Saratoga & North Creek (S&NC) Discussion - 2014

[RussNelson]

To put that in perspective, with 250 work days every year, that's one twenty-car train every day, or one hundred-car train every week.

[griffs20soccer]

If SNC gets a contract to hual stone, and if they haul 20 cars a day from the mine, would they do in one move, Tahawus-Saratoga, or two moves, Tahawus-North Creek and North Creek-Saratoga? And what kind of horse power and/or breaking requirements are they going to need for that stretch of railroad? I know I'm putting the cart before the horse, I'm just curious about the logistics in getting that stone to Saratoga.

[DogBert]

THey are negotiating with CP to take it from Saratoga to wherever - one possibility has it going to Albany to be transloaded to barge (maybe to go to Long Island)??

If any were going to LI, it would probably be handed off to CSX. Many of the stone customers down here have sidings and receive stone via P&W from CT. CP used to handle some stone traffic into LI but that dried up sometime just before or after CSX started hauling CP's LI bound cars.

[roadster]

Short FYI. Monday, X980-07 dimensional train from Buffalo to Selkirk (17 cars of Pipes and a couple other loads) also had a BL2 on the front behind CSX/CP power. Was suppose to depart Buffalo Monday morning, but Dsp. wouldn't let us past CP 431 due to conflicting traffic and switch failures between Buffalo and Rochester. The BL2 is in primer gray, reporting marks MRLX 56 poorly spray painted on cab sides. Unit was enroute to the Saratoga I believe. Train was later ran overnight to Syracuse and then Selkirk. Sorry for the late posting. I've been very busy.

[Dick H]

Surprise, Surprise. PAR 352 doing the honors on the S&NC on 2/14
Thanks to John Sesonske for the photo.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 19&nseq=15" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[griffs20soccer]

Unfortunately this unit broke down on the 7 am train Saturday morning. I was on the train with my family and we stopped just north of the Saratoga station and had to be pushed back to the station by CP. SNC made full refunds and provded free breakfast to all passengers. I was very please with the way they handled a very difficult situation.

It's to bad this happened on this weekend because according to the station agent for SNC they were on their way to the best weekend ever for the Snow Train. I want to thank everyone with SNC who tried very hard to make things right.

[Otto Vondrak]

I guess I haven't been paying attention lately... What is the motive power situation at SNC lately that they had to borrow an engine? Are the E-unit, BL2 No. 52, and GE all out of service?

-otto-

[traingeek8223]

Made a random trip to North Creek today and was rewarded with a light engine chase. Here are some pics:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/archiv ... x?id=99323

Otto. I was told today that the original BL2 lost a traction motor cover and packed snow into the motor causing a problem. That is what prompted the leasing of the MEC GP40. The leased engine also went down with a couple of ailments forcing the canceling of a train on Sunday, but was repaired before the day was over. Not sure if the B39-8 had an issue as well but it was operational today. All four E8's are drained for the winter. The two "Lackawanna" engines need some work and have never entered service. I'm pretty sure that the two Iowa Pacific ones each have some issues too.

[Mem160]

Is S&NC planning on doing anything with the old RS36?

[tahawus84]

They aren't using #5??

[traingeek8223]

Is S&NC planning on doing anything with the old RS36?

The RS36 is privately owned and in desperate need of all new wheel sets from it's time on the Upper Hudson River Railroad. I know they would like to use it but have not worked out terms that are agreeable to both parties. It also needs some other minor work before it could be returned to operation.

They aren't using #5??

The S1 is, to my knowledge, fully operational. It is also only 600 HP and rides on friction bearing wheel sets so it cannot travel on CP into the Saratoga Station. Not exactly the ideal locomotive for the current operations of the railroad.

[Mem160]

I'm not familiar with friction bearing trucks. What do they do that causes the, not to be used on the CP trackage into Saratoga?

[Otto Vondrak]

I'm not familiar with friction bearing trucks. What do they do that causes the, not to be used on the CP trackage into Saratoga?

"Friction Bearing" means that the bearing surface of the axle - the part that rubs on another part - is supported by a grease packing or something similar so that friction is kept to a minimum. If you run out of grease packing, there is too much friction, the end of the axle heats up, breaks off, and causes a derailment or worse. Friction bearings must be constantly maintained, and have since been banned from interchange service. All railroad equipment today uses roller bearings, no grease packing needed, and you nearly eliminate the issues that friction would cause.

http://trn.trains.com/en/Railroad%20Ref ... odies.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

-otto-

[lvrr325]

Consider them the equivalent of a 5 1/4" floppy disk. Nobody uses them much anymore because they're obsolete, so almost nobody has a drive that will even take one. By the same token, railroads no longer have the manpower or the supplies to maintain friction bearings.

I suspect that as a switcher the engine is just too little to pull the full passenger trains. Plus I believe it's the same deal as the RS36, they don't own the engine, so if they were to use it and break it it would be a problem.

[MEC407]

As someone on another forum said, "If you're going to borrow a locomotive from PAR, you'd better borrow two."