TRAIN DBW11

Train DBW11, the return train from Wilson Steel, is entering the yard...

Gen-set 300 pulls the train into Hillsdale Yard, with several hooded coil cars on the head-end.

The first coil car is one that was custom-built by Thrall for Conrail; instead of the then-common dual hoods, Conrail opted for one large hood. Well over 500 cars of this design were delivered before Conrail was split-up between Norfolk Southern and CSX in 1999. The new one-hood design was adopted by other railroads, as seen by the next car, owned by Northwestern Oklahoma and built by NSC.

The other two coil cars are also NSC-built single-hoods; these are 'owned' by US Steel. (This is a fantasy paint scheme; US Steel doesn't own any interchange freight cars, only ones that operate within or between its steel mills. Still, it's a cool paint scheme!)

After the coil cars, are several bulkhead flats loaded with pipe. These big pipes are for an oil pipeline being built in the Midwest.

The tail end of the train is all gondolas; the first one loaded with steel coils, the rest empty. Note the former coal hauling gon, now in scrap service; it towers over its contemporaries! The caboose is nearly hidden under the bridge.

As DBW11 comes to a stop, Peter prepares to step down and aide in the switching of cars. Earl is the engineer. While he likes the gen-set, Earl still prefers the lugging ability of SD40 3163 on this run; often times the train is heavily loaded coming and going, and 3163 has more weight and traction motors (six verses four) to keep the train going. It also has dynamic brakes, which help control the train on a steep grade leaving the steel mill.
The lack of dynamic brakes is why unit 300 will soon be supplemented by a new gen-set that has this useful feature.