BNSF running like mad - mostly east out of Lincoln! Saw 38 engines - most attached to long coal trains - heading east. But some just out for their daily airing!
Some of the visitors: CN2674 and CN 5513 - this 2nd one was an SD60F and had GF638b stenciled under the window. Something for you to ponder.
NS 9089 and UP 3027 - an SD40.
Saw BNSF 8619 - a B40-8 - I assume this is a cousin of the Dash 8, but can someone clarify why the interesting designation. We seem to have two of them running around here. This has probably been discussed before, but as you know - I am a little slow on the keeping up.
And for all you loyal Mookie teachers - Mookie finally put all her pictures and words together and finally figured out traction motors. At least how they look and how they work. Houston Ed has been so kind to send pictures off and on and so many of you have tried to get me to understand how these look and work. I think I finally got it. Pretty cool, too!
So see, all your efforts have paid off. Now on to, oh gosh, maybe signals, maybe not. AND - it finally soaked in that until the SD70MAC - all our older engines running around here are DC? I think? (the SD38’s, SD40’s? - not sure about the Geeps!)
Got rid of one headache and now getting another one of a different color!
CN has a strange system for classing locomotives , The G stands for General motors F for freight or full carbody 6 for 6 axle 38 for 3800 HP , b for mods. I would get confused when it came to GEs because they still use G to start the class
The Milw system made more sense to me , for example a 36ERS 6 meant 3600 HP E, emd roadswitcher, 6 axle
Randy
The CN was on the head-end of a mixed freight - heading south out of town - and boy let me tell you - he got out of town - in a hurry! They darn near blew the doors off poor Millie. If I remember correctly, one was with FURX and an SD40 BNSF.
NS was just hooked up to other engines and was moving around while waiting to be “attached”.
CSX came in a while back on an mt coal train and UP - is usually just resting in the yard, altho I have seen some UP engines pulling freight headed east out of the yard.
I can’t wait until I can afford to go to Galesburg Illinois and watch heavy BNSF action there. Anybody know where the good cheap but not sleazy hotels are? Rooms with coin slots on the T.V don’t appeal to me overly much.[:-,][:-^]
Nobody seems to have addressed the B40-8 question, if that’s what it was.
When they introduced the Dash 7 line, GE started describing their locomotives with a letter indicating the number of axles on each truck, B for two axles (a four axle loco) and C for three axles (a six axle loco). The next number was the power (in hundreds), so a B23-7 was 2250 HP and a C40-8 was 4000 HP.
So a B40-8 was a four axle 4000 HP unit, a competitor to the GP60, while the C40-8 was a competitor to the SD60.
ATSF purchased two types of B40-8, the conventional cab version (which they painted blue and yellow) and the Wide Nose version (which was painted Red and silver Warbonnet). I think these are now painted Heritage I (ex blue) and Heritage II (ex Warbonnet).
Not having a roster handy, I think 8616 should be a conventional (not wide nose) cab unit in blue or Heritage I. The Wide nose B40s had 500 series numbers when new.
So, to summarise, a GE B unit is a Geep equivalent and a C unit is an SD equivalent.
Mookie,I was in Lincoln last thursday and spent some time at the grade crossing on S.1st.I parked by a woodworking shop 630 S.1st.When I left I went south and east through the “Russian Bottoms” area,birthplace of the RUNZA.
Thanx Peter! This is what I was looking for. I am sure it has been discussed, but I can only take small bits of information at a time and retain it. So this little bit will be retained. I couldn’t find any 8600’s in my roster book. Not sure why, but will mark them on my list so I have them.
That’s where Millie watches trains! She can find her way there with my eyes closed, too!
Now - you went through the South Russian Bottoms - my family is from the North Russian Bottoms. (Dad lived in South and Mom grew up in North!) And Runza was just 12 blocks east of you on 13th and E streets! That’s where I go when I watch while Driver is working on Sat and I want lunch and some kitty litter!
The tracks closest to the woodworking shop are the two that go south out of town - they were recently replaced and the freights move a lot faster on those! I hope you got to see some traffic - sometimes late in the day they get very quiet, but there is usually something moving at all times. And the tracks that go on a diagonal behind the shop and way east of the bridge of signals - are Amtrak tracks. (Plus a little freight and even a coal train or two.)
I’ll be leaving a week from tomorrow. I finished up my Renzenberger job this weekend and am taking a weekend off before I go. Will spend the next week playing hostess to my mother in law visiting from England, and getting everything ready to go to Georgia.