# ASTER BIG BOY PULLS OVER 100 CARS



## artgibson (Jan 2, 2008)

A request was made to post this video Givs you some idea about how much track Steve has in his layout


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

OH, thats easy on level smooth track.. LOL 
thanks for sharing.


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## aopagary (Jun 30, 2008)

some might argue that a caboose, being a non-revenue car, should not be counted in a consist, but 99 is still impressive.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Add another 15 or so cars and that Big Boy could be it's own helper engine.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I get 99 plus a caboose too... not over 100. 

Nice loco. 

Greg


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## artgibson (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 11 Jun 2012 11:10 PM 
I get 99 plus a caboose too... not over 100. 

Nice loco. 

Greg John Frank said he counted more than 100


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Count them yourself on the video, I did twice, got the same number twice, and so did Gary... 

99 plus the caboose. 

Greg


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## Shay Gear Head (Jan 3, 2008)

If you would put on a few more cars the engine could have acted as a helper as well.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I accidentally did something similar, forgot how long the train was when I switched it off the main.

Of course, ony 45 cars...


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Aw heck you only needed one more car to be your own helper! probably could fit in two or three with the slack out of the train.


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

Greg 
You couldn't find one more car that would fit ?? To couple up??


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## JEFF RUNGE (Jan 2, 2008)

Art, don't let them fool you, these guys WISH they had an engine that can start that many cars and maintain that kind of speed.


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

I'm not wishing here folks!! 

Using an average of 40 foot cars, this is about 140 feet of cars, mostly 40 ft boxes and 2 bay ore hoppers. 
A flat run.... 

Try pulling 70 inter-modals with containers, up 2.5 percent grades ... this is about 165 feet of cars. 
And use just one SD70 Mac , thanks!! 

Greg -when you get around to a visit and we can run here, can you pack all your cars shown in your vid. and bring them with you?? 

Dirk


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## JEFF RUNGE (Jan 2, 2008)

SD70.. Oh a sparky?? can it pull that load at a scale 60mph for oven an hour without the electric motor having a melt down?


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Marty, complete accident... never thought about the capacity of that inner loop, just wanted to take the train off the main... I was sweating bullets after I threw the switch to bring it onto that inner loop, was just able to throw the switch in time before the loco was going to hit it thrown against the train. The switch from the main is just in the upper right corner... I figured I would take a movie after I did this, it was NOT staged. I now know the capacity of the inner loop that is for sure! 

Greg


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

Thats coool.


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

And thru all those curves, at speed. Could tow 150 easy.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yep, all 3 e8's have 6 extra pounds of lead, and experimental stainless steel wheels. This is on slippery SS track too. 

Greg


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## bnsfconductor (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 11 Jun 2012 11:10 PM 
I get 99 plus a caboose too... not over 100. 

Nice loco. 

Greg 
Greg,
From my stand point I see it as 99 cars + 1 caboose. In the real world it would be the same thing car count wise, but to the engineer it would be 100 cars of operative brakes thus counting the caboose as a car because it has a braking capacity.

Craig


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Around here a train with 10 cars is long on our branch line...How long were the trains real Big Boys would pull? How long is a big long-haul transcontinental train today?


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Phippsburg Eric on 14 Jun 2012 11:48 AM 
Around here a train with 10 cars is long on our branch line...How long were the trains real Big Boys would pull? How long is a big long-haul transcontinental train today? 
100 car trains were not uncommon for the Big Boy to pull unassisted. Ther were designed to pull a 3600 ton train unassisted over the 1.14% grade of the Wahsatch.

Today, trains of 100 to 130+ cars are not uncommon, but they usually have 3 or more Dismals doing the work.


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## bnsfconductor (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Phippsburg Eric on 14 Jun 2012 11:48 AM 
Around here a train with 10 cars is long on our branch line...How long were the trains real Big Boys would pull? How long is a big long-haul transcontinental train today? 
A unit coal train is around 120-130 cars, unit grain train 110 +/- badorders picked up/dropped off in route. I don't think a car number is a good comparison (plus some cars like intermodal wells have 5 wells, but count only as 3 for brake reasons). It would be a more accurate number to compare trailing tons. 120 car coal train that weighs 18,000 ton is a lot heavier then a 140 car empty intermodal train. Trailing tons divided by the number of operative brakes would give a even better comparison to how much a train can pull (and stop).
When I looked at a train make up chart I looked at how many trailing tons, tons per operative brake, and horsepower per ton, and train length. Everything else is just extra information.

Craig


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## David_DK (Oct 24, 2008)

Art 

Fantastic video. You keep the speed for a long period. Shows that your engine really can pull it, and it is not one of those videos where you just see a train going down hill, or loosing pressure. And you dont "overspeed" NICE! 
Your video absolutly put the "Boy" on my wish list. (And I normally dont like the chunky american engines) 

Most people don´t dare to run their engines. You are doing a lot for the hobby, by showing what they are ment to do. 

We have the "strong engine" contest here in DK as well, It is great fun to do once in a while - but nothing like yours. (no american engines) I think the "winner" at this moment is Benjamin with a Aster BR44 (3 cylinder) pulling 50 cars (200 axels). 

Trippel hurrays! 

Regards 

David


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## Steve S. (Jan 2, 2008)

The engine is always pulling the entire train through all four curves. That's impressive. And yes, there is nobody in this hobby that has more fun or runs his engines harder then Art. I like his attitude.


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