Tonight I saw a UP train consist that included a CSX engine? In North TX.

[Robertj668]

Hello Everyone
I have not been in the Train forum nor at my train layout for almost a year. First things first I am changing that. I forgot how relaxing Model Railroading was!

Okay
I live in Texas Just north of Keller. Around here we mostly will see BNSF or UP. From time to time I will see a SP (Southern Pacific) in Black with a UP# painted on it. If I am correct UP owns SP now. And eventually they will paint it I guess.

But tonight I was waiting for the light to turn green so I could make my left turn and then the RR lights and gates start coming down. Now for me I am of course always happy to see a train pass and enjoy it go by.

But what I saw tonight surprised me. A CSX engine in Dark blue with no repaint Numbers to show it was now owned by UP.  Now I know that CSX us mostly an east coast company? And looked on the map on their site and they don't work their way into TX. Or at least that's what I thought! I almost did not recognize it as when I first say it I said oh there goes the SP engine again. And by that time I could not see the engines number.

I would love any input. I hope I gave as much information as possible.

Lastly any good websites to show which tracks are owned by which company?

The UP had some basic stuff CSX had some great stuff.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Robert

PS I hope to be back in here more often than I have in recent months.

[mhampton]

I've seen UP units in CSX consists here in Indiana.  Locomotive lend/lease among the railroads isn't unheard of.  It's still a bit of a surprise to see a unit so far from home, though, isn't it?

Regarding ownership of lines, google "railroad maps" and you should come up with some helpful information.

[ebtnut]

In these modern times, run-through power is pretty common.  We see UP and BNSF power here in the east on a fairly routine basis.  Whe foreign power rides other railroads, the owning road is due what amounts to a rental fee.  One way to help balance this fee is to have the other road's power run through on your railroad. 

[Robertj668]

Gentlemen
Thank you very much for the responses. It was neat to see it last night. And now I have an excuse when we want to run our CSX engine and out UP together!
Robert

[pipefitter]

On the CSX "Camden Line" between Washington DC and Baltimore, I've seen CP Rail, UP, Helm Leasing (HLCX) and BNSF, and CSX of course. It is not uncommon to see a three loco train with each one from a different road

Robert

[RAM]

On the U.P. no matter what color a unit is when it goes into the mainshoops.  When it comes out it will be yellow. 

[jward]

i live 100 feet from the norfolk southern mainline. to-day, i have seen union pacific and csx locomotives go through. last weekend we had bnsf and santa fe as well.

it is common for trains that run over more than one railroad to have locomotives from each railroad. the railroads carefully monitor the use of each other's locomotives, and when one railroad runs a surplus of hours, they often lend the other railroad a couple of their locomotives to balance things out. for example, a csx locomotive making a roundtrip from chicago to LA will travel about 4000 miles, a union pacific locomotive making a roundtrip chicago to boston will travel about 2000 miles. the borrowed locomotive is used to pay back the extra 2000 miles.

this is a very simple explanation. the actual figure used in calculating locomotive usage is horsepower hours. this will take into account the fact that some locomotives are more powerful than others, and an older borroed locomotive will therefore be used longer than a newer one, to balance things out.

[scottychaos]

UP power is VERY common on CSX trains here in Western NY!
some trains run all the way across the country and simply dont switch locomotives when they cross onto a new railroad..its just more efficient for everyone that way.
CSX would then owe UP "hours" for using their locomotives, and those hours could be repaid by CSX locos running on UP..

Scot

[jettrainfan]

Jward, I take it as your talk about the NS reading line?  If so, those csx units were detouring. Found this out on trainorders.com

[jward]

nope, i am ns pittsburgh line. i am 9 miles east of the amtrak station at pittsburgh.

[Doneldon]

Rj-

Consists like this are no real surprise in this day of pooled power and runthroughs.  CSX and UP are almost a natural pairing considering the way their systems connect.  Several people see a merger for these two in the not-too-distant future.  Same for Norfolk Southern and the Big New Santa Fe.  It is fun to see the "foreign" roads, though, isn't it?
                                                                                                           -- D

[RAM]

yes, but it was nice when you saw a train you knew what railroad it was. 

[Robertj668]

Everyone
I am so glad I asked this question. This message board has always come through for me. There is always a great level of compassion for the Hobby in here with great advice and knowledge.

My layout (In progress) is not set in a specific area of the US or an exact time yet. But my 7 yr old son and I love all of the road names. UP, CSX, BNSF, and so on. After reading all of responses that were posted, I now feel more comfortable to utilize different road names together. 

Yes its our railroad but it is still nice to keep it looking somewhat prototypical. Or as I use to say "ProtoClose"

Have a great night!

Robert