Today while spending a couple of hours at Eola yard, I saw a Galesburg train depart with three BNSF pumpkins and a very unusual unit “dead in tow” with it’s stack capped. It was lettered TXNW and was unit 121. It wore a shiny (new?) black and grey scheme. I “googled” TXNW 121 and all I could find was it is likely a unit owned by Texas Northwestern Railway Co. but my puzzle is what in the heck is it doing all the way up here coming OUT of Chicago? Can anybody help solve this mystery? I did not have a camera and could find no picture of her on the web either. Thanks.
Ex UP SD40-2, now heading west from LTE.
Their little SW’s down there at Sunray/Etter can’t get it done anymore? (They have been storing lots of coal, tank and hopper cars lately near Machovec, clearly visible from US-287)…
That kind of power would be better suited for sister road NENE up at O’Neil, NE.
Perhaps LTE deturboed it into a SD38-2. They painted the yellow black, but left the red and gray alone.
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=893382
http://www.trainweb.org/southwestshorts/txnw.html
Try this link…
Yes, that sure is the unit I saw, thanks.
Today I spent about three hours at Eola in the warm fall sunshine and was rewarded with a few interesting tidbits. Firstly, BRCGAL came into the yard and had only one piece of business today…to drop off RailRunner bi-level Bombardier passenger car number 1007 (see photo) following (not mine but included as an example). After dropping off the car in the East Yard (for what purpose I don’t know…perhaps bad ordered?), BRCGAL picked up warbonnet Dash944CW number 771 and put her (dead in tow) behind the BRC’s two C40-8W pumpkins and went on her way west. Also while at Eola, I was able to see all four afternoon Amtrak trains in the following order…numbers 5 and 6 within fifteen minutes of each other, followed by number 4 in about twenty minutes and then number 3 at about 3:55 p.m., that’s all four in about two hours of train watching…very unusual for all four to be on time or early like that. All of this, of course, was intermixed with about a dozen other BNSF freights (two with pure CSX power consists) and a few Metras. Come join me at Eola some time folks, for you never can tell what you might see.
Is the old CB&Q turntable still in service at Eola?
Still there, fenced off, I’ve never seen it used but they really don’t need to turn locos there.
LocoNotes reports TXNW 122 has left LTE today. It should look the same as 121.
I’ll guess it will be in Barr Yard for part or most of Sunday.
Jim, I was just at Eola yesterday! Sounds like some interesting stuff lately. I will probably be back out there soon. [:)]
I noticed in the photo that TXNW 121 has no DB’s. Did she have them whe nshe was a UP unit or was she alway a non DB unit?
TXNW 122 was UP B4121, originaly MP 3121. I don’t think MP had their SD40-2s built with DB.
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoPicture.aspx?id=26322
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoPicture.aspx?id=77072
I’m guessing 121, ex UP B4304, was also a former MP locomotive.
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoPicture.aspx?id=85919
Some ex-MP SD40-2s had d/b, but I don’t remember which ones, or how they were renumbered into UP. You’re ptrobably right about these two, though.
On the other hand, a de-turboed, de-blistered UP SD40-2 is now an SD38-2 working regularly outside my window at work.