Power on the Move

There are at least 11 locomotives in this train’s power consist. Probably only the first two units are actually pulling the train, the rest of the engines just along for the ride. There are many reasons for such a move. The railroad is continuously balancing its power, moving locomotives that are surplus at one terminal to places where they are desperately needed to pull outbound trains. In this case, many of the engines in this consist are yard switch engines. It’s likely this collection of units came from various yards in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Chicago. They are probably bound for the heavy locomotive maintenance shops at Cumberland, Maryland, for required quarterly inspections (or “Q”s) or other repairs as necessary.