maybe it could be dependent on the engineer? I doubt that though since I've clearly heard other train monitoring agents tell crews that they need to let Trip Optimizer or auto controls run the train as much as possible. All this technology on these locomotives to supposedly "save fuel" is merely to make the company look good to investors on paper, and nothing more. It's sad what this world has come to! Just have to find joy in the little things in life now. As I said in the video, I hope you all enjoy the video! Comment, like, and/or subscribe.
-NS 18D Loaded BMW Auto Racks
-Greer, SC - Charleston, SC
-Locomotives:
NS #4304 AC44C6M
NS #4070 AC44C6M
-68 cars (~6,392’)
-680 BMWs
-NS Coastal Division/Columbia District/W-Line

[@Random_Sh9945]

Sweet catch and friendly crew! U plan on filming in Branchville again sometime when railroad day starts?

[@anscrailfanner6812]

@@Random_Sh9945 Thanks for watching. No, Branchville is way out of my way.