EJ&E 663 and EJ&E 657 stall on the hill in Joliet, IL.

[labhunter1]

nice video. I really hate to see this those 2 old gals can pull but this was to much!

[lima709]

Burn a little diesel, use a little sand! LOL

[mpwelk]

Does anybody else think "Sergeant" when they see those strips on the nose? Or maybe Corporal depending on how you look at it.

[aussietraindriver]

I know this feeling all to well! curves on gradients dont help either

[rattacular12]

@aussietraindriver We also have a 10 mph interlocker so there is a no "run for the hill" but thats supposed to change.

[aussietraindriver]

@rattacular12 yeah that would really slow things down. we have a similar problem on one of our routes. good to watch though.

[aussietraindriver]

I know this feeling all to well!

[SWASTAFIX]

@charlieb640 I just don't like CN. Wisconsin Central was the trains i grew up with. I guess i just don't like change in general.

[pianomanmaestro]

When they stall what do they do????????????

[dwkcamman611]

Wow...Great catch, but sad to see the J units stall like that.

[ChicagoRailMan]

You can hear the locomotives screaming for more power.

[danielsilv2]

wish we could have seen the 1200's push on the back.we got one at work and it's a good little engine.

[8747csx]

Stalled or not, EMDs sound good in Run 8!

[kleetus92]

that's one way to kill traction motors... I think minimum speed for 38-2's is what 6 MPH?

[coborn35]

@kleetus92 Theres no minimum speed... All has to do with their amperage ratings. SD38's has SD40 traction motors so it is very hard to ruin one.

[kleetus92]

@coborn35 Not according to page 4 of the service manual... 62:15 gear ratio gives a max speed of 65 mph, and a minimum continuous speed of 6.8 mph... if you go to the high gear set, 59:18, top speed is 82, min is 8.6. There are two other gear sets in between too. It does have the D77 traction motors, but any motor has a thermal limit.

[DarkHorseLeather]

They are over their weight limits. Even with 2 SW-1500's at the rear is still not enough power. Depending on the amount of rolling stock they are pulling and how much weight they are loaded down with, determines how much power is needed at the head end. Saw this once in Cherryvale KS. 2 SD-50's full throttle pulling a mile long unloaded train. Ever seen 12 axles brake loose and wheels spin on the tracks? Looked like 24 grinders on the rails.

[Landaux]

Train-Strain!!

[formidable38]

At 1.52 you can see the dust flash out as the leading wheels break away!

[Kitfugl]

Wonders what the dogs are barking about ;-)

[judgedred88]

awsome

[huettmr]

Aw man!!! you should have captured the train starting up again and giving us all a thrill watching those SW1200's on the rear!!

[standbackandwatch]

That's painful for me to watch. Nice vid!

[Eng8492]

this must be a 'live-long-day'

[pwalpar]

Awesome, Did you anticipate they would fall down at you location or it just happened that way? 5*

[JR7582]

This reminds me of the book "The little engine that could." Looks like CN has written their own...I think I can, I think I can...nope...

[bryson55]

I've never seen that happen before. Great angle!

[NJCoastExp]

Welcome to CN. Underpowering trains is their motto.

[SWASTAFIX]

@NJCoastExp CN stands for Current Nazis. I put 2 and 2 together: Red, Black, and White color schemes and enlarging their empire. >.<

[staintedcards]

well why the hell dont they use DPU's then it wont stall

[UPTurner]

Nice Video Nick!! Man that was amazing!! The sound of a dieing breed. I hope CN doesn't scrap them!! Just Amazing!! Now that it stalled, they probably strap another unit on for sure or but some modern stuff on. 5* and favs man!!

[NicTrain35]

Thanks, Turner! Yep, it was quite a show...until they stalled. Lol. Thankfully, there's still some J units assigned to the Joliet area, but who knows for how much longer. Seeing the two EJ&E SW1200's that came to the rescue help out was really cool.

[GhostFearMe]

man..hated to see that

[NicTrain35]

Yeah, it was pretty sad to see them stop.

[NicTrain35]

Thanks, Taylor! Yep, the crew wasn't too happy.

[skinnyshit8888]

Where did the Taconite train come from

[NicTrain35]

This one came from Eola Yard in Aurora.

[hawkeyetherailfan]

And you just know cn is going to use GEVO on that train soon, nice video!

[eeeman07]

and they will surely stall.

damn gevos

[NicTrain35]

Yeah, unfortunately, I had a bad feeling when he was struggling to move.

[NicTrain35]

Thanks, Ben! Yep, It'll be sad when that day comes.

[xxxDeath9572xxx]

Also, What is the grade % up the hill?

[NicTrain35]

I'm not 100% sure of the exact %, but if I had to venture a guess, I'd say 1.7%.

[xxxDeath9572xxx]

Thats quite a decent grade for these units to handle. I'll give the J credit, they sure as hell know how to pull a train

[NicTrain35]

Yep, usually they don't have any trouble getting up the hill, but they normally use three engines all the time (sometimes four). This time, they only used two, which kind of had me confused. It sure is nice to hear them pulling hard.

[xxxDeath9572xxx]

It's always nice to hear units putting it as hard as they can. But its new management and CN probably didnt think about what they were doing.

[xxxDeath9572xxx]

Wow!! Those SD38's sound amazing!! Its a shame they stalled though, they were so close to making it too.

[NicTrain35]

Yeah, it would have been nice to get them rolling by me. The steepest part of the grade is about two miles east of here too. Lol.

[xxxDeath9572xxx]

I bet it would've.. It would've been nice if the units were able to at least make 7 mph round the bend and past you. If 2 SD38's can't handle the brunt of the grade, then i couldnt imagine what would've happened if they got that far!

[NicTrain35]

Yep, I hope CN doesn't completely run the J units into the ground. They handled the steep part of the hill pretty well, but they had two SW1200's helping out at the rear.

[xxxDeath9572xxx]

oh, i understand completely and neither do I! If Im ever near Chicago, this is definatly going to be a trip for me to see.