Maybe it's an attempt to save it from being cut by the haemorrhaging JR Hokkaido lol. Definitely quite spectacular though.

The only reason anyone would merge with KCS would be to get access to KCSdM. The most logical merger, to me, would be with either CN or CP. All to get that total N. America access, but that would never happen or get approved by regulators.

KCS is just too small and network so odd (mostly north and south in mid-america. A weak market) that nobody is dying to buy them.

>>131998
I did forget to mention that the KCS has one major route that they do utilize well. The Meridian Speedway. All the way from Meridian Mississippi, to Shreveport Louisiana, to DFW where they'll run transcon trains for BNSF, UP, and NS. That's one of their most viable US routes.

>>132003 -- Its siblings might, though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_Class_66 and the revised Class 77.

By 1939, diesels had proven themselves superior in ALL respects (except initial cost -- and we were still in a depression) in yard service, and the newfangled streamliners were universally profitable and popular. But the big share of traffic was freight, and steam reigned supreme...

until the FT. It could move more tons cheaper and faster than all but the best super-ower steam -- and with drastically reduced maintenance costs. It was just what the railroads needed. The order books filled as quickly as depression-era dollars could be found.

And then the War Production Board all but ended the party...

After the wartime restrictions were lifted, a series of new-and-improved F units started replacing worn-out steam for good.

PRR Q2 4-4-6-4 duplex, the ONLY truly successful duplex design, and the highest horsepower steam locomotive EVER, tested at just shy of 10,000! Unfortunately, maintenance costs were sky-high compared to diesels.

>>131705

>I was going to say the Fairbanks-Morse Train Master, largely credited for starting the HP race

Annnnd... you'd be wrong. ALCO actually broke the 1500/1800 HP ceiling first with the 2400 HP RSD-15, but failed to recognize the revolutionary aspects of a high-horsepower motive power policy.

Santa Fe figured it out almost instantly.

>>131908
FM did recognize the benefits of a high-horsepower world, not the least of which it was far easier to stretch the OP engine than EMD's 567. Unfortunately, the timing couldn't be worse, with the post-(Korean)-war recession proving to be far more stubborn than anticipated, and GP9's ordered in better times continuing to be delivered (and killing off big steam 10+ years too early). FM couldn't wait for better times and quit the USA loco market,

Basically a GE Dash 9 that's able to operate in very thin air. Boo-yeah.

EMD finally bit the bullet and turbocharged the 567, yielding the 2400 HP SD24, conveniently timed just as their competitors had given up... and the railroads were ready for a horsepower race.

At least a fair number of those big steamers got a second chance at life. So many of the super/modern steam engines that ran excursions barely had a decade of proper service under their belts!

The horsepower race soon topped out at 3600 hp while new problems such as wheelslip were discovered. EMD's (quite successful) big engine was the SD45, and it looked the part with flared radiators on a huge carbody, housing a turbocharged 645 engine that had been stretched out to 20 cylinders; except for the block and crankshaft it all used standard 645 parts. If you needed the extra 600 HP compared to the "standard" 3000 HP SD40, this was your toy.

I guess the Class 66 won't be taking aver the world after all.
>>132002

>number was up by number in number while number was down number percentage numbers in date number

Can we just have a bloody chart? Jesus

Purra' sevens! That'd be too sensible.

>>131983
lmfao

At that rate, they're gunna be un-hedgehogged and thoroughly buggered.

That's what they get for running a Spam Can (see pic in link) north of the Thames.

Banned for the same incident they were already banned for once? Fuckin brits

That and a bunch of other incidents. Seems their safety record is not on speaking terms with 'good enough'.

>>131984
Yeah, it would appear that it was enough to prosecute them, and also that they haven't learned since.

well gee
Also "near miss" is THE most idiotic term EVER!!!
when 2 objects almost hit each other its a NEAR HIT dammit!!
A collision is a near miss! >=P

>>131988

Heya George! Loved you on STS <3

Meanwhile, in a tenuously related story, weather trends point to a cool and rainy spring across England, France, and Germany... exactly the sort of dreary weather that a good steam excursion can ameliorate. Great time to take yourself out of the game, WCRC.

>>131989
well its TRUE anyway

What, again?

>>131949
Have you ever seen those cab signal cut out switches? They're in a locked panel and you have to break glass or a lock to get to it and it has all these warnings like "DO NOT BREAK OR MODIFY WITHOUT AUTHORITY: NORFOLK SOUTHERN POLICE WILL PROSECUTE" etc.

>>131951

>implying the existing incab signalling buttons present on freight locos will have anything to do with PTC

Every existing cab signal I've seen has an override button of some sort. Be it AWS, ACSES, TVM, KVB, LZB, etc.

I'm nowhere near an authority figure in this, but I simply can't see a simple override switch existing on what's designed as a life saving system.

>>131967
Systems like AWS are also supposed to save lives but they still have a big yellow button to override the system.

>>131969
It's not an override button, it's an acknowledgement button. If you don't press it, AWS slams on the brakes.

>>131944
If the program is smart enough, it can control speed to minimize fuel use and maintenance. Braking the train in half a mile might be perfectly safe, but less efficient.

Is it smart enough? Of course not, but it avoids the outliers of especially poor (or excellent) engineers. That's what's happening nearly everywhere, through some combination of automation and assessment, with the sad outcome of the excellent professionals leaving and lowering industry competence in almost every area assessed.

>>131950
I'm sure supervisors will give them hell for using it, and for not using it, both at the same time!

>>131942
Overuse of autopilot has drained skill from pilots and along with pilot-by-wire systems arguably contributed to disasters such as Air France 447.

"Ambrose? I know you've worked sixty-seven hours straight during this blizzard, but 70's awfully late, and it would be a mighty good thing if you went out looking for her,"

>>131974

>arguably contributed to disasters such as Air France 447.

Arguable, but only by retards whose understanding of said disasters comes from an article they read in the Daily Mail. Anyone with at least any knowledge of how 447 happened will tell you otherwise.

>>131977

>retards whose understanding of said disasters comes from an article they read in the Daily Mail

Yeah I guess you'd be the expert in that.

>>131893
sigh I would use this but nobody I know would get the joke.

>>131893
I know of one case on this board whee it would work really, really well.

>>131899 Bawhahagaaa, Texypoo you crack me up.

When I get home tonight I'll come back amends revisit this. Article has a lot pig truth to it.

Sweet article. Really places into perspective how Ackman's Pershing Square used the EHH Show to turn CP into an investors cash cow. Yet now that things are settling we're seeing that CP is coming under fire for no longer living up to investors expectations.

Was the NS bid only to drive up CP's stock price? I dunno. Yet EHH left CSX well alone after one merger meeting back in 2014 when their stock was still doing really good.

I also find interesting that while head of CN, EHH was limited somewhat in his powers involving labor relations. At CP however he's fully unleashed to discipline or terminate according to his vision. So that leaves us with no direct comparison to see if EHH's trimmed staffing levels will have long term consequences upon the railroad.

The second part of this is Norfolk Southern is changing, dramatically, from the inside. In the last few years we've gone from something around 2/3rds of the workforce being over 55, now to around 1/3rd. We even have a new CEO, Jim Squires, who's beginning to make his vision and direction for the company known: Safety & Service, Stewardship, and Growth.

Frankly our company needed a culture change. NS has been running a great railroad for 30 years now. It seems that in the last 10 years we've become complacent in some areas and stopped innovating and really growing. Now our OR and other metrics have really stayed constant over the last 10 years while everyone else has shown a continual improvement. I'm not sure if CP's bid for NS really spurred our company into action or if it was just a catalyst in a plan already in development. Either way it's time now for us to step up and make some positive changes. Frankly the rallying cry of "keep NS, NS" has really caught on.

Yet there are some changes that folks, including myself, really don't like to see. For instance our previous CEO, Wick Moorman, was an unabashed rail-fan and spent untold amounts on the 21st Century Steam program and updating the Officer Car Train. Likely we will see less and less of these as time moves forward. The insurance policy for NS sponsored steam trips is rumored to expire this summer. Likely why all the public trips behind NW 611 are in the first half of 2016. Moorman also loved inspection trips across the system in the office cars. With that came new locomotives and passenger cars to increase our business car fleet. Don't expect that trend to continue. Yet these changes and countless others will be what brings Norfolk Southern into step with the other class 1 railroads.

I didn't know this until recently but Hunter is a big deal in the race horse world. Look up Double H Farms if you have a chance. The man's in his 70's so why won't he just retire to Florida where he owns stables?

Perhaps all Hunter really wants is... the Thoroughbred.

>>131916

There's something very depressing about the idea of a man being in charge of a company where he isn't very interested in what that company represents. I recall reading an article about the early days of Amtrak, where the author was riding a train over Horseshoe Curve with the first head of Amtrak. The author asked said head over lunch in the dining car "Hey, wanna go to the vestibule and watch the train go around the curve?" to which said head declined. The author then mused about various failures of early Amtrak, and how they showed a general lack of interest in rail travel from higher-ups.

So if Jim Squires isn't a rail buff, that's fair. I just hope he continues to recognize the value of things like the OCS. Even CSX, hater of railfans and fun in general, recognizes that having some passenger cars to pamper your shippers and stockholders with is good for business. I can understand if we don't see much mainline steam anymore, though. Come to think of it, WAS there a measurable business benefit to running steam trains on the mainline? Did all that publicity have any noticeable impact on the bottom line?

For that matter, what sort of cultural changes are you saying need to happen? Aside from getting back on board with innovation and whatnot.

Comment too long. Click here to view the full text.

>>131922 The OCS is a bit like the steam program: it's more about the intangible benefits and doesn't really help the bottom line. I shudder to think that Squires in uninterested in what the company does for a business. Rather he seems embattled against market/CP and focusing on what's in the best interest for getting NS back on par with our peers.

Plus how fun could it be for all the VP's to get cuddled up together for a few days, and answer questions on the fly directly from their boss? Pic related.

Regarding the culture change really I think innovation and accepting change are the core issues. For instance I've heard that NS had bad experiences trying the first generation of concrete crossties. I've heard them called "expensive rip-rap" and seen them in such use all around the system. Now 15 years later concrete ties are used to great effect by other carriers. Yet NS is laser focused on wooden ties because concrete ties would make changes in our procurement, maintenance standards, and replacement cycles.

>>131922
More than just depressing, it's absolutely painful to watch.

>>131946

Intradasting. Now that you mention it, NS certainly doesn't seem to have done much innovating since the turn of the 21st century. All I can think of would be the battery powered #999 which was a flop, and they sure made a big deal about their rebuilt mother/slug sets as a Green initiative, even though slugs have been around for decades.

Reading this here book, it's amazing how much stuff was pioneered by the Southern. They were one of the first RRs to fully dieselize, they were at the front of the intermodal revolution, not to mention all the other experiments that didn't pan out, but at least they were trying stuff!

It's fake, it was for a TV commercial IIRC

What kind of commercial would have such a rubber Chaplin?