Trying to do a double stack from Cumberland to rock wood. 1247 off Cumberland. Headed with a dash 8 and a sd40-2. The dash 8 is very weak and has no strength whatsoever , never had any issues with the other locos...is the dash 8 meant to be this weak ? I appreciate it's a long train but I've had better results with a autorack in pouring rain with a ac4400 Has anyone got any tips for overclocking the dash 8 in some way? It feels incredibly Weak to drive , no power at all
No, it's sitting on the main line at the signal no helpers, tempted to wait until a service comes up behind and back my train onto the train behind and try and use that
Not sure about the tonnage but it was the 1247 double stack intermodal to rock wood , crawled alongside the siding just north of Hyndman but couldn't restart the train so quit
I drove one today in clear conditions with 2x C40-8W. It was the first Intermodal to Rockwood if I recall correctly. The Dash 8 struggled a bit but kept 18 mph steady during the 1.5% climb and got up to the full 25 mph during the less demanding 0.9-1.4% bits. I never ran an Intermodal with SD40-2s so I can‘t compare if the Dash 8 is underpowered in comparison. Realistically the Dash 8 should be more powerful than the SD40-2; both are DC traction - the SD40-2 has 3000 hp and the C40-8W 4000 hp; please enlighten me if the comparison is not that simple, i. e. the Dash 8 is a lot lighter or something like that.
If you are having power issues on Sand Patch, check the brake and power setup in the trailing locomotive/s. Lead/trail, cut-ins, power and brake handle positions, etc etc. They aren’t always set up correctly automatically. Check each loco thoroughly.