Talk:Slug (railroad)

Definitions and accuracy
As the article admits, the distinction between yard slug and road slug is poor. Some railroads used (or use) cabless slugs for road service. Examples of this predating CSX's use of cabbed road slugs include: Rock Island, during its late "The ROCK" period, using at least one ex-U25B slug, normally run between two U33Bs. SBD used some 4-axle slugs built new by GE and ran them with U36Bs, if I remember correctly. SpaceCaptain 17:26, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

And, of course, SP TEBUS: Ex-U25B cabless road slugs/fuel tenders with dynamic brakes, used with GP40 and GP40-2 mothers. SpaceCaptain 17:34, 30 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Let me try and resolve this a bit better. Mangoe 17:52, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

This article contains numerous errors and contains a weak understanding of the technical/mechanical aspects of slugs and how they work. For example: Slugs are used in situations where high tractive effort is more important than motive power, such as switching operations in yards.

This sentence literally makes no sense. Motive power is what produces tractive effort: high, low and in between.

--Sunktanka (talk) 08:08, 1 February 2008 (UTC)


 * And yet, over a year later, it still says the same thing! EdJogg (talk) 13:09, 23 March 2009 (UTC)


 * It would be accurate to say "high tractive effort is more important than high horsepower", but that's measuring system specific.

A slug is used to increase adhesive weight, allowing full horsepower to be applied at a lower speed, thus allowing a higher maximum tractive effort. SpaceCaptain (talk) 21:32, 24 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Another important factor is increasing the number of traction motors, reducing the current in each individual motor for a given hp/speed, thereby reducing the possibility of having to wait and cool down the traction motors, due to reaching their short-time current ratings. Wuhwuzdat (talk) 21:52, 24 March 2009 (UTC)
 * I put the above sentence by SpaceCaptain in the article in place of the one which appeared confusing and also put a note in about traction motor load reduction. I don't know if this article requires further assistance. Hellbus (talk) 02:40, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

Specialised jargon in section: MATE
This section is written in jargon, it needs simplification. For example, the expressions "transition series" and "series–parallel transition stages" in reference to locomotives, are completely meaningless to me, although I have a good general understanding of railroads and engineering. Darkman101 (talk) 18:38, 16 January 2018 (UTC)