Model Train Journal

Why does the big boy (and other steam engines) need a diesel helper?
Answer:=> https://youtu.be/12Zpb0Yh-sM
Fascinating! Not even close to the reason I had imagined.

Wayne, thank you. I enjoyed the video. It makes sense.

Dan Weinhold

It has also been said that "a diesel can start a load that it can't pull, and a steam engine can pull a load that it can't start". But I don't know if that would include the BigBoy with only 8 to 15 passenger cars behind.

Pennsy used three to four K4s up and over the Horseshoe curve, (I saw a pic of two K4s up front and an M1 in the rear), and even put a pair of GP7s behind steam for the same job. B & O used 3 steamers up front for the mountains west of Cumberland. Even as a kid in the fifties, steam was pretty much gone in western Pennsylvania. I never got to see them.

Yes, Hyce gave more reasons for a diesel helper than not enough fuel depots left to keep Big Boy 4014 fueled on an excursion trip.

Even with no oil-fired steam engines in a consist there are not enough fuel depots for the diesel locomotives. Norfolk Southern sends tanker trucks out to fuel trains when the crew requires a fueling stop between depots.





Above images:
Wednesday, October 12, 2022 1:13 PM
37° 42' 25" N, 84° 46' 38" W
Faulkner Lane and Buster Pike S, Danville, Boyle County, Kentucky

More about fueling locomotives with on-call trucking.
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/ ... ?2,5063639