This has been posted on another forum, and I'll offer it here as well for any additional responses.

"Oftentimes when steam locomotives (UPRR #844 for example) are taken on excursion runs, there is a diesel locomotive in the consist close behind. This certainly implies that the steamer is unreliable and needs to be 'propped up' by the diesel - that all the painstaking work by the crews maintaining the locomotive is still questionable. Comments?

Just my thought...I don't think anybody on the rr is implying that the steam locomotive is unreliable.

Diesels provide HEP for the modern cars that were not there during the steam era.
Also, it doesn't hurt on many profiles to have the dynamic braking of diesel available. That's just good operating practice.

I well remember chasing 844 up the Columbia River in 1989 at over 70 mph and the trailing diesel wasn't making a watt of power.

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The diesels also permit the use of steam locomotives when it is known that the weight of the train consist is at the maximum limit or exceeds the maximum tractive abilities of the steam locomotive assigned. NS required diesel helpers the few times that TVRM 610 was used in excursion service-pinch hitting for the 4501.

It would be neat to see some covered wagons as support power. There are quite a few around I can think of that are Amtrak certified. The NS executive F's behind 611 or 765 would be sweet. NS seems to let 765 run without a helper most of the time.e now.

F's would be great but to take that a step farther they could be B units like Clinchfield did with #1.

Did Chris Fussell's Daylight F40PHR 231 ever get to run with 4449 before moving to SLC?

Another reason besides HEP is that should something unfortunate happen to said steamer, the diesel can get the excursion out of the way of regular freight or passenger services. Interrupting the flow of trains for more than a short amount of time will make it harder to do trips on said railroad again.

Russ

I remember an article in TRAINS magazine way back when Clinchfield #1 was still running. The little 10-wheeler couldn't pull more than a couple of cars on its own and the railroad rigged up a "B" diesel unit as a helper and somehow got the steamer to MU with the "B" unit. They stated that for the casual non-railfan rider, it appeared to be just a baggage car. It's been many years, but as i remember the title of the article was "Diesel does the work, steam gets the glory".

Clinchfield No. 1 had a MU controller of primitive design in the cab. TVRM's No. 630 has a much more advanced controller. That eliminates the need for a second crew for the diesel.

The diesel is also handy for dynamic braking. You can also use the air from the diesel and save wear and tear on the steam engine's air pumps.

261 ran some excursions out of Kansas City with a diesel on the rear, because there were no turning facilities at the end of the run. The diesel pulled the train back to KC.

Tom Hamilton

Why is it that if there is a steam diesel locomotive consist the railfans complain in disgust? Steam and diesels ran together since the start of development of the diesel locomotive.
Consider that on many of the locomotives out there the name on the locomotive does not match the host company. So what is the benefit of running a trip if you do not get your name out for people to know you are the party that allowed the trip to even occur. If UP wants to put a modern Diesel behind any of their locomotive is it not their railroad? For John Q Public is it not important for the host RR to show that you are a good corporate neighbor and this is what we usually look like.
Too many railfan’s want a 1950 picture. But both the infrastructure present in that era and even the style of railroading is gone
In today’s world we have to work in today’s environment. I truly wish that the railfan’s would quit wanting to travel back in time because of their ignorance to change. We are lucky that many people photographed their era of railroading. I just wish the people living today would support what is here today and not demand a situation that is not here today.

Robby Peartree

Yes Robby, there's a place for context and a valuable one. That place is in museums. We shouldn't discount the impact of giving our visitors a time machine to walk through... and I wish we did a better job of it. The big modern world can't provide that context but it can open up the impact of experiencing a living technological dinosaur that by its nature is pretty impressively intimidating hauling down the main line to people who don't know anything about them, to the extent that it becomes separate from the clutter around it.

Don't worry about attracting railfans - they will show up anyhow, many will not provide any financial support and will nitpick the necessary compromises. Do things the rest of the world will want to be a part of and enjoy their support and happy reactions.

On a recent trip 844 was serviced every fifty miles to the complaints of railfans. I watched a couple of these stops. While the crew was servicing crowds formed looking at the machine. The crowd was people from all walks of life looking. It was a good time to do some quick interaction. It amazed me even more because the fans complain about only getting one or two shots. With that lube schedule they got plenty of starts and time to set up their next shot. But no we have to complain because the locomotive is not moving fast enough for their video. In 1984 I knew about 4449 heading back from New Orleans. We went to Clint Texas to see it go thru. It was such a flash you barely saw anything. SP spent a lot of money on that trip. Looking back was it worth the expense for the good will it created?

Robby Peartree

One of the last things a busy mainline railroad needs these days is a steam engine
putzing along and stopping far too often than necessary to service.

Yes, it's a good show for those who don't know any better, but for the dispatcher and the freight customers, remember that every time that train stops and puts on it's little kabuki grease show for 20 or 30 minutes, nothing behind it is moving, and nothing coming the other way is moving, either. Even (or especially) in multi-track territory, everything stops until the steam train is moving again.

4 or 5 such stops every day when one would suffice can really clabber up a busy railroad, and just makes those who have to figure out how to work around it wish the whole thing would just go away. Intelligent crews do not want to be blamed for delaying a dozen hotshots while they show off.