Just curious for those who keep tabs on such things: Has BNSF finally retired all of their first generation diesels? I haven’t seen any in several months, and there was a period that at least once a month or so I’d find an SD9 or a GP10 wandering around town here.
Anybody know?
I guess not, because while riding Metra into Chicago Union Station last Tuesday I saw a switcher (could not tell which model but looked like an SW series) switching at Cicero yard that morning. I also thought they were all gone but I was likely wrong about that.
Chris: Because of the altitude here, they try to keep the de-turboed stuff out of here for performance reasons. The SW’s will be around as long as you have excess curvature in the backtracks (along with lightweight rail) and you can justify the crew expense.
I would imagine the SD-9’s will go on until they no longer can run. The GP7 & 9m’s will soldier on as well, but will go sooner.
Thanks, MC, for the info. I never thought about the altitude thing, but it certainly makes sense!
Chris: come to Lincoln. Watch awhile. One of them will usually saunter out of the yard and look around. We have an SD9 that is a remote. SW10 and SW15’s too. Every once in awhile something interesting comes out of the yard, but you have to be patient (ergo my birdwatching sign in the window of Millie. Saves lots of questions)
Mook,
I’ll be going through there at least 4 times in the next few months. Alas! It’s always at some very early hour and only for a few minutes. I need to take that trip and detrain at Lincoln one of these times!
If you did, you could just stand on the platform and watch all but the southbounds in and out of the yard. The mainlines are just a few blocks from this area. And a few blocks the other direction would get you a good view of what goes in and out of the yard.
Caveat: you would probably be standing there in the dark. [(-D]
Chris, I’m also wondering if the current downturn in the economy has led to some of the older units being stored–I suspect that a GP39 would give the railroad more power for as much fuel as those older switchers. When business comes back up again (if that’s any time soon), they might reappear.
Hope you’ll be in touch on this end of your trips.
Chris, I’m also wondering if the current downturn in the economy has led to some of the older units being stored–I suspect that a GP39 would give the railroad more power for as much fuel as those older switchers. When business comes back up again (if that’s any time soon), they might reappear.
Hope you’ll be in touch on this end of your trips.
BNSF doesn’t have as many SD9s as they used to but they are still out there in places. I think the GP10s are also still operating, I caught one this past Spring working Eola Yard. All the old GE power is gone now that the B23-7s are gone. I would expect that the SD9s should continue to operate until they suffer a failure, then they will probably be retired once that happens. The good thing about BNSF is that they normally don’t retire huge bunches of old power at once like UP or CN do.
LOL…given Amtrak’s on-time performance woes, I’d never bet against it either! [(-D]
Seriously though, Mook, are there any hotels/motels within walking distance of the station? That might be a fun outing for a long weekend sometime next year.
That thought crossed my mind, too. How are things on your railroad? Seeing a lot of stuff stored?
I should have the dates finalized within the next day or two. I’ll definately be passing those along once I know what they are. The Christmas trip is going to be a long one this year. The company is shutting down for almost three weeks, so I’ll be out there for almost that whole time.
Mom just got a new car, and I was hoping to snag it and going and doing some fanning at least a couple of times. Any chance you’d like to tag along and play tour guide?
Chris: There is a Holiday Inn Hotel just 2 blocks from the depot. It is uphill from the depot, but when you leave, you can run down to the depot! And if you feel really flush, there is an Embassy Suites about 3-4 blocks - also uphill, same direction.
Let me know when you are going to be in town and I will take you to the infamous watch site. Daylight hours apply.
Mook
There are talks of cutbacks on this end of the railroad, but so far I haven’t seen a reduction in manifest schedules or the reduction in yard jobs that I keep hearing the rumors about. The stored power around here consists of SD40-family units (on their last legs anyway) and some ex-CNW Dash 8s that are supposed to be turned back at the expiration of their lease.
Being willing and being able to navigate for you are two different things, as you well know. But it sounds like you’ll have a little extra time for me to work around.
And as for you, SJ…knowing about hotels close to the station opens up some interesting possibilities for whenever I get some vacation time again.
About 2 weeks ago, or so, I saw a light power move of about 15 or so locomotives, headed eastbound to Cicero. The lead unit was a newer GE, but the rest appeared to be older EMD units (SD-40’s and some GP types), especially the 4 axle type. When I saw them go by, I was wondering if they were going into storage.
Mook - Cool! That sounds like a good excursion for a long weekend sometime next year. I’ll give you a heads up when I have a little better idea of when that might be. Meanwhile, I’ll be sure to wave as I pass through Lincoln on my upcoming trips!
Carl - I have the dates finalized now and I’ll fire off an e-mail shortly. The Dec/Jan trip is a fairly long one, so hopefully we can get something together. It’d be good to see you, Pat and the other Chicagoland forum denizens again!