Starting 15,000 Tonnes

Starting a two-mile long freight train with over 15,000 tonnes trailing weight on a 1 in 50 uphill gradient

[@sicilian12345]

I just can't get over how amazing this sounds!! I also can't tell you how many times I've blasted this on my stereo speakers, I wish more vids like this were made!

[@rick_porter]

Could almost "feel" the power as the engineman hit notch 8! There's nothing like the sound of that EMD traction blower kicking up to full howl! GREAT job on this video! Rick - USA

[@douglasskaalrud6865]

Variable speed radiator fans.

[@joek8259]

I cant believe i found this again!!! I didn't look it was in my recommended, I used to watch this with my son when he was 4. AWESOME!!!!!

[@kuskanook135]

Nothing better than the sound of an EMD 2cycle!!

[@mmciau]

What was noticeable was the stress and distortion of the lead carbody cowling at the 2 minute and 2.40 areas of the video - stress in the lad locomotive at Run 8 settings. It shaked noticeably mike

[@iggyjill]

you gotta love 3 GM locos revving there engines and sounding like they are God bless GMs

[@themanfromvan]

I am a Locomotive Engineer. Yesterday I brought a train into Vancouver, B.c, that was 12 500 feet long and it was 23 500 tons. Two units on the head end and one in the middle. They don't get much longer or heavier than that any where on the planet.

[@AirchimeLTDproductions174]

themanfromvan what was your locomotive power in the consist

[@massltca]

Awesome sound. I grew up in western Massachusetts watching GP40's haul heavy trains up the hill to the Hoosac tunnel at full throttle. I could listen to EMD locomotives all day. Thank's for sharing!

[@camsmith7651]

Love seeing the exhaust belching out

[@rob066101]

These EMD locomotives do sound great. Especially at notch 8 with the humming sound of the generator.

[@keithode1737]

Seriously. Tell these morons it's not the damn turbo. They forget the 'electric' part of 'diesel electric'.

[@douglasskaalrud6865]

​@@keithode1737 It's not the generator. The sound is from the roof-top infinite speed radiator fans which ramp up from the thermal load. How to tell? Easy. When the load is taken off the engine the sound stays the same. That's because the cooling water is still hot after the engine slows down so the sound diminishes very slowly. If it was the generator that sound would die instantaneously which it does not.

[@emdf59phi]

Awesome!!! Love the EMD screamin....

[@keithode1737]

Indeed. It's a pity most people think they're hearing the turbo. That's the main generator.

[@vincentnardone]

Love how loud and powerful diesel locomotives are. I don’t think people fully understand the pure power that these engines have.

[@kleetus92]

I've seen this video 100 times and I still get a chill when I see it. Just perfect.

[@SFLRailFan]

I thought this video looked familiar. Those true GM SD70Ms are mighty beasts for sure. *****

[@rleclare]

Nicely done without a single slip. And yes the numbers add up.

[@rick_porter]

You are sure right about that! I live near a tunnel at the summit of a very long grade. You can hear those units battling grade sometimes for miles it seems. As they enter the west end of the tunnel, the earth seems to move! LOL ....and smoke??? You should see the clag as they exit the east end of that tunnel! GE's EMD's they all smoke it up! Would love to have seen alcos running there!

[@roundhouser]

One of the most awesome displays of sound and poer on youtube. Marvellous.

[@formidable38]

Nearly! I got the DVD this clip is taken from, BA Productions, "Cab ride over Donner." The units are 2 SD60's and a single GE dash8-40C.

[@SD70MAC]

"I cranked up my speakers just to get the feel of the true POWER." I agree that :)

[@slamdvw]

Turbo scream for days! Love it!

[@slamdvw]

I can distinctly hear the turbo. I can also hear the fans... sound more of a dull roar than a high pitched whistle. oh well.

[@boringtrainfilms8513]

53rd subsrcriber after 15 years because why not!

[@rick_porter]

Thanks Trainiax for the reply! (BTW love that name!) Indeed, I can hear that turbo whine as well. It really doesn't take much imbalance at the kinds of RPM those turbos spin. The "howling" I'm refering to is the howling that you hear with most EMD's at full bore. The blower for the traction motors is geared to the main generator. And it creates that howling as the RPM's increase. ...The "signature" EMD sound! Thanks to 57squadron for this great video! Rick

[@BudmanPackfan]

It is the former SP Transcontinental line from Sacremento to Reno and points beyond, It is just west of Truckee, CA. The orignial summit crossing (track 1) was abaondoned in 1993 in favor of the lower elevation, straighter alignment of Track 2. Many of the snowsheds on Track 1 exist today.

[@pablof59]

The secret about starting this kind of trains is that the wagons are moved 1 at a time. You can see that the locomotives moved about 40 meters (± 120 feet) and the last car is still in place. If for some reason before starting the cars tows are straight, the engineer must reverse push first to loose the tight .

[@chefjohnwt]

specs - schmecks. Lets admit there is nothing quite like the raw power of a powerful locomotive - steam or diesel starting up. Love the sound and the look

[@andyddog2]

I love this vid. The sound of all that HP is awesome!

[@madleech]

Great video: beautiful scenery, great sounds, excellent camera work! Couldn't ask for more.

[@pennsyr1]

Very cool. It's always great to see and hear a set of diesels laying into heavy tonnage.

[@formidable38]

Been waiting months for a video that betters "Black Fog of Blossburg" and this is close! Totaly awesome!

[@Lex5576]

Those prime movers have got to be extremely well built. I don't see how any engine, especially of that size, can stay together at that high rate of rpm for so long. Must do a hell of a good job of balancing at the factory.

[@ThePaulv12]

Great video. Absolutely love it.

[@kleetus92]

Fantastic video. plain and simple. Thanks for a great post!

[@sp8192]

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome!! Best sound, best engines, just an excellent video!

[@teddybeareleventeen]

Who cares about the details! The sounds are AWESOME!!!!

[@ZetanCrisp]

Damn, wish i'd been there to! I only get to hear them on You Tube and Train sim. Maybe one day i'll get to see the real thing.

[@formidable38]

@Dazhast28 You can get coal trains in the US everyday of the week that gross 15'000 tonnes for only about 120 cars!! Easily!. A fully loaded "coal porter" car is about 120 tonnes.

[@ZetanCrisp]

Superb, thanks for posting this!!!!!!!!!!

[@shelliehuff7865]

Great pictures

[@Altecss]

This sounds SOOO awesome on my system. Excellent!@!

[@Scentlessapprentice9]

THAT WAS FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!

[@troy12n]

Definetly an EMD leader

[@okotokspaul]

Great video - 5 stars!!!

[@westsidemonster]

great 5 stars, one gets goose bumps watching this,such power..

[@grsymes]

The high pitch whine sounds like the turbo charger in the diesel engines. The exhaust gases can push them to very high speeds.

[@ARTVBASIC]

Amazing machines... nuff said!

[@raridan1]

That is the most awesome video of nearly all the other videos on this site! The audio was perfect and related to the viewer almost a complete feel of what it's like to be in charge of all that horsepower. Multiple camera angles means someone put some thought into this production. Where there two cameras or was it just great editing? I truly enjoyed myself. Keep up the good work. I'm a subscriber after today.

[@CalDaCPRGUY]

Now that is what a engine is suppose to sound like.

[@paulbeach7129]

This is NOT 15,000 tons, but my lawd, it sounds GOOD!!!

[@BudmanPackfan]

Yes, the water runs from the shed to the culvert at 1:55. Obvious that grade runs with the train for 37' or so before ducking under the tracks. But past it, the grade next to the tracks is a rock out cropping going up. We do understand this is an eastbound train from the sun angle. Taking a look at the Donner track layout on Google Earth, I believe this was shot at coordinates 39°17'55.43"N 120°30'44.94"W. Curvature @ signal matches and so does the prominent curve byond. It would be uphil.

[@ZetanCrisp]

@mmciau Wow, i hadn't noticed that before, all the panels are flexing in and out!!! Wouldn't it be great to be able to stand on the walkway!! They could sell tickets for that and probably make a fortune!!

[@keithode1737]

Done it for free, ride of a lifetime.

[@dalton1583]

Damn that sounds good!

[@BudmanPackfan]

Alright, I took averages for an intermodal as an EXAMPLE... change the average car length to whichever you like. Your most recent comment makes the most sense of your point, which I don't think ANYONE would disagree with. Donner Pass trains do have mid- and sometimes EOT helpers. The train starts off slow just like you would if you lifted a heavy object. You try to jerk it up, it will slip through your fingers. They start with all their power, they will snap couplers like twigs!

[@danwat1234]

@CATPWRD I think it was a fan ..but i could be wrong. I think that the road locomotives like these have fans to help cool the motors at low MPH. . and fans on top of course for the radiators but that is up in the back of the loco

[@htc6600]

Wish I had better speakers and smell-o-vision on my computer! Warm creosote and diesel exhaust aren't reproduced digitally very well.

[@formidable38]

Thanks for the info.

[@BudmanPackfan]

Actually they do add up: • 2 miles = 10560 feet • each intermodal car is ~88' long, therefore that is 120 cars (normal car count for a train). • 15,000 tons ÷ 120 = 125 tons per loaded car. boy that sounds right on to me.

[@9035]

Very impressive! Our coalies are one mile and 10,920 tonnes loaded, normally three 4000 hp locos 91x120 tonne wagons and 1 in 80 grades. I get to to play ECP for first mainline run tomorrow, with two GT46C-ACe "WH" Class.

[@n711z]

Some of the newer ones have automatic sanding. But you can bet they were pressing the sand button.

[@Renatodonadio]

It comes from the cooling fans driven by the engine and going high speed

[@corrice65]

great vid

[@EETechs]

Those electric motors doing the pulling are beasts! I sure would like to see how well one of those traction motors does in tractor pulling if anyone ever makes an electric tractor for pulling.

[@easternroutemainlinevideos6823]

What a soundtrack!

[@WestCoastRails]

AWESOME !!! more... more... more...

[@Twostrokefan]

I was in California from 10-15-09 to 10-30.09. In Truckee i was 10-21 to 10-23-09. I have seen the old Donner Pass Route and captured it. But the 2Fullertun Video is my first Uploaded USA-Video. Twostrokefan! Thank you vor your answer!

[@rob066101]

great Emd sound

[@guillermopampena5444]

Big power machine 💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪

[@formidable38]

Just to clear alot of confusion, I'l repeat myself again! the train is indeed NOT 15'000 tons. I got the DVD this clip is taken from, BA Productions, Cab ride over Donner. The units are 2 SD60's and a single GE dash8-40C. There are no helpers on the train, mid or rear. IT IS going uphill on Donner pass. He got checked at the signal.

[@BudmanPackfan]

Yes, SD60M before the renumbering of the units from the SP "merger" sorry about the incorrect post before. I should have looked at the photo evidence and not the spreadsheet. 6184 is now an AC44CW on the current roster (Sept 2008)

[@jtaship]

Great video, sounds almost like the old GM-NOHAB Mz here in Denmark.

[@woodlandsteve]

Thats great, good bass sound,,, Mmmmmm

[@nakayle]

My subwoofer is shaking my computer table.

[@NSAaron]

@trainiax 0:00 i believe is notch 2, EMD 710G3s are weird with throttle notching. It could be either now that i think about it.

[@cagorrie]

Where was the video done, is it Donner ? Great sound by the way. Andrew

[@tylerl6400]

Get some! Greeeerrr!

[@jangalomph]

Now that is power =D

[@locomotora9008]

song pure emd gm, very very good.......

[@lewismcfarcry]

wow, thats power, its better then my models can do xD.

[@formidable38]

For abit of info the train is nowhere near 15'000 tons! I managed to find the DVD this clip is taken from, BA Productions. The units are 2 SD60's and a single GE dash8-40C. There are no helpers on the train, mid or rear. On a 2% grade, you'd need atleast 30'000hp for 15'000 tons. I'd give this train 4 or 5000 tons max! Still impressive though.

[@BudmanPackfan]

yes, but not neccessarily in relation to sea level, just in terms of rate of climb from where you were to where you are going. 1' of rise for every 50' of horizontal travel (or what ever units you want to use)

[@geonerd]

How does the engineer know when all the slack is out of the train, and that it's safe to give it the berries?

[@meccaturbo]

@Lex5576 their RPM rate is extremely low, it's not high at all. 800 RPM or so is the max speed. the faster RPM sound you hear are the turbochargers on each locomotive

[@meccaturbo]

looks to be somewhere on the ex SP, based on the style signals on the line. maybe Donner Pass?

[@Dookiedolf]

@themanfromvan I compare weights to things I know. Eg a car is about 1 to 3 tons, Truck 10 to 15 tons. I couldnt comprehend 23,500 tons. So I googled for things I could compare it to. That load you pulled was exactly half the weight of the Titanic =O . I know it depends on speed, but anyone any idea roughly for a particular speed, how many miles it would take a train with that load to halt on an emergency stop ?

[@Mertcan0403]

nice turbo sound :)

[@westernrailroadvideos99]

That's the main generator, not the turbocharger.

[@keithode1737]

No, it's the main generator making that whining sound. Turbos don't sound like giant electric motors wound up to 900 RPM, which is what you're hearing. That "ying ying ying ying ying" sound you hear when an EMD is at idle is the turbo engaging it's clutch. Either way, you wouldn't hear the turbo over the traction motor blower in run-8.

[@sicilian12345]

Hey speaking of that I live close to a CP line and I hear that whine sometimes, but its usually alot higher in pitch and louder I know you said its from the turbocharger rotor but what in that is causing the sound?

[@NoBody-ht1oh]

Sicilian12345 the turbo charger compressor impeller makes the high pitched whistling sound, the loud whining sound that you hear coming in at high power is traction motor cooling blowers and radiator fan motors.

[@BudmanPackfan]

The water @ the signal shed IS going downhill, but also away from the tracks. Your observation, while sharp, does not indicate th direction of the grade of the roadbed. You can clearly see at 0:47 that the general grade of the roadbed is uphill. I do believe that the grade flattens out at the end of the shot. The video is not quite clear enough to read any mileage markers to clarify for sure one way or the other.

[@Ischaue]

Welch geiler Sound ;-)

[@logla5137]

*Estimation* : Power Of Engine: 24 Humvees in Total

[@kleetus92]

Wow... I don't know where to begin on this. Your RPM numbers are off by about a factor of 5. 339 Hz might be a harmonic from the engine, which for this 2 stroke is about 900 and change. The turbo is spinning at nearly 100k rpm, that's why they are so touchy about balance. And it's not the balance that causes the whine, it's the multiple blades on the turbine itself. 339 Hz is a low hum. Turbo whine here is in the 9-13kHz range. It's dependent on the number of blades.

[@Ischaue]

Welch satter Sound!

[@kleetus92]

While true it doesn't matter if it's GM or GE, they're both at similar speeds. You're confusing a failed bearing with the incremental discharge of turbine blades. And without getting into that discussion, is a whole other animal. For example, the squeal from wheels going around a corner on rail is a lot higher pitch than this, does that mean the wheels are going faster than the turbo? Obviously the answer is no.

[@zeitgeist2049]

Круто! ;)

[@keelar001]

I believe the time-honoured footplate pharse is "thrashing the nuts off'em."

[@decline2state]

Where was this video taken?

[@ssrc30]

ya you could be right too because i see them around here more than anywhere else. Maybe a subject of some research.

[@pablof59]

I believe that if you weld the 150 coal loaded cars , it would be nearly impossible to start them. At least in pen and pencil numbers.

[@produKtNZ]

Just a question about the gradient measuring system that's always confused me: 1 in 50 can be interpreted as for every 50c, traveled you climb 1cm higher than sea level? or something like that?

[@NoBody-ht1oh]

produKtNZ 1 in 50 is any increment you choose. The ratio is the same 1:50 means up one for any 50 you move forward. The standard is metres. So every 50 m forward, you climb 1 m in elevation. In adhesion railways it generally never exceeds around 1 in 30.

[@WetDirtProductions]

yah they really are.

[@Twostrokefan]

Wich route is this????

[@formidable38]

Does any one know what DVD this is from? I want a copy.