I wasn't sure where to put this topic because it isn't about a specific railroad, rather it is about modern diesel locomotives. Anyway, here it goes.. I saw this advertisement for CSX on YouTube a while back and it got me thinking about diesel fuel economy and efficiency. Here's the ad: [video=youtube_share;ZjQBGAJtiBE]http://youtu.be/ZjQBGAJtiBE[/video] Now my question to those in the know is this: is the implication that a massive EMD or GE diesel can move more cargo farther distances for fewer gallons of fuel true? Furthermore, what are the fuel economy figures for a Dash-9 or an Evolution series unit? Its fairly easy to find out the miles-per-gallon of a car, but that ad has been bugging me for awhile. I find it hard to believe that the big SD90MACs I see at the Albany, Oregon yard are more efficient then a Honda Civic Hybrid. Maybe they are referring to the fact that trains can move much, much more cargo and many more passengers, therefor they make better use of the fuel they use?
This ad is not saying that a modern diesel moves 423 miles on a gallon of fuel. This ad is saying that they can move a ton of freight 423 miles on one gallon of fuel, but consider how heavy your average string of cars is in mainline freight, with each car being several tons not to mention the locomotives and you can see that for that 423 miles they're still burning loads of fuel. The rate is 1 gallon to move 1 ton of freight 423 miles. You can't put 1 ton of people and cargo in that Civic Hybrid, much less then move it 423 miles on one gallon of fuel. It's the efficiencies and economies of the much larger scale that are working in favor of the train, but I don't think anyone is arguing here that you need to trade in your hybrid car and ride to and from work as a railroad hobo.
Think of it this way. If you were to take that same tonnage and divide it up between Honda Civic hybrids (piling it in the back seats and trunks, perhaps) and then drive them from point a to point B you'd burn way more fuel. I think I can believe that.
exactly. CSX (or UP) Doesn't move a ton of freight with a single SD90/43. They move maybe 6000 Tons of freight with 2-3 SD90/43s AL Krug, who I miss as a Railfan spells out the relevant info for a number of locos. http://www.alkrug.vcn.com/rrfacts/fueluse.htm So, lets do the math with a C40-8. because he has all the information for it. Let's assume for a minute that YoHo's railroad averages roughly 2HP/trailing Ton on their trains (this is probably bullcrap). So a single 4000HP C40-8 is pulling a 2000ton train. So a mythical 1 ton load takes 2HP of engine to move and the C40-8 is 20.7HP/Gallon/Hr. Let's further speculate that system average speed is 25MPH. So, in 1 hour we get 20.7HP for the gallon of fuel we've used and we've moved 25 Miles. And I'm only using ~1/10 of a gallon to move that 1 ton for that hour, because I get 20.7 HP per gallon and I've only used 2HP to move that ton. So multiply 25 by 10.35 and I get 258.75 miles per gallon of Diesel burned by that C40-8 to move a single ton of Cargo on the system's prevailing metrics.
I kinda thought that's what they were saying. Just wanted to double check with the smart folks here at the train board! @YoHo, that's kind of interesting. That 258mpg figure is quite impressive even if it is only for a diesel hauling a single ton of freight.
I would love to see all that tonnage split up and thrown into various passenger cars, with an aerial view showing the train and then showing a load of automobiles carrying the same tonnage of freight on an adjacent highway. That would likely be very educational for those who just think of railroads as outdated or as inconveniences.
Get the wide angle lens out. Picture in your head a train of shipping containers. Each railcar = 2 semis. End to end. Quite a few. Using 40,000 lbs of freight approx each 53' container how many 1/2 ton pickups would that be end to end? Quite a few and then some.
