According to a post on another forum BNSF has now stored 1350 locomotives systemwide.
I wonder if most of those are SD40-2s that BNSF’s going to retire? What’s the status of BNSF’s SD60Ms, 75Ms, Dash8s and early Dash9s? I’d figure BNSF would store those before storing 10 year old Dash 9s and SD70MACs. Speaking of stored locos, I hear UP is storing SD70Ms that are less than 10 years old.
Maybe that’s why I saw a BNSF Dash 8 actually SWITCHING at Eola yard yesterday midday!
All the former Oakway SD60s that BNSF still has are stored, all but a handful of the SD60Ms are stored, 78 Dash8-40CWs are stored, all 23 GP60Bs are stored. A few newer locos due for overhaul are stored, but no large numbers.
Prognosticators of doom-and-destruction don’t usually cast their eyes in the direction of railroads but when they start cocooning locomotives it is a sure indication that traffic ain’t movin’ and the economy is going to hell-in-a-handbasket!
For some of them, this is probably it. Others will get pulled out of those lines and be put back in services when the economy picks up again.
Which and how many will be determined by how soon and how strongly that pick up happens and is.
Thats why I felt so lucky to catch these last week!
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/H6oTHPKhkFQNgPNH9tJ9Rg?feat=directlink
Thank God all we get is old EMD’s around here.
At 70 ft. long each for an average length, that’s 17.9 miles worth of stored locos. WOW ! That’d make quite a video clip / image on the evening news as to the extent of the recession.
About a month ago BNSF announced its 2009 capital budget, which included 350 new locos, if I recall rightly. Wonder if that’s still going to happen ?
- Paul North.
I know BNSF’s getting a buch of ES44DCs this year, some of which in the 7200 series are being delivered now.
Youre’ joking me[banghead]!!! Storing SD70M’s that are less than 10 yers old! I thought that these were UP’s “workhorses”? Let’s all clap for the GEVO[tdn]
Tell you what Bubba-I’ll “send” you all of the CN SD70I/75Is that I see and you can “send” me all your GEVOS. More than a fair trade!
Well I don’t have a very good camra, It’s a Nikon coolpix just for taking picts of stuff like family reunions not like trains, Although I’ve taken pict’s of trains with it before. And 2 I don’t see any GEVO’s really. The only GEVO i’ve seen is a NS ES40DC. So still send them if you want to. But I’ll send you some of my picts of the trains in Laffeyette IN. My e-mail, mackjs01@sbcglobal.net
I am guessing that a large number of these locos will probably never see the high iron again, especially since they are still getting newer ones despite all these in storage. Maybe some will end up in lease fleets or wherever.
LOL sure. I’ll send you want all of the CN locos I’ve shot to date? Or just the 49 SD70/75I series locos?
BNSF is taking the new locomotives because they signed the contract to acquire them before the economy went into a tailspin, if they were to cancel the order there is a penalty in the contract that BNSF would have to pay.
Check this out : Lots of stored locomotives.
Is China still in the market for locomotives? Would it take too many modifications to American locomotives to work on China’s system?
As Ed Blysard and pedrop have both noted, Brazil has been buying secondhand American locomotives, both EMD’s and GE’s, in fairly substantial numbers.
IIRC China’s National Railway company purchased large numbers of C36-7s from GE (bulit in Erie and shipped over) that were very close in specification to the units built for Conrail, so I would certainly think if they wanted seconhand units from North America it would be doable. However, I note that their current policy seems to be to liscence the technology from EMD and GE and have their domestic builders produce the units. Witness the current large orders for 6,000 HP units they are building. I believe they have done similiar deals with some of the European manufacturers for electric locomotives…
Note that they’re right next to a busy highway (on the left), where lots of people can see them every day, notice that this line of locos is long and not moving, and maybe figure out what that means in terms of the economy and the rails’ role in the world, etc.
Better than having them side-lined out in the desert someplace, or on the “back track” of some yard.
Except that I hope this location isn’t too easy for the vandals, graffiti painters, and thieves of various kinds to get to them ?
- Paul North.