Railroad History: Helpers on the Tehachapi Pass

As trains became more popular they became longer which means they became heavier and that meant more power was needed to pull them. One of the solutions to the problem was running trains in separate "sections" or making two or three trains from one. That wasn't always practical due to scheduling conflicts, etc.
The better answer was to add locomotives to trains and these were called "helpers". In the early days more power was added only to the head end but that only worked to a point as broken draw bars would result so helpers were added to the train at various intervals. As heavy mountain service became the norm they began putting more helpers in trains including the rear.
As diesel power became available the helpers began to be set about the middle of the train but more would be added deeper if called for.
Today most helpers are placed at the end of a train and are all remote control units called drones. Very heavy trains will still incorporate them in the middle if necessary.
So join me me for a history of helper service on the Tehachapi.
Link to a VERY heavy train at West Bealville    • Railroading on the Tehachapi: Heavy B...