Burlington Northern C 30-7s

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

Why did BNSF retire their C 30-7s I read HERE that they were only about 20-30 years old. If BNSF had never happened, Do you think BN would have retired them anyway? Also I think I read that BN bought ATSF. Is this true?

Thanks[:)]

2

SD70MAC

3

Old GEs are retired rather than rebuilt because no one but GE makes the parts for them. Because of this their parts are expensive, moreso than the railroads want to invest in them. BN’s C30-7 were used hard in coal train service, and older GE’s weren’t worth rebuilding at the age of 20 years.

4

According to the book Leaders Count, the BN did acquire the Santa Fe.

5

I still miss the BN. I’m only 14 and I was into planes first, so I never knew the BN. [:(] Oh well, there are still lots of Cascade green power running around. Oh and Andrew Falconer : Your post makes no sense.

6

Here are a few pictures I took of the BN that you might like. From your perspective they may be from “Back in the Day” but BN Cascade Green it is.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=46009

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=45429

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=57512

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=57003

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=48192

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=56500

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=49680

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=47369

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=45084

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=45924

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=48062

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=56739

7

Mr. Falconers post makes perfect sense…

The C30-7’s were used mostly in coal drag service. With the arrival of the 70Macs, they could be put out to pasture as 3 Macs could handle a train that before would take 5 C30-7’s.

Simple economics.

Marc

8

That fourth shot is amazing.

9

Ahhh, the C30-7, second in my list of all-time favorite locos right behind the SD40-2… BN fielded the nicest looking fleet IMHO thanks to subtle touches like class lights and the rotating warning beacon

10

Before the merger, could generally be found on the Denver-Pueblo Joint line with bells ringing and clapped-out. They were mostly junk and BN was hard pressed to keep them running.

A few managed to wind up on the Kyle RR near the end and are now Randy Stahl’s headaches.

11

Brazil received hundreds of BN C30-7. Here are some at Portofer shops being rebuilt to broad gauge to Ferronorte rwy (nowadays taken over by ALL rwy)

12

Well in that case… THE BN Lives on![:D]The King has merged LONG LIVE THE KING!
And besides. Every generation sees a different era. When I grow up, my kids will probably be amazed that I saw SD40-2s. Now Mr. Falconer’s post makes sense. Sorry no context. Also I do like the photos. I wish I cold have seen most of those things…But like I said, the next generation will wish they could have seen the engines of today, so in a way, I 'm just as lucky as you are. [:)]

13

Anoter question. Has BNSF been selling off their SD40-2s to FURX. What, for that matter, IS FURX. I read in the site listed in the first post that virtually All of BNSF’s 40-2s were stilll in service. Please explain.[:)][%-)]

14

There are still 3 or 4 operating in the US in BN paint (but not BN lettering). The Lake Superior & Ishpeming RR, an Iron Ore hauling RR in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan has a dozen or so former BN U30Cs and C30-7s in daily service.

15

I have yet another Question. Did the FRA pass a requirement that F unit windows had to be pached? Alot of pictures HERE show B units that have anywhere between 3-0 windows on each side and A units with 2-0. was this an FRA requirement, or did BN just do this because they wanted to?

16

They are called portholes, and were used to let light into the enclosed engine room If I am correct.

A units look different from B units. They are not the same unit. Are you sure there were patches?

And no, FRA didnt regulate anything about that.

17

I’m pretty sure. Take a look at this one. It doesn’t have any windows. Now maybe it was built that way, I don’t know. Here are a few B units with patches.

http://www.trainpix.com/BN/EMDORIG/F7B/705.HTM

http://www.trainpix.com/BN/EMDORIG/F7B/735.HTM

http://www.trainpix.com/BN/EMDORIG/F7B/737.HTM

and just to prove that they all don’t have patched windows

http://www.trainpix.com/BN/EMDORIG/F7B/707.HTM

Did BN just put them in for fun, or what?

18

I do not see any patches on those units, just B’s without portholes.

19

F units and their accompanying B units came in three distinct “phases” with several different modifications in each phase.

No official EMD listing of phases exists, that is a term used by railfans to describe the differences in production runs.

Some had square port holes in the side, some round, some none at all.

Some has square windows in the rear door, some round, and different types of side grills, (at least three I have read about)…some had louvers or vents between the portholes, some didn’t, even the dynamic brake fan and cooling fans are different between phases and sometimes, but not often within a given order.

Also keep in mind several railroads ordered the unit with out any side port holes…and BN inherited quite a few of these units from their merger roads.

BN didn’t order or buy most of their F unit fleet new, so you have units from several different roads in several different phases.

http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr1616.htm

This link shows just some of the differences between F unit owners…note the GN B unit’s difference in the side grill from the ones in your BN photos.

Variations in the roof hatch, placement of the steam generator, if so equipped, passenger pilot or freight pilot, even the arch over the rear door can vary, but usually only between the different phases.

20

Responding to a couple of things –

  1. While everyone loves to bash old GEs, even I, a GE lover, have to admit that the simple fact that almost none of the huge fleets of C30-7s owned by all the Class Ones are around anymore, while their contemporaries, the SD40-2 are still nearly everywhere, says more than anything else about the quality of the Dash 7s.

  2. I don’t think any F unit ever had square portholes. You might be thinking of E units, which did have square portholes on some of the earlier models (like the E6 and E7). The official F units (yes there were unofficials designations of F2 and F5) were the FT, F3, F7 and F9. They all had different variations of round portholes. There was never a run without portholes that I was aware of. The problem with the portholes was that the area around them rusted, so many railroads did away with the portholes very early on to do away with the rust.

  3. FURX is First Union Rail, a locomotive leasing outfit. They own one batch of BN SD40-2s. BNSF still owns quite a few too. I am guessing that the reason some went to FURX was simple economics. When the lease came up it wasn’t worth it to buy them or re-lease them, even though a lot of those FURX units show up back on BNSF now.

  4. BN didn’t order any F units new (not even their F45s, which weren’t really F units). The last real F unit was made a decade before Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Burlington, and Spokane, Portland & Seattle merged. The F45s were Great Northern.

Lastly, am I remembering correctly, did the C30-7s replaced U30Cs and Alco Centuries? If so, BN was buying pretty similar technology to replace locomotives that I’ve heard they were also unhappy with.