130-car coal train w/ double helpers crosses Greenhorn Trestle, Mullan Pass MT.

Struggling from the start, this train had locomotive problems with loco 4 and the DPU, and so an extra helper set was requested from Helena. So with 13 locos total (although 2 for sure and maybe 3 offline) the train slowly grinds its way up Mullan Pass. Second helper set has only 3 online. Nice horn from the engineer

[@christianmetal5150]

The sound of those MRL pushers never gets old

[@lynnmcculloch-m4h]

❤❤❤❤❤ emg

[@Jleed989]

Imagine seeing that scenery everyday and getting paid for it

[@H3avyHaul3r]

except when you sign on at 1800hrs for 10 days straight doing 12hr shifts….dog tired and nothing much to see except your headlights

[@ffjsb]

@@H3avyHaul3r I'd do it.

[@H3avyHaul3r]

@@ffjsb yep i’ve seen a lot of people come and go….full of beens, 2yrs latter 👋

[@ffjsb]

@@H3avyHaul3r It's just like being a farmer, in the military, self employed, etc. Lots of jobs are demanding.

[@garylarson6386]

I am retired fron the UP 12 hour days get boring

[@iusetano]

I love the sound of locomotives screaming their lungs out. Thank you for sharing. Excellent video as always Scott.

[@ScottHiddelston]

Thanks Hans. How are you doing ?

[@RazielKainus]

how many damn tons could it have been? I mean, on one hand wow, on the other, how to fck up your tracks 101 :)))

[@Rev1Kev]

@@RazielKainus roughly 12,000 tons

[@RazielKainus]

@@Rev1Kev nice :) I believe in EU trains can be max 5500tons or so, above that they need special permission - to protect the infrastructure aka rails from wearing too fast I believe the only regular one above that is the IORE iron ore trains in Sweden, pulled by a dual monster loco :)))

[@H3avyHaul3r]

alot of that noise is inverter fans/radiators fans/TM blowers keeping things cool…i was only just thinking they sound alot like electric locomotives that i’ve driven in the coalfield of queensland Australia

[@williamschlenger1518]

Incredible the length of that train & the power of the diesel engines.

[@cwillpiko1994]

... all possible due to the tiny coupler-pin....

[@НиколайКравин-н4т]

А какая длина станции должна быть, что б принять такой состав?

[@lnrailroad3215]

Do you know which mine this train loaded at??

[@timmiller7524]

Track is newly ballasted and looks extremely smooth. The most impressive thing to me is the stability of the speed and load-sharing between all those 13 behemoths. I could spend the next life watching these go by, with no regrets

[@daniellaubach7544]

Nice smooth railbed helped getting this huge hopper train plus the road power needed to keep its speed! Impressive for what BNSF has done for a smooth operation over Mullens Pass.

[@Maine_Railfan]

Its an amazing sight to see in person, especially when they have multiple helper sets on a train.

[@vernacular1483]

The well-maintained roadway definitely improves efficiency and allows more unit freight 👍

[@yankeesforlife24]

The 4th unit and the rear three I suspect were all isolated. BNSF/MRL Rated power axles rule only allows 3 units online on the head end and 4 on the rear. That’s why they cut into all heavies on mullan in contrast to Bozeman where they can shove with 3 units and a DP on the rear.

[@nitinshukla3752]

That’s a monster consist! 13 locos….and all straining! Great capture 👏

[@mazharaltaf4899]

How they synchronise the speed of all locomotives, i.e. pushing at same force?

[@nitinshukla3752]

@@mazharaltaf4899 exactly what distributed power does…radio control across all locos and software to manage it

[@mazharaltaf4899]

@@nitinshukla3752 Thank you for kind reply, that’s great.

[@repro7780]

Wow, 13 locomotives! That must have sounded awesome in person! Plus a rare horn from the lead unit. Nice!

[@ScottHiddelston]

The video just doesn't do the sound justice. It's absolutely deafening

[@ckuehncnwhsyt]

Actually ten locomotives and three appliances.

[@kennethmcglashan3333]

Back in the 80’s can you imagine how many SD40-2’s it would take to move this train.

[@kennethmcglashan3333]

Back in the 80’s can you imagine how many SD40-2s it would take to move this train.

[@jordanalexander615]

Alot of people don't realize the reasoning for dpu. It was obviously way more power than needed but the point is on curvy tracks you don't want the train pulling in the curves so hard . As in pulling against the curves. It lessens chance for derailment and takes a lot of stress off the cars and curves. Much safer than just pulling or pushing in one spot. And less likely to break couplers.

[@markam306]

Scott, Great capture. 13 locomotives, 10 of them SD70s. Beautiful sight.

[@Wikkus]

That was a little over 9.5 minutes of relaxing bliss. Hope to go back to visit one day and visit some of the other spots. Best wishes, Rik.

[@espeescotty]

Man, what a show! That is like old time 1980's railroading right there, but with newer equipment. SD70ACe's are my favorite modern power, so this is just right for me.

[@lynnmcculloch-m4h]

❤❤❤❤❤ emd 's howling !!!

[@paulbrennan3996]

First class sight and sound 🤝👊💥🔥

[@johnmoore8016]

That must have had a lot of tonnage to have 13 units in the train. Thanks for a very outstanding video. (Missisippi Gulf Coast, USA)

[@ScottHiddelston]

Thanks John, Tonnage is usually around 18,000 tons

[@LupeCoded]

@johnmoore8016 if you're from the Mississippi Coast, I'm sure you're highly familiar with railroads LOL. I used to live down there myself (Pass Christian, MS). Small world.

[@RazielKainus]

holy ssss thats some major tonnage... poor tracks tho :)))

[@drkennethnoisewater7999]

13 units isn't the usual here. These coal trains are 3x4x1 normally. The BN likes to throw extra weight in dead units on these things for us.This train stalled or the head end lost a unit or the middle helpers lost some units, which is why you got the 4 set on the rear. Those helper sets have an overheating problem in the summer. I've been riding these things as the conductor for the last 9 years

[@RavenWinterz]

Tonnage on tonnage on tonnage, all rolling along on a metal track across this great country. 🇺🇸

[@Trains-With-Shane]

That's a LOT of SD70's! Excellent video!

[@steveallen1340]

Somewhere around 40 megawatts of power! Truely incredible, could power approximately 30,000 American homes.

[@SuperOptimus217]

@@steveallen1340 Damn, froreal? That's amazing!

[@j.m.youngquist419]

It's nice to see some of the original Mac's still out there running.

[@osmiumtank]

Those locomotives are so shiny and spotless like garage queens! Incredible footage and train.

[@larrydavidson3402]

Watched a few trains cross that trestle, and also come through the tunnel on top of Mullan pass. Spent 25 years in that area. Beautiful country.

[@michaelmancusi9054]

THANK YOU FOR THIS GREAT TIME IM A TRAIN LOVER Please Send More

[@michaelmancusi9054]

HOW MANY ENGINES TOTally Amazing

[@woody95124]

Big ole heavy long ass train! Probably a gazillion tons of coal!

[@Harrison2253]

Amazing you can see the other end of the train moving in the distance across the valley

[@Posttrip]

What a GLORIOUS concert that was!!!

[@skywatcher442]

WOW!! we never see that kind of power all running at the same time in KCMO, Too flat! Would love to go to that location some day. Great video man, thanks.

[@timothymclaughlin6860]

Wow! The last days and hours of MRL. We had built a trip to go right there and watch them but unfortunately a family member fell IL so we can’t go right now . 😢Appreciate your videos

[@locoman44.86]

They should give out Emmy's and Golden Globe awards for production's such as these,such is the Quality And content.A truly wonderful video Scott,great sound,great picture Quality, and of course, lots of Ace's. A certain winning combination. Thank you for sharing your passion of trains with us all.Thankyou from all your subscribers, and God bless you.

[@floodedcar123]

These coal trains excite me. thanks for posting

[@ScottHiddelston]

Glad you like them floodedcar.

[@Bob.W.]

Good to see all those EMDs. Thx.

[@PharaohDeathMask]

Wow! That is big-time railroading at its best. Great camera work, too.

[@BadlandNP]

Scott, I am glad you are capturing so much MRL for us! Thanks!

[@dekalbes335]

My father was an engineer ( mostly freight) on the Erie Lackawanna. He used to call these engines "Bulldogs". the other common type was the "Covered Wagon". As a kid , I got to sit in the engineer seat and drive the train.

[@rolpfeiffer4011]

Thanks airing and sharing the outstanding video with magnificent locomotives. Railfanning endeavors are promising. Reminiscent of a similarly published video a few years ago.Bliss

[@gragor11]

Those locis are impressive, clean, identical and massive. you do nice videos Scott.

[@ScottHiddelston]

Thank you very much Gragor

[@jamesconnor4302]

That’s what us brits like to call ‘MEGA THRASH!’ Fantastic catch!

[@thebops4180]

I couldn't relax being an engineer. Anything could go wrong at any stage!

[@FrogandFlangeVideo]

Just awesome !! Interesting that Raillink 4318 (tail end pusher group) had 2 sets of horns. James.

[@alessiorivetti3728]

Stupendo treno e eccellenti riprese video, congratulazioni

[@stephenarata2704]

EXCELLENT camera work! Kept me engaged the entire time.

[@kenneycooper6199]

Got that horn shout out. Cool 😎.

[@pcorf]

EMD's sound amazing. Some locos are dead though. That train would have to be incredibly heavy.

[@olivieraleman]

Spent time on Weirton Steel short line…never had 130 cars! Loved working the rolling stock❤

[@rickyarger1169]

Last time I watched a video with 13 engines it was a power move...this was awsome...hope the hike was easy you couldn't drive to a vantage point t like that...

[@dfresh748]

Thanks for sharing these, Scott! Your coal train video from 9 years ago (where you had to block out the identity of a person between the locos, haha) inspired me to come out and see the MRL 2 years ago. I live outside of Chicago. I actually mountain biked along the r.o.w. back to this spot. Furthermore, I appreciate the work you put in climbing along the side of that embankment to get the shot. You don't see it in the videos, but, it's a little steep in person. Unfortunately, when I was in that spot, I didn't catch anything. However, it was cool to see the bridge up close, and I had good luck in other spots. I felt like a kid again up on Tennessee Pass with all the locos in notch 8! Thanks again, Doug

[@ScottHiddelston]

Glad you enjoyed it Doug, and happy to hear you were inspired to visit. Excellent !!

[@anb7408]

When I was last there in 2019, the road to that trestle was gated off and inaccessible. A shame given how awesome that spot its!

[@ScottHiddelston]

I think it had been left open for snowmobilers, and although the snow was gone they hadn't closed it off yet. I just got lucky. Best spot on the pass !!!

[@Tchristman100]

EMD's are what a locomotive is supposed to sound like

[@matthiasvorndran4176]

Sagenhafte Aufnahmen. Unvollstellbar, das man auf Steilrampen solche Züge mit diesen Massen mit den vielen vollbeladenen Waggons, Zwischen- und Schlußloks vernünftig bewegen kann. 😅😮😅👍

[@ericmason349]

Beautiful scenery. it sure takes allot of horsepower to get those coal cars up the grade!

[@ScottHiddelston]

Yes it does !! The requirement on this hill is around 2 horsepower per US ton. These trains are around 18,000 tons.

[@leenettywilson528]

Wow what a gr8 catch brilliant video mate, godbless you

[@mickking5913]

That is so good,surely there's more than 130 wagons.First time I've seen that many loco,s on a train before.👏🏻👍🏻

[@marianradu615]

În România, în instrucțiunile de Remorcare și Frânare, într-un tren pot fi așezate MAXIM 6 locomotive

[@andrewelliott4436]

Nice considered camera work.

[@randallfawc7501]

4x4x5. Incredible horse power not seen in very many places. Most I have seen is 4x3x3 on loaded grainers in the Tehachapi loop area.

[@justinmathis9600]

NS in Dalton GA had 3x2x2x3 all BNSF on a SB coal train a couple of months ago came by my work

[@yankeesforlife24]

Large percentage of those motors are isolated

[@ri1288]

@@yankeesforlife24 What’s the reasoning for having some of them isolated? Does it have to do with stress on the couplers?

[@randallellison6421]

5:39 that MRL SD70ACe had 2 sets of airhorns on it, very unusual!

[@espeescotty]

Good catch on that one Randall.

[@randallellison6421]

@@espeescotty thanks, I actually had to go back and watch it again to make sure I wasn't seeing things, lol!

[@rearspeaker6364]

There must be a horn quiet somewhere on the railroad, LOL.

[@Railfan.Matthew.Productions]

It was a former BHP SD70ACE from Australia. BHP Iron ore uses two horns on their SD70ACES.

[@ЮрокМатюш]

Привет из России , обожаю Локомотивы Америки , всем Мира и Добра !!!

[@charliebrooks2570]

Wow, 12 engines for this heavy load!

[@ht24d64]

4+4+5=12????????? Your allowed to take off a shoe and use some toes to count if you need to

[@Nethanel773]

Thank you for putting this up.

[@Eli_J_G]

I saw this same train waiting in the yard. Didn't know that 740 and 9294 were having problems. 9572 wasn't on it, but I had seen that one earlier going east on a manifest. I guess it came back.

[@ScottHiddelston]

Eli, from what I could get off the scanner chatter, it was only when they had attached mid-helpers at Helena Junction that the engineer discovered he was having problems. Again though that's just what I assumed from the scanner.

[@balachdr5]

Power of Machines ,Incredible Video.

[@franzbrunner499]

so MRL is still operating, they didn't go out of business :):) beautiful locomotives, like the 3rd loco upfront

[@jesstill7833]

That’s 50,000 horse power unreal those locos must like to drink wow I hate to pay the fuel bill👍👍

[@rearspeaker6364]

still cheaper then trying to truck that coal to the power plant!

[@atdaestrada9339]

🤍OBRIGADO PELAS POSTAGENS, SEUS VÍDEOS SÃO ÓTIMOS! 🇧🇷

[@TracksideNW]

Such great stuff man! Thanks for posting it.

[@MrEdlindsay]

Nice looking RailLink power units

[@DieselTech8]

Looks like DPU is offline. Explains the 2nd helper set.

[@cleenlivin]

Talk about horsepower? So cool to see and hear those locomotives working to push and pull that load along.

[@kevinleftridge8241]

That was a ton of 🚂

[@KCTopDawg]

Now that's power

[@JohnNyren65]

Fantastic video and footage!

[@angelmalarkey7946]

All of the Sd70ace’s are helping to push all the cars full of coals in the mountains.

[@brunodiaz905]

Very nice video thank you brother 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@daverobinson6110]

Spitshined polished and spotless MRL units. So sharp.

[@franzwunschik158]

excellent video!!!!thanks for sharing

[@tedhansen3846]

I learned this on You Tube: the first and third engines have deisel engines, the second and fourth engines are "Slugs" meaning they operate off of the front "Mother" electricity. The trailing slugs use their electric wheel Motors to help pull no desiel.

[@rearspeaker6364]

google distributed power, u got it all wrong!

[@yankeesforlife24]

Unfortunately you learned wrong, all 13 locomotives are diesel electric with engines and powered traction motors. Slugs are used in yard service only as their traction motors only produce tractive effort at low speeds. These are all diesel electric “road” locomotives used for taking a train from one place to another. The reason you can’t hear them is because they are “isolated” or not producing tractive effort.

[@jonym45]

MRL SD 70aces are the nicest ones on youtube!

[@jimzepf3910]

That's what you call maximum Enjoyment

[@Tom-xe9iq]

The forests don't look too bad. Maybe the pine beetle is done with its devastating assault on the trees. 2015; the drive over McDonald Pass was pretty depressing with all those dead trees.

[@ScottHiddelston]

Agreed Tom. Hopefully over

[@Islander2112]

Nice catch!

[@cascadesub6235]

outstanding catch....love this road

[@ScottHiddelston]

Thanks cascade

[@verlandhenderson247]

U did a nice job on this video!

[@rogerb5615]

The mid-consist helper locos are sooo clean - perhaps fresh from a repaint?

[@bronco7035]

I don't know you Scott but I just subscribed to your channel very interesting.Thanks!!!

[@doug383]

Outstanding show of brute horsepower

[@blackout7615]

All that coal so fancy folks can charge their electric cars.

[@rearspeaker6364]

we need those plants, but they keep leveling them every week. And that is the main reason, electric vehicles.

[@tarnishedknight730]

And cell phones and television sets, in every room of the house, that are on all day - every day, and video games, and home computers and lights on in rooms that no one is in, and electric/battery powered lawn and garden tools, and hoverboards ...

[@JudyJudyJudy44]

Awesome! Thanks so much!

[@siglavikingkearns8108]

Now THAT is really, really impressive. I'm not taking sides but I suspect the days of coal trains are coming to an end

[@ScottHiddelston]

Hi sigla, China approved 4 times more coal fired power plants in 2022 than in 2021. Their coal use is skyrocketing. Sad but true.

[@tomrogers9467]

@@ScottHiddelston. Just more weather events to report on. Good days for newscasters. Everyone love a good forest fire, tornado, hurricane, flood, and on and on.

[@Inferno-hn3zx]

Amazing 🤩⚡👍🏻👍🏻💯🙋🏻‍♂️✌️

[@johnfarr4658]

Huge responsibility, but I would love to be the engineer of this train!!!!

[@stanfullerton8485]

not too many 14 locomotive train units out there---ha ha

[@Nicola636128]

That's incredible!

[@RantzBizGroup]

Great video, you don't see a majority of EDM units much, only three GE units.

[@ItsInEight5245]

Great catch!

[@JohnnyCarroll-wi6tx]

they have some nice looking locomotives.

[@ricardomartinez6767]

Wooowww awesome train!

[@pleiku887]

That is a serious train.

[@triedhi3592]

Excellent video...how steep this line compare to Donner pass

[@martyncozens5654]

Wow don't get anything like that in the Uk. How many crewe do they have on that lot or is it all contoled from the front Engine by one engineer? Also what sort of tonnage would that train be?

[@ScottHiddelston]

Hi Martyn, , there will be two in the lead locomotive controlling the lead locomotives plus the rear DPU, two in the mid-helper set and two in the rear helper set. Weight is usually around 18,000 US tons

[@AllenMacintyre]

This is awesome

[@MicrobyteAlan]

Good videography. Nice train

[@ScottHiddelston]

Thanks Alan

[@bkriegel95]

Notice that the BNSF 9572 exec unit doesn't have a PTC antenna array. Kinda curious if it still doesn't have one here in December of 2024.

[@RailsandSky]

Absolutely amazing. That would take some trucks to convey that by road. How are the helpers controlled by the lead loco? Is it by some form of wi-fi? Thank you./

[@ScottHiddelston]

Both helper sets have their own crews. In this case, the helpers at the back separated once the train was over the top, and the mid-train set stayed with the train to assist with braking on the other side. Once down the steepest part they also returned to Helena. I was hoping for an "8-set" return to Helena but it didn't happen

[@RailsandSky]

@@ScottHiddelston Thank you for your reply. How is the same speed maintained on all the locos.

[@frederickschulkind8431]

​@@ScottHiddelston I had wondered about this. From what I have seen, there can't be DPU's in two places on a train. The answer is that they are not DPU's.

[@ScottHiddelston]

@@RailsandSky I'm not a locomotive engineer, so if anybody wants to pipe up go ahead. But from what I've gathered these AC locomotives measure tractive effort rather than current, and the lead engineer can tell when he is pulling harder than the helpers and instructs them on the radio to notch up. The lead engineer on this train sounded very very experienced, and gave out a bunch of instructions to each helper set in a very calm manner.

[@RailsandSky]

@@ScottHiddelston Thank you again Scott. Interesting information.

[@kaitoopop]

0:36 機関車４重連での牽引！って見ていたら、4:44 中継ぎで更に４重連！、7:28 トドメは最後尾に５重連で機関車計１３台！凄い迫力！

[@ScottHiddelston]

Glad you enjoyed it kaitoopop !

[@lesliew67]

Ez nagyon brutál! Vajon, hány Szergely, Gigant vagy Big Boy+Challenger tudná ugyan ezt? Üdvözlet Magyarországról, Heves megyéből, Apc községből! :)

[@ScottHiddelston]

thank you feherlaciapc ! and hello to Hungary !

[@bradleyjanes2949]

Great video