IS by chance BNSF in a power crunch because when I was at Joliet today their were seveal leased units from CSX, NS, Montana Rail Link and CEFX
In Montana we are seeing EMD power by the hour still being used with a bunch of mixed leased power that you described. We are on the MRL with a lot of coal and grain trains and the power is all owned west bound with some mixed leased units east bound on the empyt grain and coal returns. Some of the mixed leased power units east bound are on TOFC and container trains and are running hot. As usual we have many mixes of MRL power in their old livery and MRL painted on the side. The big power 4 units west and 3 east has seemed to replaced the 45-2’s in 5 and 6 consist units. Are they mothballing them in Pasco Washington? or selling them. We see around 15 to 20 trains a day… The contract that MRL has with BNSF gives them a required number or trains a day or miles a month to meet operational needs ($$$$$$). I am sure that when it is necessary MRL will join the scrap heap of regionals just like the Stampede Pass rails in Washington. I think capicity is the issue not power… High Green
It’s becasue all their power was in the port of San Diego yesterday. There are normally about 8, sometimes 10 in the morning when I pass by. yesterday there were over twenty…I stopped counting at 18 when the older than average driver in front of me suddenly applied her brakes for absolutely no discernable reason. All flavors and paint schemes from BN and SF and BNSF were well represented.
I hear San Diego is having an engine convention. (My favorite spot in the nation)
Hawaii was unavailable.
Moo
Living on the BNSF west line out of Chicago, I have seen more and more leased and foreign RR loco’s. On Saturday I saw a freight going West headed by a CP Rail.
This is first one I have seen in a loooong time.
Perhaps BNSF is owed so much power time (it was explained in another post) that they’ve got time to do something like extensive maintenace while running everyone else’s locomotives…
Lately on the Hinckley Sub I’ve been hearing more EMD and CEFX lease
units being called by the dispatcher, and I heard an NS locomotive on the
lead too the other night. Now some of these may have been CP or UP
trains on trackage rights too.
Just a fantasy:[:D]
if there are any left in storage, it sure would be nice if they pulled out the SDP40fs and F45s that they retired just a few years ago! Yes, I know they have lots of miles on them and lack ditch lights but railroads have reconditioned high mileage engines before!
Have they all been scrapped yet? Rumor has it that there may be some SDPs left!
Its because they are running on csx well this part of ohio.saw an sd40-2 in bnsf colors but had furx on the side and lots of creen and white sd 70 macs and even a warbonnet.
stay safe
Joe
Antonio - The only Santa Fe cowl units left are in museums…F45, FP45 and SDP40F’s have survived. BN’s few are scattered out there with new owners (MRL, WC, UTAH etc.) or got cut up. They did a poor job of caring for their second generation power, so they left BN’s rosters before the merger.
Thank you Mudchicken! I’m hoping some day to take a vacation and travel to some of these museums that have FP45s. I read on a site a while back that at least one museum is attempting to restore one that is already in “partial running condition” to full running condition. It is still raising money for the project…
Antonio yes the only FP45’s are now museum pieces. Talk is perhaps ATSF 92 at Illinois Railroad Museum could run again she needs a cylinder sleeved but is otherwise intact. This unit is open for walkthru’s even thru the engine room. while at IRM don’t miss any of the other great units including Union Pacific Centennial 6930. We saw her run in October pulling a historic freight consist… it was magnificent!!! Errrrrrrrrr!
UnionPacific 4006
Thanks for the tip! We were thinking about visiting Chicago in the next 2 years. Is the Illinois RR Museum nearby or easy to get to from there?
I recall hearing that Ed Burkhart (former head of Wisconsin Central) bought some F45/FP45 units that CN wanted to sell off and is now using them on his East Coast railroad (not remembering the name).
[:(][:(][:(][:(!][:(!][:(!] IT SO SAD HOW THE SANTA FE TREATED THEIR 2nd GENERATION UNITS AND
[:(][:(][:(][:(!][:(!][:(!] IT SO SAD HOW THE BURLINGTON NORTHERN BUT LOOK THE SD40-2 has lasted for ever like FRED FLINSTONE TREATED THEIR 2nd GENERATION UNITS AND
The F45’s and FP45’s were retired for the same reason that most railroads retired their SD45’s. The V-20 engine increased fuel consumption and the extra maintenance required for four more cylinders probably did not justify keeping them around for the extra horsepower when plenty of SD40-2’s with V-16’s were available.
He bought a couple of F45’s. They are not in service on the Montreal Maine & Atlantic. They were meant for the MM&A but from what I still heard, are still in Mexico awaiting rebuild along with one or two SD45’s.
Dave
I was in Lincoln NE a couple months ago and was driving on a road sortof close and spotted a BN SDP40-or at least it looked like a 40. might have been a 45 moving and too far away to see flaired radiators, but it was a P something.
At time’s I wondered also if they were in a power crunch. Here and there I see a empty coal train with only one SD70MAC on it. [very uunusual normally] And u use to only see EMDs on coal trains and GEs on intermodal, but they are now mixed more and more.