I saw this in Lisle tonight.
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/pictures/14262/IMG_2286.JPG
Does anyone have any information?
huh?
Exactly! [;)]
I suspect there is a bit of L&N in this locomotive.
Well, yes and…WAH? L&N is still alive!!! Anyway, [;)], I think it says LNS&L, I think.
What’s even more puzzling to me is that I remember Lisle from my trip back in March, and it three mains. I hope you weren’t standing on the third main, Andrew!
EDIT: Oops, it was October last year.
RE-EDIT: After looking at it closer, I’m guessing you were just west of the platform on the right in this shot? The nearest line diverging for the station would be tough to see behind the wheels of the train…
Could one of the L’s be “Lisle?”
Matt
I was standing around the curve.
Gota, hand it to ya’… That one is as rare as hen’s teeth![alien][swg]
I guess, my question would be,
" Where in the world did they drag that thing from, and where is it going?"
Ya, did good, Andrew…
The locomotive is a former QNS&L (Quebec, North Shore & Labrador) SD40-2 now owned by Helm Leasing. The QNS&L runs from Sept Illes, PQ on the North shore of the gulf of St. Lawrence to Iron Mines near Carol Lake, Labrador.
I bet the crew was glad it wasn’t leading!
This is an ex BRC-( Belt Railway of Chicago) unit. The giveaway is the cross stripes on the front of the nose.Its a BRC locomotive trademark.
I caught it in Cajon a few weeks back.
So whats up with the missing air tanks and water seperator?
Looks like a mod was done to the fuel tank…either they covered up the reservoir with a “shield” of some type, or moved it inside and used the space for extra fuel…if so, thats a lot of fuel.
Ed
It’s an SD40-2 that was originally built for Quebec North Shore & Labrador for hauling ore. It’s currently owned by National Railway Equipment as a lease unit.
Oversize fuel tank to enable a round trip to the mines and back to the port without refueling.
Air Tanks inside the carbody like the E-L SD45-2s had. Chad is correct the unit is NRE not Helm like I first posted.
It wasn’t leading unfortunately. Thanks everybody! So it sounds very rare cool.THAKNS AGAIN!!!
It was never a Belt Railway of Chicago loco. It was built for QNS&L and worked for them until it was retired and picked up by HELM. They now roam all over CSX. Also, it has no L&N heritage to it at all. Rare? Not really.
FYI it isnt lead qualified. I saw that in Galesburg the other night I do believe it went out on the BRC or the CHC not sure ( I was busy elsewhere) but it will only be trailing if you see it.
The other spotting features of the ex-QNS&L SD40-2s were the insulated and covered air reservoirs right above the fuel tank, in the tradition (if you will) of older F units, before their owners removed the excess sheet metal work. Their cabs are insulated a bit more than “normal” SD40-2s which is OK in winter, but right now crews want AC not insulation, and a higher capacity cab heater! I have also heard the controls are still in Quebecois (french to those of you in Rio Linda!) in some of these units.