Large Consist

[George Lortz]

This photo from eBay shows a freight consist of 7 locomotives - 4 C420s and 3 RS-2s.  Sorry for the poor photo quality.  Was this an unusually large consist?  Where is the location?

George L.

[Tom Kepshire]

Crawfordsville.

[Ron Marquardt]

I agree, SB at Crawfordsville.  Large consists weren't unusual, particularly after the L&N took over, but all those engines weren't used for power.  They were probably deadheading units back to South Louisville for repairs, servicing, power redistribution, etc.  It would occasionally happen on the Monon too, but we would be taking it NB back to Shops.  / Ron

[Rick Dreistadt]

Makes me wonder if the RS-2's might have brought an extra north to Shops then were deadheading back to McDoel on 73 on a Sunday afternoon.
Rick

[Mark Johnson]

A question from the terminally curious (and not too bright) - if all those diesels had been used for power, wouldn't the resulting total tractive effort have risked pulling drawbars? The max traction of 4 C420s + 3 RS-2s ought to be way more than 250,000 lbs.

Mark J

[Rick Dreistadt]

You're right on the money, Mark.  Ron is the expert to talk about about tractive effort.  I'm relatively clueless, except I never heard of a Monon train of over 5 powered 4 axle or 3 powered 6 axle locomotives.  The maximum on the L&N was 5 4 axle or 4 6 axle locomotives powered, although there could be others in tow.  I hope I am correct on these figures.  The brain is a little foggy these days.