"...CP was borrowing some CN engines recently though, and that's what he would
have seen."
Chris vanderHeide
Guelph, ON
"Actually, it is much more likely that they were provided to CP by CN to
repay horsepower hours owed by CN. I think this debt mostly evolves
from the arrangements at Vancouver whereby the whole train (including
locomotives) is exchanged at Boston Bar so it is handled onward by the
railway that actually serves the destination facility. Then the train
can go directly to the destination, rather than having to get
interchanged after arrival in the Vancouver terminals. The arrangement
saves time and crews, reduces congestion, and benefits both companies.
Then, if CN uses the CP power more than CP uses CN power, the books
eventually have to get squared. This can be either cash or in kind. CP
has a great many engines in storage, so they have no need to borrow
power, and no doubt would prefer payment in cash. But of course CN is
facing much the same conditions, so they provide equivalent horsepower
hours.
The mixed locomotive consists commonly seen in the US reflect the
different environment south of the border. Even there, the horsepower
hours are tracked and eventually balanced out. This has resulted in US
engines getting temporarily assigned to CN and CP, if the balance was
in our favour."
JohnSutherland <sutherail@xxxxxxxx>
Hey fellas, thanks for all the input.
This is what I have seen. CN & CP locomotives in the same consist.
I understand about the CN/CP co-production line through the Fraser Canyon.
I will post pictures of the CP/CN consists.
CN and CP in the same consist... like I said, just started recently. I was told
by CP officials that the trains are being run with CP Engineers and Conductors.
I might have thought there were power shortages, but I was also told that CP
isn't running their GM product-locomotives west of Calgary.
The most recent CPCN consist going west Wednesday was headed by a CP ES4400 and
CN ...SD-70 or 90?
Again, thanks for all the input.
John
"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing,
wind braces us, snow is exhilarating;
there is no such thing as bad weather,
only different kinds of good weather."
John Ruskin
__________________________________________________________________
The new Internet Explorer® 8 - Faster, safer, easier. Optimized for Yahoo!
Get it Now for Free! at http://downloads.yahoo.com/ca/internetexplorer/
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
