Why do locomotives from freight trains sometimes be left on the tracks stranded it seems.?

Question

Why do locomotives from freight trains sometimes be left on the tracks stranded it seems.?

Answer 1

Is it idling or shut down?  Is it on the "main track" or on a siding?    That would tell a lot, but here are a few reasons in general:

- It's used for switching boxcars into local industries, and the crew is done for the day.  

- If it's in a mountain district, it may be a "helper" used to push trains up hills or brake them down (using their dynamic brakes).

- It was one of several on a train, and it broke down in a way which was unsafe to tow, so they set it out.

- The crew has gone "for beans" i.e. to a local restaurant.

Answer 2

I live in Canyon, TX on the BNSF's mainline from Chicago to LA, called the transcon. In New Mexico, around Belen, Mountainair, and Largo, the grades are around 2.4% so trains with 2 4400 hp locomotives cant pull a 8000' plus train over this grade. So about 60 miles west of where I live there is a small siding that Westbounds that need help can pickup extra locomotives, and it is where eastbounds coming from the pass drop off the locomotives to help the westbounds.

In some parts of the US, including Maria's Pass in Montana and Crawford Hill in Nebraska, the railroad has Helper Units to give an extra push to trains going over these passes.

So the locomotives you saw were most likely sitting waiting on a train to come by that needed them to get over a large gradient.

Answer 3

They're probably waiting for another group of freight cars to be carried by them, or they are just plain stranded.

Answer 4

Generally when a locomotive is by itself on the tracks, either a siding or industrial track, it is either broken down or a helper unit.  I remember, from years of railfan experience, that sometimes, depending on the grade, they used helper units for getting up hills, mtns, etc.  They would attatch them to the end of the train when going up the grade and disconnect them when they are down the grade, thus the helpers go back to their proper tracks and wait for the next train that comes along.

Answer 5

Parked?

Locomotive engines are hard to start so it is not unusual for them to run for months at a time and not go any where.

Answer 6

THEY ARE MOST PROPERLY BROKEN DOWN, AS IS THE NORM HERE IN SOUTH AFRICA