(erielack) Hostler's rules

["Tupaczewski, Paul R (Paul)" <paultup_@_lucent.com>]

Hello all,

The recent posting of the various trains, their motive power lashup and tonnages bring up a question that I've wondered about for a while but never was able to get a clear answer about.

Who was responsible for assigning power to a train? I know there was a power desk at the EL's Cleveland offices. Did they know where all the power was on the railroad? Did they assign the power to the trains? Or did the hostler at the terminal have some discretion in selecting the power?

The aforementioned listings of lashups show an obvious preference towards six-axle EMD and GE power for most trains.  Occasionally you do see a GP35 or U25B sneak in, but that begs the question - where was the rest of the fleets of these units? With a total of 62 U25Bs and GP35s, they all can't be in use on through freights. I know on the east end you'd see GP35s and U25B's substitute for GP7s or EMD NW/SWs on local freights, but not in huge numbers. Were they replacing the RS3s/S2s on the West End of the railroad?

Also, the lashups show another trend - the lashups were usually 2 or 3 units. How often did the EL ever go more than 3 units? (not counting dead-in-tow units being transferred to a different location)  It still baffles my mind that today's modern freights normally run 4-6 units with trains that seem comparable to EL in its final years. Is it because today's freight cars are heavier/handle more tonnage?

	- Paul



	The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List
	Sponsored by the ELH&TS
	http://www.elhts.org

------------------------------