I know that various types of locomotive's produce different amount of horse power. Here's the question: A single locomotive (any type) about what would be the average speed it could gain in 0 to 4 seconds on take off. Any smart A** answer will be reported for abuse, Thank you.
Others here with more knowledge on diesel locomotive mechanics and operations can give a better answer but because most diesel locomotives, particularly road-switchers, are not rated/geared to accelerate that quickly in that small amount of time (now an electric locomotive is an entirely different story), I would guess no faster than between 10-20mph in the timeframe you noted, 0-4 seconds. Perhaps something like an EMD E-series locomotive (which is rated for speed carrying passengers) could make the best time but again, I would guess no better than maybe 20 mph in 0-4 seconds.
The two moves that Hoghead described are better known to me as the Dutch Drop and the Flying Switch. Letting a car roll like that without a locomotive attached to it is pretty sketchy, and in order for the move to work, you have to bottle the air. That's REALLY sketchy, but it's been done many, many times. Locomotives are totally capable of accelerating like that, but they'll definitely scream while they're doing it. As a general rule, you just don't want to accelerate quickly with a train. The slack needs to come out gently and what not. If the slack is tight, though, I've seen some crews open it right up. A pair of GP39-2's must have hit 20 miles an hour in just a few hundred feet. I was really impressed by that one. I've found, though, that if you don't let the units load at their own pace, you just end up spinning the wheels or screwing something else up. You can also run into problems with the motors' transitions if you throttle up too fast. Not fun!
Hello Brian; From my experience I would say anywhere from 15-20mph. 28 years of railroading. Switch engines don't have to spool up to start, whereas road engines rev up a lot before moving. junkman
That's an interesting question. They vary so much, dont know if there is an average speed that would be of any relevance. I cant really improve on what has been said except to add a few comments. as you might have guessed acceleration, all you can possibly get is very important at times. Newer locomotives have taken most of the fun out of switching, too much computer controls. With the older ones, that is what made the difference between just an engineer and a hoghead. 8 throttle (all you got) full independent brakes, relaese the brakes and close the generator field switch all at once was about the quickest move, not sure the speed you would get in 4 seconds but it would be too fast for a switchman to get on. When I started on the Milwaukee in the early 70's, we still had the old electrics. If a switchman started getting cocky an engineer would make him a bet, he would say you stand right here at the front of the engine and i will take off, if you can catch the rear footboard I'll give you $10.00. With a light engine he couldnt do it, those things took off like a rocket, they didnt have to build up any amperage waiting for the deisel engine to rev , the full line voltage was immediatly available overhead. P.S., this has been very difficult for me not to be at least a tiny little bit of a smarta**, takes a lot of self control. LOL
