The figure of merit on the Eckhart Branch was the number of empty hoppers that could be pulled uphill. This figure depends on the rolling resistance of the car, the grade resistance, and the curve resistance. The Winans engine could handle 40 hoppers, based on a tare weight of 3 tons for the Winans-designed 6-wheel hoppers in use in 1854. The later engines would haul 55-ton capacity hoppers, of tare weight 20 tons. The capacity of a standard C&P class L engine would have been 21 cars. The articulated engine could have handled 24. The later Decapods pulled 28 cars.