I have been seeing a lot of NS and CSX on the BNSF in Montana and North Dakota. This is nothing new as I have been seeing it for a number of years, but is it the same way on the East Coast or east of Chicago? Do you Easterners see quite a few BNSF and UP locomotives on your rails?
I like the foreign power, I lets you see what other RR’s have!
Here in BC our two main railroads are CN and CP and they NEVER share power.
It would be kinda cool to see some CP power inbetween a couple of CN loco’s, but it just doesn’t happen over here.
Its funny that you should mention this. I was watching some trains head down through Atlanta, and for the first hour you could have sworn that it was a UP line. I saw the same thing on the CSX line that heads out through Athens, GA a few weeks back as wel. I have seen every road except CN or KCS in the past few months.
I also have a bunch of pictures of things like a pair of UP’s tied up to a BNSF warbonnet and pumpkin. Or a Santa Fe(original paint), UP, and CSX. Or even just a NS pair heading down a CSX line. It has been pretty wild.
Oh and mac, I even caught a pair of CP SD40-2’s down here![;)]
The lack of power pooling between CN and CP is not too surprising. When I visited the Lakehead area in 1976, I noticed that an overwhelming majority of the freight cars in any given train were for that road, which suggests that there wasn’t that much interchange between the two roads. I was more likely to see a car from a US railroad than from CN on a CP train.
Lots of BNSF and UP power on CSX through Pittsburgh, Pa. An occasional NS unit too.
I haven’t seen KCS with UP but I’ve seen TFM on a UP train. Does KCS just not lease out home units only TFM ones?
Seeing more a nd more of it in fact. Here in this Norfolk Southern town of Ft Wayne In I often see all Union Pacific consists (but none "mixed) on the old Wabash, curiously, at specific times of day. There is a westbound around noon that seems to always be all “UP”.
And, on the former Nickle Plate, I saw an all UP set over in Ohio weekend before last, and, infrequently, but not rare, will be a BNSF loco mixed in with NS,
The old Pennsy through town has been two ribbons of rust for the most part, since the conrail split up, only rarely would I see a CSX train on it. Lately though , I’ve been seeing more and more NS trains on it, which seems kinda strange. If you think about the conrail split, one of the things SOMEONE was SUPPOSEDLY looking after, was leaving a competitive market behind.
Seeing NS trains making good use of the lines through town it already owns, and now picking up steam on the “foreign” former Pennsy line, seems to “smack” of “well, if you don’t know how to put it to work, WE DO!” etc
I gaurantee to you that (down at roberts bank) there are never CP spine cars on CN intermodal trains and never CN spine cars on CP intermodal trains, it seems to me that those two railroads just don’t share. Bitter enemies I suppose.
Lucky guy! Those things are getting more and more rare over here. I saw a few on the front end of a CP intermodal train a few weeks ago, but they don’t appear down at the bank too often.
Down at Roberts Banks CP is almost exclusively running the AC4400’s.
A few times I’ve even caught a consist with 2 SD40-2’s and an AC4400 (intermodal train).
Damn those things are big when they’re next to a couple of SD40-2’s.
There was a UP loco in the Norfolk Southern Intermodal facility in Alexandria yesterday (this spot would make a great model module, with the 2 track intermodal between a cement plant and a small power plant, and a UPS package center). I haven’t seen a UP loco in a while. Had to look twice because it was so dirty. Couple of years ago I saw a Rio Grande unit in DC (Anacostia yard area of CSX).
Here in Milwaukeeland we have three major railroads: Union Pacific, Canadian Pacific, and Canadian National. I’ve seen UP on both CN and CP, and eastern foreign power on all three roads, but never CN on CP or vice versa. The only times I remember seeing the Canadians on UP is on otherwise-shared industrail trackage. I don’t think CN even uses UP to get to the x-C&NW West Bend sub, like the FRV used to, they built an interchange off the WSOR!
I think that CN and CP will eventually divide the North American railroads between themselves. CN already tried swallowing the BNSF! And they’ll try again… [}:)]
Now filling a void by creating weird conspiracy theories,
-Mark Hintz
Milwaukee, WI
http://www.geocities.com/fuzzybroken
Time to get some sleep!
I find that you can see anything anywhere. Going to work i saw in between two UP
-840C’s a NEW CSX SD70mac on a southbound train here in peoria. See alot of forien power on the BNSF in galesburg too.
CN power leads thru trains on the CSX Montreal Sub almost as often as CSX power. I’ve seen UP here, but never NS or BNSF. Saw some Soo a while back, and WC even longer ago.
I’m lucky enogh to live near an NS line with a lot of foreign power.
Back in the days of Conrail a lot of CSX and NS stuff came through (mostly NS, a sign of things to come)
Today there are 2 to 4 trains that have UP, 1 with CN and 1 CP (usualy the power is one or twoo Soo Line SD60’s and a few CP SD40-2’s), plus the engines still in CR paint, I see BNSF every once in a while too.
I remember that CN wanted BNSF so then CP said they would hook up with UP.
I believe it was the competition guys that said “no way”
When I lived back east I would watch the New York Susquehanna & Western. It was not uncommon to see foreign power. CP, CSX, NS were common sights. The biggest surprise was when we had some Santa Fe war bonnets showed up in Little Ferry, NJ. We would occasionally see a UP. Western power was rare.
I am her in Washington State now and am seeing NS and CSX engines on a regular basis more often on BNSF. The UP seems to use it’s own power more often.
sometimes I see nothing but foriegn power here on csx.Cp has trackage rights on csx and the run through to deshler them turn north to go to michigan.up and bnsf and even ns power are seen along with rent a wrecks.
stay safe
Joe
Here in the Binghamton NY area we see BNSF,UP CSX and CN power with CN being a normal every day thing (NS/CN have a run though aggreement) with CSX beeing rare and usually on a NYSW train. With the 3 railroads and the NYSW buying, leasing or storing many odd units it get real colorful around here,
Before the Conrail Merger, CSX and NS were foreigners to me then after the merger a lot of foreign power from ex-MLW locomotives to Ex-BN SD40-2’s (oooo those S3K airhorns!) [^][:D] lots of colors can be found FURX, CiT, HLCX, UP, BNSF and lots more… Much of foreign power are norm to me now but it does get very interesting on the riverline… even an SD90MAC was sighted… in New York with a coal train! [^][8D][:)][alien]
Come to think of it, I saw a TFM from Mexico up here in Montana last summer![8D]
Living in Northern Utah, and having access to UP’s North Salt Lake yard, I’ve seen locomotives from the following roads: Rio Grande, SP, C&NW, Conrail, NS, BNSF, Santa Fe (in both yellow and blue, plus warbonnet), BN, CN, IC, Soo, DM&E, Utah Railway, KCS, and an assortment of locomotive leasing companies: FURX, HATX, EMDX, etc.[:D][8D]