Railworks America

I know sanding improves traction, but I am wondering . . . . . do locomotives have "ballast" in order to improve traction ? If yes, would it be steel / iron / concrete / lead / uranium and where would it be located ?

I know some Class 1s have locomotives built with extra weight included (ex: UP has 'heavy' 70ACes called SD70AH), going to guess they place blocks of concrete inside the carbody or add extra metal to obtain that.

Yes. Most of the time steel. Google is your friend.

They make certain parts of the locomotive way heavier and beefier than what would normally be needed to be structurally okay, just to add weight for traction. Basically it's overdesigning the locomotive.

Must be heaven for engineers to design something not having to worry about the weight,

Any idea how high the percentage of dead weight could be ?

Cardinal51 wrote:Must be heaven for engineers to design something not having to worry about the weight,

Any idea how high the percentage of dead weight could be ?

The weight spread between the lightest SD40-2's (small fuel tank MILW units) and heaviest (BN coal sevice 7200 series) was 34 tons. Its approximately 13% of the nominal weight of that locomotive type.

A lot of times you will see welded in "weights" on the frame. You have to look for them. The main thing they do is once the locomotive is assembled & weighed, they look at the weights on each axle or truck. They then add the weights to make the locomotive even on either all sides. They can also make more weight with thicker frames. Some railroads used to require light locomotives for branch line service. Milwaukee Roads SDL39 was one of the better known. L means light. NC & StL used a GP7 that was referred to as a GP7N. The N meant no ballast.

Yes, a favorite example of mine are the Pennsy's two SD7s, numbered 8588 and 8589, which were specifically built for a place called Madison Hill that has a 5.89% grade.

The same factors that make trains so great to begin with (the low friction of steel wheels on steel rails) is also the same detriment to locomotives pulling ability that need a certain amount of grip themselves (more friction)

Sure do. Sierra Northern's first genset, 133, was built frame up with no extra weight added due to the weight restrictions on the Sacramento Division. The Valley Divison does not have the same restrictions and the second genset, 52, was built with weight added. The engineers who have run both say that not only does 52 have slightly better traction, it is also the smoother ride.

EngineerJohn wrote:They make certain parts of the locomotive way heavier and beefier than what would normally be needed to be structurally okay, just to add weight for traction. Basically it's overdesigning the locomotive.

the ES44AH ET44AH SD70AH have thicker steel frames and added weight in the trucks as well and i believe the rebuilds for CSX/UP Are heavy weights

I remember reading somewhere the some Fairbanks Morse locomotives had cofferdams filled with concrete for additional weight. Supposedly, scrap yards didn't like cutting up those units because the concrete was unsaleable weight.