Iowa Interstate Railroad Council Bluffs

The IAIS Passing by the old Rock Island Depot in Council Bluffs Iowa. Look for other video on this channel for alternate angle/location.

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Autos & Vehicles

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• interstate
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• council
• bluffs
• locomotive
• slug
• IAIS
• freight
• train
• track
• diesel
• electric
• gp-38
• yard
• engine
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• old
• rock
• island
• depot

[derVernichtet]

They arent a failed experiment, they are common on smaller railroads.  the idea is, two locomotives, for the price of ONE tank of fuel.

[ipfeldspar]

Thank-you for taking the time to go through all of that. I think I now have a better understanding of the Slugs.

[derVernichtet]

Slugs also have no diesel engine, they draw their power from the lead unit, thus, two engines, but only one diesel to fuel....

[ipfeldspar]

OK. Thank-You for the correction. If I had looked close I should have seen that there was no exhaust, ergo, no diesel. I'm still a little confused on why they were made/ Was this a failed experiment? Why bother to buy/build a slug when you would probably have extra locomotives anyway? Someone must have had a specific marketing strategy on these things.... Thank-You for viewing and explaining things the right way.

[Xantec]

whats the half height thing for? looks like someone has taken the top half of the locomotive off

[ipfeldspar]

It's sometimes known as a "slug". It's a powered unit that has reduced cost as it does not need a crew. Most of the time railroads hook up a second locomotive. The slugs allow extra power at a slightly reduced cost. I'm no expert but it looks like most railroads would rather hook up another locomotive as opposed to a slug.

[ILSRWY4]

@ipfeldspar Slugs are nothing but "add-ons" w/electric traction motors for extra tractive effort. The lack of crew is not what makes the reduced cost-that comes from it not having their own generators (the diesel engine). Because of this & because a slug has no cab, railroads would rather hook up a loco instead of a slug. Besides, with a cab unit running in reverse the train can go in either direction with the engineer at either end. Slugs are usually used only in the switch-yards.