DPU in Texas

I DP'd the OWVBT for the first time the other day at the mine, a soda ash train headed for Beaumont. Before i hit town someone in Omaha saw it and started throwing a fit saying they couldnt take it at port like that and the crews down there didnt know how to run them yet. Along with CMTS, Texas that far behind the rest of us still? I made the morning call with the super once again and he thinks its a good idea so now there all going to be built that way. If they start teaching DP down there now you can thank me.

I'm not so sure about that, UP. I was a DP Peer trainer, in Houston, for the HPL coal trains. In my time there, every engineer on the LS-372 road boards were qualified to run them. We ran them from Hearne, to the power plant, then returned them, as soon as they were emptied. Every engineer there, in road service had the full set of DP manuals, and "cheater" cards, to carry. I think it's more like someone outside of the "coal corrider" don't understand that the rest of the railroad is right there with them, knowledge wise. Of course, things could have drastically changed, from 2002, when I left.......

I worked in Beauomnt for KCS and we would be the ones who took those soda ash trains over from the UP in Beaumont and take it to Port Author where it was unloaded onto the ship. Since we were all yard down there and no road, then the engineers wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with DP power, we don't DP anything down there and I doubt there gonna start doing it for the empty ones leaving, usually if not always, we would have the UP cut out the DP before we would even touch it, most if not all the engineers are not qualified to run DP powered trains in the Beaumont/PA area.

Maybe things have changed down there i guess, or they clip off the rear somewhere before then. Thanks for sharing that bud.